Punda Rock Art Site is on the way to Hickman Crater, north of Newman in Pilbara region in Western Australia. It is a restricted area that has cultural significance for Aboriginal people.
Aboriginal art
Aboriginal art has always been a subject of fascination for me. Partly, because it is so unique, partly because it looks very mysterious. The ancient culture of Aboriginals dates back some 60,000 to 80,000 years. To me, something as ancient as that has a lot of meaning and value. Although it is not something that you can understand easily (unless you have some knowledge). Aboriginal people do not have a written language, so their culture and knowledge of the land, beliefs and tribal laws are passed on from generation to generation through art which dates back more than 20,000 years. The stories, history and teachings are recorded in the art.
Punda Rock Art site was on the way to Hickman Crater, where we camped for a night, so I was excited to spend a couple of hours exploring the rock art since it was already on the way.
Rock art can take two main forms: engravings (petroglyphs) and paintings or drawings (pictographs). (Source: National Museum Australia). Petroglyphs are created by removing rock through pecking or hammering, while pictographs are made by applying pigments, such as charcoal, clay, chalk and ochre to the rock. Punda Rock art is classified as petroglyphs.
I must confess that I know so little about the Aboriginal culture and art, then I am in no way claim to be an expert, rather someone who is observing and learning by taking pictures and researching the places we visit.
On directions how to get to Punda Rock Art, check our previous post about Hickman Crater. Please note that a permit is required to travel along BHP Billiton Access Road to get to Punda Rock Art, which can be obtained from Newman Visitor Centre.
This was on the way back to Newman, along BHP Billiton Access Road. Trains carrying iron ore in Pilbara are very long. On average they have 268 carriages and are 2.8km long but the record-breaking ore train from BHP Billiton company was 7,300 m long, according to Wikipedia.
Walga Rock is a huge monolith, 48 km west of Cue on the Dalgaranga Road, in West Australia’s Midwest. Walga Rock is 5 km in in diameter and 1.5 km long. It is the second largest monolith in Australia (after Uluru). Walga Rock is a Registered Aboriginal Heritage Site. It is fenced and you need to manually open the gate to proceed towards the actual Rock.
A great place to hike, reflect and photography
Visiting Walga Rock was an unfinished business from our trip to the Goldfields. This time, I decided to visit it first, so we don’t miss out. During our trip to Pilbara, after the first stop at Lake Nallan near Cue, we drove to Walga Rock.
We spent 2 or 3 hours there, exploring and climbing the Rock, taking lots of pictures.
Climbing the Rock gave us an interesting perspective. People might have different experiences when standing on top of the rock, looking out in front at the isolated desert. Personally, I felt a sense of serenity and harmony, and a revelation that there is a place for everything in nature – beautiful rocks, harsh desert, annoying flies, wild flowers trying to find their way out even in the rocks.
View from the top
Kids were having fun too, climbing and playing in the rocks, inventing their own games.
It is interesting to see how relatively big rocks can stack themselves on top of the slanting side of even bigger Rock, without falling down.
Walga Rock Aboriginal heritage
Walga Rock is also known as Wolgarna Rck or Walganna Rock in Aboriginal language. Since Aboriginal language does not have written equivalent, there could be many different spellings of the same name or word.
Walga Rock holds deep spiritual significance for Aboriginal people and it is guarded by this mysterious creature. 😊 It is my vision and interpretation 🙂
The main attraction of the Walga Rock is the gallery of Aboriginal rock paintings inside the large cave within the rock. This cast in rich red ochre gallery of paintings is the largest in the Murchison. Some say, it is the largest in the whole of Western Australia. A report by the University of Western Australia indicated there were more than 988 motifs on a 100-metre-long panel of the Rock.
Rock Aboriginal paintings
There are paintings representing goannas, snakes, boomerangs, kangaroos and handprints, which are estimated to be 10,000 years old.
There is even a painting of a ship, which looks like a modern addition to the ancient Aboriginal paintings. No one knows the the origin of the painting, especially considering that Walga Rock is 325 km inland from the West Australian coast. According to one theory, it was done by a Dutch sailor shipwrecked on the coast who was looked after by Aborigines.
Before leaving this place and heading to our next destination near Newman, we decided to drive around the Rock. It looked interesting in its changing patterns and shape and I kept admiring the colours and contours of the Rock as we drove by.
You can get a taste of Canning Stock Route by taking a drive from Wiluna. This small town lies 966km north east of Perth. It lies on the edge of the Little Sandy Desert, on the Goldfields Highway. Wiluna is the gateway to the Canning Stock Route which runs north to Halls Creek. It is also the starting point of the Gunbarrel Highway that runs east to Alice Springs.
