June 8th 2026: met up with Roy Banjo at 8.30 am at the Quinkan cultural centre and were joined by Allessandro, an Italian Bonds lawyer working in London.
We went to Split Rock along a well marked track with handrails and steep steps. Our guide Roy helped rangers and Percy Trezise build the walking track in the 1980’s. Roy explained the meaning of each painting, the oldest of which is apparently 14,000 years from carbon dating charcoal in a fireplace made inside an ant-hill. There were the bad spirits-the Imjim and the good spirits the Tamara plus men and women and animals fish birds reptiles. We then went up to further sites with more paintings. Roy then offered to take us to the top of the escarpment via a closed off much rougher track with large rock steps then clambering over rocks and through a low rock passageway and we came out on top of the escarpment with spectacular views! On the way up he pointed our various flowers- kangaroo paw, kapok trees in flower, the bush clothes peg tree , the Laura apple, a native grape ( quite sweet with small fruit and large pip). We had mandarins at the top and then made our way down using our poles.
We took it easy in the afternoon, seeing birds at close range to our van- a blue-winged kookaburra, a blue faced honeyeater, a little egret, flocks of galahs and corellas.
We had dinner at the pub again for the wonderful grilled gulf barramundi.
What fabulous rock art Suzanne and Nic. Hope we get to go also!
ReplyDeleteSAD FACT: Suzanne and I had two delicious meals at Stumpy’s Bar in Coen’s Peninsula Hotel, the only hotel in town. Its proprietor is Stuart Wiggins, a Canberran (He didn’t tell us that; we googled him). He had been there since 2024. He is there because his best mate Kevin ‘Stumpy’ Darmody, also a Canberran (but from a long time ago) was the tragic victim of a crocodile attack while fishing in the Rinyirru National Park, about 50 kilometres from Laura. Only his thongs remained by the shore of a river where he was fishing. His remains were found in the bodies of two crocs by rangers a couple of days later. Stuart gave up a ‘cruisy’ job at Parliament House to take over the pub after Stumpy’s fatal fishing expedition. He had come to Laura to fish and hang out with Stumpy for many years and wanted to keep the pub going for the local community and to honour his best mate. But Stuart now wants to return to Canberra and his family, so the pub is for sale - $749,000 or thereabouts if you are interested.
ReplyDeletecb here - hell yeah but alas we’ve just stumped up a similar amount for a flat in Brunnie. Buggar!
ReplyDeletecb - winderful photos Suz
ReplyDelete