17,000 years in pictures

I've had an interest in Aboriginal rock art since studying it in high school so it has been amazing to stand in front of works throughout the Kimberley some thought to be up to 17000 years old (dated by carbon dating fossilised wasp nests on top of paint).

At school I remember all sorts of weird and whacky theories about the arts origins and meanings (Wandjinas relating to aliens etc) so it has also been good to read and hear some more informed details.

We've seen a range of styles, the mot common being the ancient animal and Guion Guion (Guyon or Bradshaw) figures and the much more recent Wandjinas with related spirit figures. Up on the Mitchell Plateau at the Munurru sites the art was accompanied by burial recesses.

Amazingly enough most sites are relatively unprotected and generally well appreciated and respected by travelers. The worst issue we have encountered has been bus loads of 4wd tours with ill informed and ignorant tour guides. Only certain ochre colours have survived; the yellow and white typically fading away.

This is our favourite panel from Munurru; elegant dancing Guyon tasseled figures. I am reliably informed that it's fine to capture and share these publicly available works. Please let us know if this is not the case.

Guyon figures at Munurru site, Mitchell Plateau

Stretching our limits

Now, I love driving and having spent time in the top end and regional areas I'm not new to being off-road. We've also got a 50mm lift and full under car protection.

So, as we neared Mt Elizabeth station we looked into visiting Bachsten camp via the Munja Track. We were advised not to take the camper trailer and instead booked in to stay in one of the camps cabins. 'It's 7-8 hrs' we were told.
So we set off, allowing 8 - 9 hrs of daylight. After stopping to view some rock art, and to find and recover the Go-pro after it's mount snapped and it fell off, we soon realised that we were way behind schedule.
And then we met the first of three jump ups.

Returning up the Magpie jump up on the Munja Track

For the uninitiated, essentially a jump up is a steep, rocky incline/ascent into or out of a gully area. The three on the Munja track were about 3-5 kms from entry to exit. Now I can honestly say that had I known just how rough they were I probably would not have ventured forth. Certainly as we're approached the Magpie jump up the words 'Steph, I'm not sure this was such a good idea!' passed my lips. And of course it was foremost in our minds that we also had to return!

So with sweat on our brows and fear in our hearts we lurched forward metre by metre, often with one person directing via radio from in front of the car. Amazingly we got there and back relatively unscathed. 

The trip over ended up taking us 10 hrs  to cover the 140km and Steph bravely 'soldiered' on in the dark with me hanging a torch out the side window to be able to see around sharp corners. Coming back we managed 8.5 hrs! (The owner takes 6 hrs btw).

Was it worth it you ask? Absolutely!

Marvellous Mornington

A real highlight of our trip so far has been Mornington Camp about 90km south of the Gibb River Rd in Central Kimberleys. It's actually near the head waters of the Fitzroy River that we met near its mouth and again at Fitzroy crossing and Geiki Gorge.

Mornington is managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (http://www.australianwildlife.org ) established more than 10 years ago because Australia has the worst mammal extinction rate in the world and a very high proportion of our surviving animals and plants (over 1,700 species) are listed as threatened with extinction.
AWC seeks to establish sanctuaries by acquiring land and through partnerships with landholders and implement practical land management – feral animal control and fire management – informed by good science.
Large stations in this area have been purchased by individuals and then pastoral leases taken out that enable AWC to do their work.

We were lucky enough to see the endangered Gouldian Finches and Purple Crested Wrens and spent a day as guaranteed sole inhabitants canoeing on Sir John Gorge. Magic.

Canoe trip on Sir John Gorge, Mornington

Remarkable Rocks

Mount Augustus saw the last, for now at least, of large (granite/quartz) rocks (although not, as often advertised, ONE rock like Uluru).

Mount Augustus

From Hyden, east of Perth, north through the Goldfields and Gascoyne we've clambered over all sorts of remarkable 'big rocks'.

The highlight for me was not Wave Rock as might be expected (interesting but over-rated), but McDermid Rock further east off the Hyden-Norseman road, not far east of the Breakaways described in a previous post, and due south of Coolgardie.

On climbing the rock we discovered amazing rock pools and Japanese-like 'gardens' growing where soil had collected over time. One beautiful spot included a carefully constructed cairn (more on these in a later post). Now in the hard iron-ore rich Pilbara we seem a long way from this!

McDermid Rock treasures

The Breakaways

If you Google 'The Breakaways' in WA you won't find much, and in fact we could easily have missed it.

A fairly nondescript brown tourist sign pointed to the right off the Hyden-Norseman road. We'd traveled around 170km east from Hyden stopping to read a variety of Shire and historical info boards in pull-in bays, and to be honest I'd had enough. But in we went.
We were confronted with a wall around 5m in height and which extended in a semi circle of 200m or so of the most amazing colours and shapes. A dark ironstone ridge top capped beautiful chalky white, pink, purple and orange walls beneath. Breathtaking colours! A field day for photographers and artists and a must see if you're over that way.

For more images see my FlickR stream