The Last of the Nomads
The town of Wiluna greets you with “the Last of the Nomads” statue. Having heard the songs about them sung by Greg from Morapoi Station , I was keen to learn more.
The statue of Last Nomads at the entrance of Wiluna town
Warri and Yatungka from Martu tribe are believed to have been Australia’s last desert nomads. They met in 1930s and fell in love. Unfortunately, traditional tribal law forbade them from marrying because they were the wrong match according to “skin group” law. As a result, they decided to run away.
They lived in isolation, hunting traditionally and eating what nature provided them with. Warri and Yatungka remained in exile for many years, finding joy in their two sons. But never stopped missing their land and people. Eventually, Martu elders forgave them and Warri and Yatungka returned to Wiluna. There they spent their last days, passing away within three weeks of each other in 1979. This marked the end of a tribal lifestyle lasting for more than 40000 years. The story of Warri and Yatungka still lives though through many aboriginal songs, poems and a bronze statue in Wiluna.
Beginning of Caning Stock Route
After filling up fuel at Wiluna, we decided it was time to settle for the night. I planned to stay at a farm station 12km off Wiluna and travel on Canning Stock Route the day after. However, what can be done today, must be done today – must have been God’s will for us that day😊. So, off we went on Canning Stock Route. It is one of the most challenging and isolating roads, that connects Wiluna to Halls Creek. Canning Stock Route was originally proposed by Kimberley pastoralists after east Kimberley cattle got infected with ticks. This incident resulted in a ban of cattle from shipping to southern markets. Canning Stock Route got its name from Alfred Canning, who was commissioned to survey and build a stock route in 1906. Canning Stock Route is around 1850km and is the longest historic stock route in the world.
To be honest, I was worried traveling there at dusk but the road was good and we only travelled 20km before stopping for the night.
Camping at North Pool
Our stop for the night was North Pool. It is between Well 1 and Well 2, 10km off Canning Stock Route. The place is quite a pretty rock hole, surrounded with river gums, offering nice shade. With only one other camper trailer tucked at the corner of the camp spot, this place was all to ourselves.
Collecting wood for the fire and preparing meal was our priority before it got too dark. It was a cold and starry night and we kept ourselves warm around the fire. We exchanged stories and tested kids’ knowledge of constellations.
Do you think this piece of wood look more like a snake or a dinosaur? It definitely looks to me like it is from another world :).
Getting up just after the sun got up, I set off for a walk around the area. The surface at times looked like what I imagined the surface of the planet Mars would look like. It was red with big rocks scattered around and occasional weird looking plants.
After breakfast kids find themselves an entertainment. Someone who has stayed there before us, has tied a rope to the tree. Our kids fixed a plastic crate to it and made it fly out into the water, like a flying fox. Nature provides everything you need to learn and play.
Kids entertaining themselves at North Pool on Canning Stock Route
Tjukurba Aboriginal Art Gallery
Getting a taste of Canning Stock Route was not the only agenda I had in Wiluna. There is a wonderful Tjukurba Aboriginal Art Gallery that I was eager to visit.
At Tjukurba Aboriginal Art Gallery in Wiluna
Australian Aboriginal people do not have written language. They use art and drawings to convey their cultural stories and pass them on to the next generations. Indigenous art is centered on storytelling. Their stories convey knowledge of the land, events and beliefs of Aboriginal people. I always find Aboriginal art fascinating. Maybe because Aboriginal artists use symbols, such as dots, curved and straight lines, which makes their paintings look very mysterious. It is through their oral stories and drawings that their children learn lessons of behaviour, survival and use of land.
Captain Cook and his journeyWiluna Rock Holes
“Dreaming“
“Tjukurba” means “Dreaming” in the Aboriginal language. Dreaming or Dreamtime is Australian Aboriginal religio-cultural view of the world. It is based on inter-relation and inter-connectedness of all people and things. Aboriginal people believe that ancestral spirits descended on the land and created life and all geographical formations and sites. The Dreaming stories explain the origin of the universe. It illustrates the deep connection Aboriginal people have with the land and relationships with animals and plants. In Indigenous culture, the health of the country and animals depends on the health of people who protect that landscape. Dreaming stories are also moral guides to behaviour and actions and form the basis for the children’s upbringing.
Emu Corroboree Dance
The pictures at the Tjukurba Gallery mostly depict beautiful landscapes along the Canning Stock Route and the Gunbarrel Highway. Some pictures portray bush food and flowers, including bush bananas (Gunkula), bush tomatoes (Gungili), kangaroo and quandongs. Nearly half of the pictures at the Gallery are named Bush Tucker.
Bush Tucker
To conclude, I must admit that we really satisfied our thirst for knowledge and senses at Wiluna Canning-Gunbarrel Discovery Centre. To add to this, you can get free coffee at that friendly place. Now it was time to move on.
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