If you know the tides well enough you can take a raft from Montgomery Reef and make it to Raft Point. Get it wrong and you will vanish without trace. We took a ship.
Welcome to the traditional home of the Worrorra people.
Two nightjars fought, blood was spilled. The blood of one was a light ochre in colour, the other darker and so today the Worrorra paint mainly with light and dark ochre. They are one of the groups that share the Wandjina tradition. In the dream time the Wandjina travelled the earth, altered its shape, lived, fought their battles and when it was time to die entered caves and left their images on the walls. It is the task of the modern folk to maintain the images.
This is Uncle Donny, the current custodian of the tradition, the only person qualified to paint the figures. It his task as well to instruct the younger men and one day he will choose his successor. It will be a great honour for the person chosen, and it will not only be for their painting skills but also their knowledge of the stories attached to each figure.
As well as the Wandjina figures, always painted without a mouth, there are other dreamtime characters such as the Lightning Man and images of food animals.
At the back of a nearby beach there is the site of a great Wandjina battle. The losing army was turned to stone and can be seen to this day.
Click on the photo to enjoy it in detail.
bobmcgee 