Len and Hazel's Travels: Arnhem Land 02 September 201

Jumped into the 'comfortable vehicle with forward facing seats', aka the Toyota Coaster bus, at 08:30 and submitted ourselves to the tender ministrations of Lords Safaris with fifteen other expectant looking guinea pigs for a day's adventure in Arnhem Land, and more specifically Injalak Hill and its rock art.
The brochure states that a reasonable level of fitness and agility is required. That's probably because you have to clamber over, around and even under rocks and ascend trails a that rock wallaby would think twice about, and then think again, for around three and a half hours while being totally amazed at the way there was a new image on almost every second rock face.

What an experience - imagine combining orienteering, mountaineering and trip to the aboriginal version of the Louvre museum, then add a lot of sweat and aching knees, and you're starting to get the picture. Our local guide Thommo was fantastic and was able to tell the story of many of the paintings and relate them back to his life today and how things had changed. He had painted some artwork of his own up there before the local Elder put a stop to new rock art twelve years ago. He wasn't real happy with the decision, but rules are rules, so now he paints on bark canvas and paper at the Injalak Arts and Crafts Centre instead, and makes some money from his work. We clambered over twelve main art sites and one burial site, complete with real skeleton, before a being served up a fantastic lunch under a rock overhang almost at the very top of the hill, which could only be reached by squeezing through a narrow gap and then crawling across an even narrower rock ledge. Spectacular views from this amazing location. Just as amazing was the fact that the bus driver had to bring all the food up the same path we had followed in a back pack! The sixty litres of water at the spot were also carried in the same way, but Lisa (the bus driver) said her boss did that once a week. They certainly work for their money!
A quick visit to the Arts and Crafts Centre before heading back to Jabiru. After dropping us off, Lisa set out for Darwin to drop off the rest of her clients - at 7:30 PM (a 16 hour day!).

Another fantastic day in the Top End.