Aboriginal Rock Art - Moments In Time

Some describe it as a spiritual quality, a feeling or presence. To put your finger on it isn't easy, but it's got a lot to do with the Aboriginal owners, whose ancestors came to the area tens of thousands of years ago.

Over generations they formed an inseparable connection with their country, built partly on survival and partly on respect, always preserving the pristine state in which it remains today.

The rock art galleries of Ubirr or Nourlangie are the best means to discover what their life was once like.

Having fished in the cool of the morning, Aboriginal hunters would return to their social groups. Under the shady rock overhangs, they would sit out the heat of the day.

For the younger members of the clan, it was where their education began.

The rock shelter their classroom, the walls ablaze with red and yellow ochre paintings, their blackboard.

Biology, anatomy or home economics might have been the lesson, as the catch of the day was painted on the rock wall, adding to the illustrated menu of food sources available in the area. The x-ray fashion of the artistry revealing anatomical structure and the best cuts of flesh.

Or the focus might have been the ochre image of the great hunter Mabuyu, who punished the young thieves of his catch, with the banishment of their family, a simple lesson that crime has a price.

Before long the realisation comes. Each artwork represents a precious moment in time. With the help of a local guide, even greater depth is given to the enormity of knowledge and history adorning the walls.

For Kakadu is not a place absorbed in the snap of a photograph alone. To experience the real feeling of Kakadu one has to take their time. Only then will you experience the spiritual dimension of what is a unique cultural landscape.