Mary River - Kakadu (Outback trip)

Day 2

At 6.30 am we leave our shelter towards Kakadu National Park.




Our first stop is Ubirr where we discover foremost ancient Aboriginal rock art.
At a first glance a few images stand out: a human figure here, a barramundi (common Australian perch-like fish) there. After a while you begin to adapt to the layers of designs and recognise hundreds of animals, tracks and figures - catfish, lizards, turtles, kangaroos, even an image of the now-extinct Tasmanian tiger. And then you feel the presence of the people who painted these walls thousands of years ago; the presence of the Aboriginal elders who gathered round these sacred rocks to perform solemn rituals.
To the tribes that established Ubirr over 20,000 years ago, the site was as important as the paintings: as a camping place, as a place of mythological significance and simply as a place of beauty.
Some of the paintings at Ubirr are now so old that they do not relate to the living memory, some others have become a source of traditional knowledge to Aboriginal people, a kind of graphical historical archive.

Here the Rainbow Serpent:

Rainbow Serpents are powerful Creation Ancestors that are known to many Aboriginal people throughout Australia. They are believed to be one of the oldest artistic symbols used in the world and seem to hold value and power wherever they are depicted.
As is common with oral traditions, stories about the Rainbow Serpent vary from place to place, to reflect differences in environmental and social conditions.

One story Aboriginal children are told about the Rainbow Serpent at Ubirr concerns caring for children. It goes like this:
A child was crying for sweet lily root. That evening the mother gave the child sour lily root because she could not find any sweet ones. This caused the child to cry even more, all night. In the morning there was a sudden gust of wind and the people felt cold, a sign that the Rainbow Serpent was near. The Rainbow Serpent rushed into the camp, trapping everyone with her huge coiled body and eating most of them, including the crying child.
The moral of the story is that crying children should be cared for and comforted. Generally, in an extended family there is always a mother, father, brother or sister to comfort a crying child. As children grow older they may be taught about the path the Rainbow Serpent took, her connection to the land, her spirituality, and the ceremonies, dances and songs that relate to her. The stories, paintings and features in the landscape are interlinked and are reminders of the moral and ethical codes of Aboriginal culture.

The Mimi Spirit:

The indigenous residents of the Arnhemland credit the Dynamic rock art to the Mimi spirit people who are timeless and who have the ability to move in and out of rock. They are now active spirits. The traditional land owners state that the Mimi once had human form and lived in Arnhem Land in a similar manner to the native inhabitants before the arrival of the Europeans. The Mimi taught the ancient native population to hunt and butcher kangaroos, to paint on rocks and provided instruction on ritual rites, etc. Later during a period of great change the Mimi became tall thin spirits who were endowed with supernatural powers. Although they are not deemed to be dangerous they are curious, mischievous and are desirous of human company.






Groups of Aboriginal people camped in rock shelters around Ubirr to take advantage of the enormous variety of foods available in the area. The rock overhang of the main gallery provided an area where a family could set up camp. Food items were regularly painted on the back wall, one on top of the other, to pay respect to the particular animal, to ensure future hunting success, or to illustrate a noteworthy catch. Among the animals painted in the main gallery are barramundi, catfish, mullet, goannas, long-necked turtles, pig-nosed turtles, rock ringtail possums, and wallabies. Although Aboriginal people no longer live in the shelter, the animals depicted are still hunted for food today.








All of these paintings deliver a message which for many millions of years has been passed on by stories told while drawing over and over again the previous pictures. However, these stories are for us ignorant white people just impossible to understand and thus simplified if park guides/rangers try to explain the art sites and their meaning.


view over Arnhemland






A quite long walk of abt. 3 km leads us to the Gubara Pools, where we can enjoy a little swim or simply one relaxing hour dangling the legs in the clear water.








The evening meal: jammy BBQ, from BBQ Master Debden at the Lodge in Cooinda.