Kakadu and Arnhem Land

The feeling I had approaching Kakadu was the same as that on approaching Uluru – unadulterated excitement! This was another of my ‘highlights’ I’d been desperate to see for years, and it did not disappoint. It was a hiatus of wonderment and sensory overload; deeply cultural and spiritually moving. So much of Kakadu’s 20 000 square kms is inaccessible. What you can see, you can barely take in due to its superlatives. It houses ‘the biggest this’, ‘the oldest that’ and ‘the most of the other’…and on it goes. We spent about a week there, and I was blown away. This blog will likely be as challenging as it was to get my head around the wonder of Kakadu. I can only offer a snippet…

Rock Art

Kakadu and Arnhem Land hold reputedly the most extensive and some of the best rock art in the world. Kakadu has over 5000 rock art sites we know about, and Arnhem Land is estimated to have over 10 000. Due to the sheer size of these areas, and the bulk of art sites being either sacred Aboriginal sites, or on Aboriginal land, only a small fraction is open to tourists. However, that small fraction was more than enough for me – it was everywhere!! And, stunning.

Aboriginal art was a mixture of things to those who painted it; some was recording their every day activities and the animals they hunted and lived with, or that were their totems; some was used like a chalk board to teach youngsters hunting and gathering methods, and to tell Dreamtime stories that outlined tribal law and told of their creation. They were not ’precious’ about their paintings, as in they would paint over previous paintings to depict more ‘modern’ ways of living as they moved through time.  The act of painting was more important than the art itself. Some rock art sites are believed to have 10 or more layers underneath, and date back between 20 000 and 50 000 years. This is where the notion that Australian Aboriginal people are the oldest surviving peoples on this planet today would be hard to dispute. On a tour to Arnhem Land, there was a man there in his 70’s from London, who could barely get his head around how ancient the human history in front of him was. He commented that, in England, we’re impressed with Stonehenge, but that is just a blip compared to the rock art he was looking at, in terms of ancient-ness. I’d never thought of it like that, and had always been in awe of the ‘ancientness’ of European history, but his comment made me think that the depth and extent of ancient human history we have in this country is unique, and under appreciated. I don’t think you can even begin to comprehend it until you’re standing there, looking at not only the rock art, but the ancient surrounding landscape; and listening to Dreamtime stories told by Aboriginal people who are so deeply immersed in their land. ‘They don’t own the land, they belong to the land’ is what you hear so often in discussions about Aboriginal people, was never more apparent to me than in this place. My sense of reverence for our native people deepened with that revelation. I guess, what came with that, was the sense that Kakadu and Arnhem Land exude spirituality. The air feels thick with it. To say it’s special is an understatement.

Here are some photos:

World famous hand prints.

You can see here, near to top of the cliff is some rock art where a human being could not possibly reach. It is an example of what Aboriginal people believe to have been painted by ‘Mimi spirits’. Mimi spirits are so tall and thin, they can put paintings in unlikely places. In this case, they simply lifted the rock down, painted it, then put it back. Although invisible to most people, Mimi spirits taught Aboriginal people many of their traditional designs. While we’re on the subject of Mimi’s, some were good spirits, and some were bad. The rock art would depict this, and be used in relating Dreamtime stories that underpins their law.

In the lower part of this photo, you may be able to make out a frieze of rock art that was painted by humans, not Mimi, as it’s within arms’ reach. 

This is a close up of the sorcery figures painted by the Mimi in the photo above. 

Paintings of the fish and animals they caught/hunted not only depicted what was on the menu, but the spirits of the animals too. What’s interesting, is that some of the animals painted indicate the changes the landscape has been through over thousands of years, such as a particular rock art site being closer to the sea, and a different climate. Below is a Thalacine (Tasmanian Tiger), recognisable as such due to the stripes on its rump, that would have lived here too, likely over 4000 years ago before dingoes came to Australia, and the Thalacine became extinct (survived in the wilds of Tasmania up until early last century):

This shot shows the incredible detail of the paintings. There are fish like Barramundi, and there’s a long necked turtle in there too (the white patches towards the corners of its shell signifies the fat deposits – the favourite part of the turtle kept especially for the elderly or important members of the tribe to eat. It also shows hand prints that were more or less a signature that ‘I was here’; and if you look towards the bottom right of the frieze, you can see a small figure of a man with his hands in his pockets, smoking a pipe. This is, of course, depicting a European, and this stance, along with the pipe, can be seen in other paintings – it signifies that it’s “The Boss-man”.  Quite a mind blowing frieze really, with the potential 40-50 thousand year old hand prints and the white man at no more than 200. 

