carvings

Aboriginal Carvings
Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, NSW
Sunday January 2, 2000

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is the second oldest national park in NSW. It is very close to Sydney and had many Aboriginal sites and native fauna and flora to see and appreciate. The wallaby is one of many rock engravings we found at the Basin Track Aboriginal engraving site. The wild flowers are a sample of the petite blossoms that provided a spray of colour along the trail as we walked to to the site along the Basin Track. It had been sprinkling on and off and the water had puddled in the pitted surface of the sandstone that had been formed by years of natural weathering.

Signs were provided to ease in the deciphering of what the figures meant. The rock engravings are generally made in groups with the number in the group varying. This form of engravings are unique to Australia and make up one of the worlds largest concentrations of rock art in the world. Once lost they can never be replaced so we took extreme care as we wandered the path.

Although they recommend viewing on a cloudless day we were not so fortunate as to control the weather and found that while the larger puddles formed and reflected light made viewing some of the carvings more difficult, the water laying in the actual outline darkened it so it was easy to see. We visited the Kalkai Visitor Centre where we had picked up maps and looked at the displays inside. There were preserved samples of some of the natrural inhabitants of the area as well as mineral and rock samples. They had a wonderful theatrette where we were among the first to view their newest 3D movie on the sites of the park. I loved this as it brought so many photographs to life. With the carvings there is no way to tell how old they actually are and no way to tell how the carvings were actually made. But one thing that is easy to tell is that eventually the years of rain could erode this artwork and be lost for the future generations.

The delicate feathery appearance of these tree blossoms caught my eye as we were walking and looking at the various forms of foliage in the area. The one at the top looked like bottle brushes growing on a tree, again I had never seen the likes of trees as these and was amazed constantly with every new blossom I saw.

While many of the blossoms were white in appearance they all had different leaves and style. The one to the left was so dainty and fragile in appearance with the tiny curled fingers of the flower looked like the first breeze would dismantle it but being Australian it was strong and durable to the elements.

This is a sample of the Red Hands Cave Rock Art site. We followed the track along the Aboriginal Heritage Walk to find it not that far from the picnic site. The art sites were all amazingly easy to get to and due to the inclement weather not that busy enabling us to stay and look unrushed by the needs of others.

Once again the signs are the silent tour guide helping me to understand how the art work appeared. The why will always be unknown.

As stated on the sign:" A PRICELESS HERITAGE We will never know what motivated Aboriginal people to leave these personal records. These special links with the past provide us with an opportunity to appreciate the individual people who once lived here." Personally I'm just glad they did as another desire was completed by this adventure.