Off the Beaten Path in The Grampians
Tips and photos of unusual, out-of-the-way The Grampians attractions, posted by real travelers and locals.
Local Time 10:40 pm Saturday, July 26, 2008
The Grampians Map
The Grampians Map
on August 21, 2006
Bunjil (depicted in the painting) is the Great Ancestor spirit and creator in Aboriginal Mythology who created the people, law, and customs. He appears in many of the stories of the Dreamtime of the Koori people of south eastern Australia.
The dogs in the painting are Bunil's helpers.
The age of the painting is unknown. It was mentioned in European writings in 1884 when a local Aboriginal was questioned about the painting, and it was touched up in 1911 with European whitewash.
This area was once occupied by the Djab Wurrung tribe.
The setting for the art isn't fantastic, just a short, 5 minute, almost flat rocky walk from the carpark to where the rock overhang is, surrounded by fencing (there were some early attempts at grafitti at the site and so it's been fenced since the 1960s but at least you can manage to take photos ok without the grilles getting in the way. There is another walk you can take from the shelter though which is longer, if you want to explore the area a bit.
This is the only aboriginal art site in The Grampians where more than one colour has been used.
The shelter located just south of Stawell, about 10 kms off the main highway, so it's not a big detour to see it.