OK, there’s a bit going on in this painting. The most obvious part is a story of a battle, and it was told to Aboriginal children as a lesson to do with tribal law. The two less distinctive, reddish figures over the top of the battle scene tells my favourite Dreamtime story to date. I love it! It’s about the Namarrgarn sisters, and is supposed to be as a ‘life lesson’ story, again to children, to be wary of crocodiles; but to me, there’s a lot more intrigue. The basic story is that the Namarrgarn sisters were always thought of as a bit ‘cheeky’ (a term still used by Aboriginal people to imply that a person might not be so trustworthy, a little mischievous, and a bit of a troublemaker) as they didn’t like the confines of tribal law, and liked to do as they pleased. Not only did they not conform to tribal law, they used to love playing tricks on each other, their favourite one being changing into a crocodile without the other knowing, and jumping up from a waterhole to grab the other sister when she least expected it. Over time, their waywardness lead to an evil thought, then action. They decided to both turn into crocodiles so that they could kill any person they liked, from any tribe. So that’s what they did. But, their repercussion was that the higher powers/spirits decided that their punishment would be to keep them as crocodiles (and possibly be hunted and killed by humans), never to return to a human state. However, remember the two bony prominences on the top of crocodiles’ heads from the previous blog? That acts like a GPS? That is where the Namarrgarn sisters ended up. And part of the story I can’t remember too clearly, is that the Namarrgarn sisters are also stars somewhere in the constellation, so they are always looking down from the sky and can see where you are. They sense this through their position on the croc’s head to hone in on you with great accuracy, jump up and kill you. There’s another part of the story that when they first decided to turn into saltwater crocodiles, they made this transformation at a fresh water spring. They pulled their teeth out, and planted them around this spring, then palms grew from them. Now for why I find this story so intriguing – first, that circle of palms is the only place in the whole vastness of Kakadu where they grow. And second, the idea that your exact location on earth could be sensed from space and beamed back to earth for practical use was contemplated by Aborigines thousands and thousands of years ago! Wow!! Where did that come from??? Really fires the imagination doesn’t it?

The more Dreamtime stories I heard, relating to folklore, outlining law, or explaining why the landscape is the way it is, the more they made total sense. I love this stuff! I could listen to their stories all day!

Anyway, a couple more pics:

Again, showing the amazing detail and cross hatching style typical of this area of Australia (dots are used in the Central Desert areas). The style of painting where the internal organs of the animals are depicted, is known as ‘x-ray art’; and it appeared in later years.

Not rock art, but relating to the fact that Aboriginal people having stories behind almost every feature of the landscape, and, as a lovely example of how some contemporary Aboriginals are striking a healthy balance between their ancient culture and modern culture, as well as their humour; when we went on the Guluyambi cultural cruise up the East Alligator River (Kakadu on one side of the river, Arnhem Land on the other), our Aboriginal guide started what I thought would be a lengthy, ancient folklore tale about these rocks…

…but instead, we got this “You see those rocks over there? We have a name for them…(long pause)..the one on the right, we call ‘Two Face’, because it looks like ET on one side and RoboCop on the other. The other rock, we call ‘Homer’, because it looks like Homer Simpson lying down drunk, flat on his back”.  Love it!

Hand Crafts

One reason there’s so much rock art at Kakadu and Arnhem Land is because the food supply was so abundant, the Aboriginal people spent significantly less time hunting and gathering, leaving them more time to paint and do hand crafts. Painting was traditionally only done by men. And hand crafts, such as basket weaving, were only done by women (and I didn’t see any men doing this). We were able to take part in a weaving workshop in Kakadu, and saw more of the same at the Injalak Arts Centre in Oenpelli (Arnhem Land). The skill of the women is unbelievable. They are SO quick, and their work is intricate, beautiful and time consuming. I spent quite a bit of money at the art centre, not only to support the artists, but as momentos of their beautiful work, skill and ancient customs. Here are some examples:

While Elliot was crushing berries and roots for pigment to dye the Pandanas grass, 

one of the ladies was preparing the Pandanas grass by stripping it three ways. I tried this, and it was exceptionally difficult. I couldn’t even get one strip of grass right, and gave up after my third attempt (because I didn’t want to waste it. They have to collect it by hand). 

The crushed berries and roots are then boiled to leach out the colour, and the Pandanas grass strips thrown in to absorb the colour. 

The dyed strips are then dried in the sun, before being ready for weaving. 

Different colours are used to make the object. 

