{"id":1540,"date":"2019-01-24T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-23T21:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns?p=1540&preview=true&preview_id=1540"},"modified":"2019-11-28T11:22:57","modified_gmt":"2019-11-28T00:22:57","slug":"mawurndaddja-australia-rock-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/mawurndaddja-australia-rock-art\/","title":{"rendered":"A trip to Mawurndaddja, the best-kept secret of Australia\u2019s Top End"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article originally appeared on\u00a0The Journal<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018You can follow the ancient pathway,\u2019 says Tyrone, the local Aboriginal guide who\u2019s joined us for the afternoon. He\u2019s taking us to a secret rock art site in Arnhem Land<\/a>, Northern Territory,\u00a0Australia.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s day one of Adventure Tours Australia five-day\u00a0Top End & Arnhem Land Adventure<\/a>. Having come straight from winter in Victoria, I\u2019m feeling the heat but am glad for the sun.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: AUSTRALIA FOR ALL SEASONS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

We walk uphill, toward a big sandstone cluster, something between an escarpment and a \u2018rock formation\u2019. Its shady nooks look inviting from out here in the open sun. The country here feels sparse and remote, even compared to where we were this morning \u2013 the East Alligator River in Kakadu National Park.<\/p>\n

\"Travellers

Photo by Lucy Piper.<\/p><\/div>\n

Someone behind me asks Tyrone what he means by \u2018ancient pathway\u2019. I turn around to catch the answer, expecting something esoteric \u2013 maybe a bend in the ridge, a spot on the horizon, some subtle change in the landscape only locals know about. But Tyrone points to a loose track made from two parallel lines of rocks, clearly put there by hand. \u2018People can use it to find their way home.\u2019<\/p>\n

EXPLORE ARNHEM LAND ON A SMALL GROUP ADVENTURE WITH ADVENTURE TOURS AUSTRALIA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

How ancient is this pathway? I can\u2019t help but wonder. The rocks seem big enough to withstand a storm, but the track looks so impermanent, like it could have been made last week or thousands of years ago. But Tyrone\u2019s absolute lack of irony suggests the latter.<\/p>\n

On approach to Mawurndaddja, there are no other travellers around besides us. This, explains our leader Rick, is because local elders have only recently authorised outside access to the site. Not only do relatively few people know about this spot, but Adventure Tours Australia local guides and their groups are the only ones to have been granted access.<\/p>\n

So no outsiders have ever, ever seen this place until now? I have to get this straight. \u2018Correct,\u2019 confirms Rick. \u2018Not until a few weeks ago.\u2019<\/p>\n

We come to a shady alcove enclosed by huge rocks, the walls of which display ancient art. Concave scoops in hunks of stone show where pigments were crushed and mixed. Rick explains the site\u2019s history as an ancient community space, but it\u2019s hard to concentrate \u2013 not because of the heat, but because of the atmosphere. There\u2019s an old, old presence here \u2013 or, at the very least, an energy that makes it easy to imagine one.<\/p>\n

Tyrone\u2019s been coming to Mawurndaddja for years. \u2018I live in a community just behind there,\u2019 he explains, pointing to a ridge not too far away, a couple of kilometres across the plain. \u2018This is a special place for us.\u2019 He graciously answers questions from the group, who seem to have sprung to life.<\/p>\n

\"Ancient

Photo by By SherSS.<\/p><\/div>\n

On the rock walls are depictions of fish, scenes of daily life, stories and legends, revered spirits. Some are obscured, others are multi-layered. Artworks are sometimes partially painted over, Rick says. Some pieces are vibrantly coloured, and some depict stories that seemed charged with emotion and drama.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s really mind-boggling is how old this art is. \u2018Initially, in the late sixties and early seventies,\u2019 Rick explains, \u2018[scientists] felt very confident to say that people had been coming here for at least 20,000 years. They were also able to date paintings right up to the present day, which showed a\u00a0continuous\u00a0<\/em>association with the area. But they felt at the time they were underestimating things. They were confident to say at least 20,000, but thought it could be even double that.<\/p>\n

EXPERIENCE THE ULTIMATE OUTBACK ADVENTURE\u00a0ON A PERTH TO DARWIN ROAD TRIP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s only since they\u2019ve come back with new technology \u2013 they also did independent tests at the Nourlangie rock art site [in Kakadu National Park] \u2013 and both came up with figures somewhere between 60 and 65,000 years. So they were very right when they said they felt it was much longer. They said double, but it was more like triple what it could be.\u2019<\/p>\n

Months later, as the dry season draws to a close, Rick tells me over the phone what a highlight Mawurndaddja has been for him. \u2018I\u2019ve been coming out here for twenty years, and it\u2019s only been this year that I\u2019ve been going to that particular site, and I still stand there in awe. I still get a real spiritual feeling whenever I\u2019m out there. It\u2019s just as special to me now as it was the first day I went out.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Tyrone\u2019s not around for a chat, but Rick assures me he too is enthusiastic as ever about showing people this spot. \u2018He came with me on this trip I\u2019m on now. As we\u2019re getting closer and closer to the site, he starts fidgeting in his seat, his hands get clenched, and a big smile comes on his face, he looks to where we\u2019re going. You can really see the excitement in him. And he\u2019s been going there since he was a little boy. That that really rubs off on the passengers.\u2019<\/p>\n

Ready to explore the wonders of the Top End?\u00a0Check out our full range of small-group adventures now<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Feature photo by Lucy Piper.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hidden from the world until now, this Arnhem Land treasure has rock art dating back as far as 65,000 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":1542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,81],"tags":[164,173,18,4],"class_list":["post-1540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-landmarks","tag-arnhem-land","tag-kakadu","tag-northern-territory","tag-top-end"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1540"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2317,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540\/revisions\/2317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}