Ubirr rock art
Sunday 10th May - Kakadu
Julian: At 8 am this morning we drove North-East within Kakadu park to Ubirr where there are some well known Aboriginal rock art, some of which goes back at least 5,000 years and possibly longer. Aboriginal settlement in Australia is given as at least 20,000 More...
Sunday 10th May - Kakadu
Julian: At 8 am this morning we drove North-East within Kakadu park to Ubirr where there are some well known Aboriginal rock art, some of which goes back at least 5,000 years and possibly longer. Aboriginal settlement in Australia is given as at least 20,000 years and possibly 40,000 to 55,000 - this must be the longest continuous unbroken cultural history of any people I would have thought and it is no wonder that the Aboriginal people were so well attuned to their land when Westerners arrived - they had had quite a time to get attuned! The Aboriginal concept is that they are owned by the land, rather than our concept that we own the land.
It is amazing that the rock art has survived so well, especially as it is not deep within caves, but simply on the inside of overhangs. This is due to them using a red iron oxide pigment which is absorbed a few mm into the sandstone rocks, forming a permanent record. They also used various other pigments which are less permanent, a common one being a white pigment. The area here is famous for their “x-ray†pictures where they draw humans and animals as if they had no flesh, but were just the bones - very different from the “dot’ art we saw in the centre around Alice Springs/Ayres Rock. As well as older art the same rock area had more modern art from when the first white people arrived, shown with their hands in their pockets and with their magic sticks (rifles).
The area at Ubirr must of been a great place to live - high up with views over the wetlands with all its fish and birds on one side and over the woodland to the other side with all its meat and plants. Probably an idyllic existence compared to other harsher environments in Australia which may be why they had time to create so much are in the Kakadu area. We walked to the top of the hills, by where the art is, which gave magnificent views over the countryside with its flood plain and escarpments.
The art itself is amazing. I have seen rock art before, which is primarily stick pictures and usually in a poor state; however, here there are many pictures, often drawn over many layers of older paintings it seems, and all very well preserved and of substance. The art was drawn apparently to illustrate stories - a large one we saw at Ubirr related to some of the ‘laws’ of the Aborigines, in this case relating to a young girl eating a Barramundi too early in her life; she was pushed too severely which led to a battle between clans which then resulted in many deaths - the moral being not too eat fish until you are allowed to!
After leaving Ubirr we went for a boat ride from Guluyambi on the East Alligator river. There were very few birds along this stretch of water which runs between two rock escarpments - not such good food as in the wetlands we were on yesterday. There were also a lot of dead trees along the waterline because of a cyclone that came through the area 3 years ago which flooded the area to such an extent that only the very tallest trees had any foliage above water. The landscape was very beautiful, however, with a bright and deep blue sky contrasted by rocky escarpments on either side and trees on the banks. At the far end of our boat trip we all got off to admire the view from a high point on the bank - Jamilah enjoyed clambering over the rocks and was extremely pleased to find some that looked like a large crocodile which she could pretend she was riding. Our Aborigine boat captain showed us various local spears, baskets and other items - the most chilling of which was their punishment spear, a spear with barbs going both ways that would be thrust into your leg if you broke the laws. The depth of the insertion depended on the severity of your crime, but in any case the barbs meant you couldn’t withdraw the spear,but would have to push it through your leg to get it out - and no one could help you without them breaking the law and suffering the same punishment. Apparently there are a number of local elders who hanker after this form of punishment, believing that jails are nothing more than luxury motels - interesting view!
Having had an early start to get to Ubirr before the buses arrived, we had a break in the afternoon after lunch before going off to see the sunset at Nowalandja, up on a hill looking at Norlangie rock and the Arnhem escarpment as a backdrop with a billabong and flood plains to our right. Apparently as the sun goes down it lights up the Norlangie rock in a beautiful display; however, whilst we were there the sun was often shrouded in cloud and at the critical moments was not clear - nonetheless just sitting up there with no one else around and looking at the scenery was very pleasant and it didn’t really matter at all that it wasn’t a stunning sunset.
***** Julia: Today, we met our guide for a look around the area visiting some rock art high on the escarpment. Once we had climbed the rocks we were presented with the most magnificent views of the area looking out for miles over stretches of lush green bush and distant rock formations.
We then went on another boat river cruise along the East Alligator river where we saw a few crocodiles and were shown some aboriginal woven baskets and some spears used for hunting. The tide along this river rises very high and very quickly; people have to be careful here as the crocodiles have claimed many lives.
We decided to have a couple of hours rest after lunch and went back out late afternoon to a beautiful spot near a billabong to see the sunset. We climbed some rocks and sat and admired the view waiting for the sun to go down. Sadly, a rather large cloud came and ruined it a bit, but the view was still most enjoyable.Back