Like a basket,

or a bracelet.

Injalak Community Arts Centre, Oenpelli, Arnhem Land.

This was part of our tour to Arnhem Land, and is a focal point for the local community. The artists and craftspeople mostly sit on the ground, as they have for tens of thousands of years, to do their work. Painting was traditionally only done by men (but is now done by women too), and the hand crafts done by women (which seems to still be the way). 

This elderly lady was using the sole of her foot and her heel as a work surface. I think she’s weaving the base of a basket.

A close up of the intricate line painting style, using a very fine reed (I think). This is the paintbrush and technique we used when doing our paintings in Katherine. Not easy!! Imagine doing this upside down on a cave ceiling. Blimey!

This is absolutely incredible! The size of it and the detail within. He’s painting on bark, and grinding his paints on the ground from ochre in the rock. Some other artists here that want to paint on something other than bark, get special cartridge paper imported from France, that apparently holds well for 300-500 years. 

And here’s me with Ann, a basket weaver extraordinaire! And a real sparky character too! We’re in the gallery/shop, and you can see the array of woven items. I went a bit nuts in here, buying stuff with gay abandon, and enjoyed every minute of it!

The Landscape

Yes, Kakadu is huge at 20 000 square kms, but it’s dwarfed by its neighbour, Arnhem Land, at 91 000 square kms. Of course, it’s impossible to get your head around this, no matter photos, and to convey the special ‘feeling’ you get, especially in Arnhem Land.  You can only enter Arnhem Land with a permit as it’s Aboriginal Land. And to get the most out of Arnhem Land, and particularly the rock art, you really have to go with an Aboriginal guide, as they are the only ones who have unrestricted access to sites, and therefore select which sites are OK for tourists to visit. They also know the best spots, know the land inside out and all the Dreamtime stories behind its creation. It’s when trying to describe the landscape that superlatives run out. All I can say, is that I highly recommend a visit to this area goes on your bucket list. And a great way to see a bit of it at least is a scenic flight.

Here are some pics of Kakadu from the air…

A canyon

East Alligator River (the one we did the Guluyambi cultural cruise up)

 A floodplain

And a few from the full day we spent with our Aboriginal guide in Arnhem Land…

First, we had to cross the East Alligator (croc infested) River from Kakadu into Arnhem Land. It’s the only road in, and it’s in dreadful condition.

Huge corrugations and potholes made for a bone-shaking ride to where we started our hike into the cliffs and rocks to see the rock art. This sign, boasting the government is committed to making better roads, has been badly damaged by stones. I wonder how they’re going with that project…

Here’s Elliot with our guide, Eric, at the foot of the steep climb into the rocks.

Eric looking noble in his homeland. 

The holes in this boulder in a cave were made from year and years of grinding ochre into paint. We saw a mind-boggling amount of rock art this day. It was absolutely everywhere you looked. Unbelievable. 

Our driver and hostess carted lunch in a backpack up the steep ascent for about 15 of us. This, I’d say, was the most unique picnic spot I could have imagined – sitting on a cliff edge overlooking Arnhem Land, surrounded by ancient Aboriginal rock art. Too hard to put it into words.  

A view from a different outlook. By this stage, we’d been up on these cliffs and rocks, clambering around and squeezing through tiny spaces, looking at rock art and spectacular views, for about 4 or 5 hours. Talk about sensory overload!

Yellow River Sunrise Safari Cruise

We moved from Jabiru in Kakadu, to the next camp spot at Cooinda; a fabulous resort/camp ground where we had a day chilling out by the pool, in preparation for yet more wonderment the next morning at dawn (never my favourite time of day!). However, making a break from the norm to get up in the dark to be on a boat on the Yellow River to ‘watch the world waking up’ was something I thought would be a good idea. And it was! Of course, how could it not be? This is Kakadu! It houses over one third of all birds/bird species in Australia (can’t remember which fact that is. Whichever one, it’s pretty phenomenal!), so of course, that’s mostly what we saw. I saw birds that morning I’ve never seen before. It was wonderful…(by the way, if you’re interested in birds, check out Kakadu’s new free app: kakadubirds – it’s awesome!)

View of the river from our boat, just before the sun came up. Beautiful lilac and lavender colours,

it even made this croc look pretty. Awwwe.

One of three types of the many Egrets we saw. They have really boring names like the ‘Great Egret’, ‘Intermediate Egret’ and the ‘Little Egret’. I like the way the morning sun is giving a pinky orange tint to their snow-white plumage.

A female croc, about 3 metres long. Just warming up on the river bank. She’s perfect.

