The Gundabooka National Park, which lies about 50Km south of Bourke, has geological as well as aboriginal significance. Mt Gunderbooka in the southern part of the Park is an outcrop of Devonian sandstone over 300 million years old and sits near the edge of the Great Artesian Basin. The Park is home to some beautiful flora and fauna some of which are endangered, but that is a whole other story - we were there to see the rock art!
The Gunderbooka Range, which rises 350m from the surrounding plains, has great cultural and spiritual significance for the Ngemba (stone country) and the Baakandji (river) people. It provided a range of water and food sources and was used for large ceremonial gatherings with tribes coming from as far away as the region we now know as Broken Hill over 500km away. We were here many years ago but the path wasn’t clearly marked so we turned back fearful of getting lost - echoes of Picnic at Hanging Rock and it was close to Valentine's Day afterall! Now the path is fairly well indicated with marked sticks and rocks placed close enough so hopefully you won’t get lost. And then there are also some beautiful rock slab paths which were a very welcome sight.
There are lots of walks and things to see and do in the Park but the ancient rock art was our main focus. Just a few km walk over the rocks, across a now dry creek bed and then a short climb and there it is protected from the elements under a rocky shelf. It was a marvellous experience and the art work wonderful!
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| This is the flat bit! |
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| An excellent stretch of path |
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| ... and the path is where? |
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| The rock art site is on the other side of that gorge up ahead |
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| The trees and rocks were rather splendid and the colours .... endless |
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| We passed patches of vivid almost unnatural acid-green lichen along the way |
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| Sadly the creek doesn’t look like it’s seen water for a long time but that made it easier for us to get to the rock ledge |
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| Majestic tree suffering a bit of stress |
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| This tiny Chenopod protects itself from water loss and hungry animal mouths with silky hairs and prickles |
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| This represents the Brewarrina fish traps |
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