Aboriginal rock art in NSW.

Andrew ,
Can you be a tad more specific re Hunter , or should I Google things and try to find them that way ?
Thanks ,
Willie .

Yes, well Yengo NP and Watagans NP in particular, but the difficult thing is finding the folks willing and able to give you directions, or better still go and show you the cultural history of the place.

You need to work on the rangers to suggest some elders of the traditional owners who can show you around ideally. They are not always about, and their community is off-limits, and their mobile phones not always on, and their voicemails less often answered, but when you do get them, and when you can get with them, they have lots of info, are lots of help and very open and willing in my experience.

You might get help from the Biaime Centre Art Gallery place in Pokolbin.

Mt. Yengo is a major sacred site - lots of the Biaime dreaming is based around there. Most of the sites around the area have intriguing, complex and interconnected stories related to Mt Yengo Biaime dreaming.

Barragurra and Finchley are reasonably accessible including a boardwalk thing and have interpretive signs. These are nothing compared to the hundreds of less accessible sites in the area which you might be shown, and that are not so affected by vandalism etc.

I hope that helps a little, but there are some things I have been asked not to pass around and I respect that.

There's some good 4WDing and walking there to be had too.

Cheers
Andrew.

Thanks Max ,
I actually have driven past that turnoff many times and it is on my to do list . Maybe I will get there next month , if I don't get on my camel trip out of Alice Springs .
Willie .

Baz ,

That is really great . I will contact the TAFE tomorrow .

Thanks ,

Willie .

Colin ,
Good one . I will put that on my to do list . I might try and talk Gramps into a picnic .
Thanks ,
Willie .

Thanks Jack , I will check this out too .

Willie .

Willy,
Yengo NP, rock carving site, Yango Track, S32 58.685 E151 00.801 co-ordinates.
Wooden walkway has been removed and so has signage, very easy to miss the site.

Burragurra, is a bit of a steep walk up the hill but worth the effort, on the southern end of the Boree Track, Yengo NP. Burragurra co-ordintes S33 06.923 E151 02.203.
On Patrol.

Mutawintji is a highly recomended site.

I do however find it hard to belive that Ochre spat onto rocks lasts for thousands of years and painted glazed ceramic tiles from Greece and Rome only hold their colour (Indoors) for just 2000+ years. Maybe I'm a cynic.

Our guide last September was a riot, and made our visit a memorable one. Ask them the story of the Uni art students from Melbourne and the huge rock carving they tried to steal in a KombiVan, very funny.
Colin.

Colin

As I understand it the ochre etc does not last for long at all. An important part of the ceremonies of the people of the area was the repainting of the art work regularly. From memory it was entrusted to very specific people in the group because it told the dreaming stories.

Occasionally you see work that has recently been repainted but sadly the skills and traditions have often been lost.

Max

Max

Thanks Max.
That explains a lot of things to this old 10 Pound Tourist that I am.
Regards, Colin.

No worries Colin - you can rely on my in depth set of prejudices - but don't bet the farm on their accuracy! All I know about archeology, geology, ecology etc comes from reading the signage in National Parks!

Its actually one of the major reasons we enjoy travel - slowly getting a bit of an idea what this place is about.

Cheers
Max