And look at her beautiful tail markings. 

And look at her beautiful tail markings. 

…look out! 

A closer look at an Egret. I love the wispy feathers on its breast. Apparently, Egret feathers were very popular with milliners and jewellery makers.

My favourite - a Nankeen Night-Heron, also know as the ‘Like himself a lot’ bird, as it stands on the water’s edge almost continually looking at its reflection. Quite a rotund little fella. Just thought he was cute! Might also remind me of a brownish coloured penuin, because of his shape and stooped pose. That’s probably why! 

A male Australian Darter bird (aka Shag), drying his wings off in the sun after diving for food. Never thought of Shags as having beautiful feathers, but this fella certainly does. He also has a rust-red breast – quite striking. 

A White bellied sea eagle. They pair up for life, have their own territory, and a huge wing span of up to 2.2 metres. They hunt by flying directly into the sun or at right angles to it to avoid casting shadows over the water and therefore alerting its prey; or it harasses smaller birds in the hope they’ll drop their prey for it to swoop in and collect. 

Plumed whistling ducks – they hang around in large numbers, and are actually quite mean to each other – always jostling and pecking each other. Glad I’m not one of them. Here’s a close up of their striking plumage…

A huge waterlily whose leaves and flowers follow the sun. Their leaves are waterproof. 

Not a great shot of a waterbuffalo, likely a ‘rogue male’. He was charging through the very long grass, and looked like he was trying to find a way into the water to have a go at us in the boat. He disappeared as quickly as he appeared. Our guide was very excited!!

A Comb crested jacana, also known as the ‘Jesus bird’ because it ‘walks on water’. It actually walks on top of the floating plants as it has extremely long toes (about the same length as its body) that cover a wide surface area and can support its weight. Pretty cool. The male looks after the young, and, if he feels they’re threatened, he literally ‘takes them under his wing’ and carries them to safety. What a saviour (terrible pun!!)

The stunning Forest kingfisher. Iridescent blue, and very small at 19-22 cms. This one’s likely to be a female due to the incomplete white collar. 

Forest kingfisher from the side. I love this bird!

And a Jabiru, or Black-necked stork. The township in Kakadu is named after this bird, and it’s the only type of stork in Australia. I saw a couple of these in Kakadu, but didn’t get a photo, so this was taken off a postcard. They’re mighty birds at about 115cms tall. Really eyecatching due to their size, iridescent blue/green/purple necks and orange legs. Apparently crocodiles are wary of this bird as it can pierce through a small one with its beak. Take that!

The Aboriginal people

I’ve talked about them a little so far, and it was such a privilege to be on their land, surrounded by their culture and history, spend a bit of time with them, and most importantly, learn about these extraordinary people. Just another couple of snippets before I close, I’ve only ever heard white man talk about ‘two seasons in the Top End – the Wet and the Dry’. Actually, Aboriginal people up here define six seasons, as to them, there are distinctive animal and bird behaviours, and plant growth/harvesting times according to the weather. Here’s their version of the seasons:

And I learnt a little more about their complex kinship and law systems (which I don’t understand, sadly!). This is a watered down version for tourists:

“Bininj are connected to each other, the animals and the land by a complex kinship system. Belonging to this system brings with it many benefits, obligations and rules for correct behaviour. Bininj are given a skin group at birth, and a responsibility to their land and its people. This system is based on a moiety system which originated in Eastern Arnhem Land. It divides most things into two groups; Duwa, and Yirridja. All men, women, animals, songs, dances, clans, ceremonies and land are either Duwa or Yirridja. Warradjan, pig-nosed turtle, is Duwa. Marrawuddi, White bellied sea eagle, is Yirridja. Bamurru, Magpie goose, is Duwa. Ginga, Salt-water crocodile is Yirridja. A child inherits his or her father’s moiety. Each moiety has four skin groups. The child’s skin group is determined by the mother’s skin group.”

The strict rules they have about who you can marry has prevented in-breeding and ensured a strong race of people for the tens of thousands of years they have lived their traditional lives. Incredible to think white man thought of them as savages or primitive (in fact, some modern Australians still describe them as ‘living in the stone age’), when in fact, they are incredibly sophisticated when you look at the big picture. Anyway, that’s enough of my fascination!

So, in a nutshell, we spent almost a week in Kakadu, only saw a fraction of it, but felt quite overwhelmed with the whole experience. I would love to go back for longer, particularly to experience ‘The Wet’, which is a whole different board game, and where the wildlife explodes! Wouldn’t like to try to put that into words!