Story: Adventures in Quinakn Country

Adventures in Quinkan Country

In the south-eastern region of the Cape York Peninsula covering an area of some 15,000 square kilometres is “Quinkan Country” considered one of the top ten rock art sites in the world by UNESCO and included on their world heritage listing of sites of world cultural significance.

This area has hidden amongst its sandstone cliff and bluffs thousands of rock shelters covered with unique art of the region dating back some 30,000 years and it is these depictions of mischievous human shaped figures on the walls of the shelters that gives the region it name – these figures are the shape changing “Quinkan's”.

The small hamlet of Laura is the gateway to “Quinkan Country” with a population of about 100 people, these days there is not much there. The town comprises of two streets that are the home of the Laura Hotel, the general store, a mechanic (who’s pretty good at fixing flat tyres) a petrol station, a caravan park and the Quinkan Cultural Centre.

Laura has not always been such a small affair, in the 1890’s there was a stream of thousands of miners making their way through the town for the goldfields of the Palmer River and even a railway that linked the town to the coast at Cooktown.

Whilst the rest of Australia was occupied by European settlers in the late 18th century and marking the beginning of the eventual disenfranchisement of the Australian Aboriginal from their land, Laura and The Cape York Region was not settled until much later and sadly it was the influx of the Anglo-Celtic and Chinese miners as well as patoralists and the society they brought with them that hastened to an end the native culture that created the rock art – the Kuku-Yalanji people.

The rock art was of no real interest to the 19th century explorers and miners though it was mentioned in some of their writings. It was not until the early 1960’s having been hidden from outsiders for thousands of years that workers on the Peninsula Development Road reported that they had found cave paintings in the area.

This discovery and its report would eventually bring to light one of the worlds largest and oldest collections of rock art, showing a tradition of painting unique from the other already well know sites in Australia and bringing the secret of the “Quinkan’s” and the stories of the Kuku-Yalanji people to the world.

A Cairns based pilot Percy Trezise on hearing about this discovery by the road workers had his imagination ignited and during his regular flights over the region began keeping a lookout for possible rock art sites amongst the sandstone gorges and valleys, marking potential sites on a map kept in the cockpit to explore during the coming dry season.

Many years of Percy Trezise's life was spent exploring the region for rock art sites, often in the company of aboriginal men including Dick Roughsey and his own family including his sons Matt and Steve documenting the sites through drawings and photographs and it was his passion and perseverance that brought this vast collection of imagery to the world.
These many expeditions that Trezise tells of in his book “Dream Road” the story of how Dick Roughsey and the other aboriginal men when they camped at night always ensured the camp fire was kept alight all night and that they slept close to it, is an indication of their fear of the “Quinkan’s” and the belief that the Quinkan spirits were everywhere, not just painted on the walls of the cave but alive in the cracks and crevices of the sandstone.

The “Quinkan’s” are said to be able to take on many shapes, names and can be male or female and come out at night to frighten or punish people who have offended the spirits. In some ways these mischievous and malevolent spirits seem similar in their nature to the Celtic idea of fairies and sprites.

The many rock art sites do not only contain images of Quinkan’s they also depict paintings of animals, birds, fish, reptiles and human figures in headdresses and ornaments. These ancient paintings some of animals long since extinct in the Cape York region are in some places overdrawn with more recent post-contact (after European settlement) images of miners with their picks, policemen and introduced animals such as cows and horses, the best example being the yellow coloured horse at the aptly titled “Giant Horse Gallery”

With so much rock art in the region much of it is unmarked, on private property or inaccessible except to the most enthusiastic of adventurers but there are a few excellent examples that can be easily accessed.

“Split Rock Gallery” about 12km south of the township of Laura off the Peninsula Development Road is the only gallery in “Quinkan Country” open to the public. It is well sign posted with a large car park and entry to the galleries is $5, payment is made on an honour system into the collection box located at the entrance.

These series of galleries at Split Rock are the most accessible and they are a leisurely 20 minute walk from the car park, the main gallery is a wide overhang of rock underneath which is sheltered a range of paintings including “Quinkan’s” and interpretative signage identifies and explains the various paintings.

Further along from the “ Split Rock Gallery” you first come to the” Flying Fox Gallery” where some seventeen flying foxes are depicted hanging upside down as though roosting in the trees, painted in solid red ochre. Five minutes walk from this site and signposted is the “Tall Spirits” site which is the best of the three galleries, with the tall spirits almost three metres high, painted to protect the people of this well used camp site from the “Quinkan’s” as they gaze out into the scrub across the valley.

Whilst these are the most accessible rock art sites in “Quinkan Country” they are far from the best as the impact of visitors over the years has caused dust to settle on the paintings making them lose their vibrancy.

There are other rock art sites in the Split Rock area but these have been closed to public access and are now only available to visit by organising a tour through the Quinkan Cultural Centre, a 3 hour tour with a local guide costs $80 per person and there is a lot of walking over steep terrain up to the plateau, but the views from the top of t he escarpment and the much finer art sites make it worth the effort.
Another tour run by the Quinkan Cultural Centre visits two extraordinary sites, “The Giant Horse Gallery” and “Mushroom Rock” this tour is also guided by a local Aboriginal man who drives you to the sites and will explain the paintings for you.

“Giant Horse Gallery” is overwhelming in its size, measuring some 30 metres in length with the entire surface of the back wall of the overhang covered in paintings super imposed over one another, here there are painted images of turtles, emus, echidna’s, stingrays, swordfish, bush turkeys, people and a huge Quinkan about two metres tall, but dominating the right hand side of the gallery is a 3 metre long horse painted in yellow ochre with a white outline.

It is understood that the reason for its size is that the appearance of this never before seen beast in the region would have been of great importance to the native inhabitants.

The images at Giant Horse gallery are startling and vibrant, painted over one another for thousand of years; many surprises are to be had as you see through one image to discover another.

Archaeological research shows that this site has been inhabited for more than 20,000 years and it can be seen why. It is such an inviting camp site with a great view across the valley and a short walk to the Laura river.

Mushroom rock a short drive from “Giant Horse Gallery” is smaller in scale but just as intriguing. A large crocodile is depicted on the wall about two metres long, painted in red ochre with a white outline as well as its scales being filled in with white ochre. Catfish, emus and hand stencils also cover the wall; however, it is the image of a man that is the most fascinating and disturbing.

The man, painted in white ochre and outlined in red, the reverse of the crocodile image, is on a very bumpy surface with arms and legs splayed but it is the fact that he is painted upside down with his head facing the ground that makes it a mystery. Was he a sorcerer, was this painting a curse on the man or was the man buried underneath the floor of mushroom rock in the distant past?

A 45 minute drive up the road from Laura in your 4WD is Jowalbinna, the Trezise family property and the location of some of the most extraordinary rock art sites in the whole of “Quinkan Country”.

Jowalbinna was purchased by Percy Trezise in the early 1970’s and is still owned by the family. Now open to the public who can camp at the well appointed bush camp which is located in a beautiful valley with a giant sandstone escarpment “Dingo Ear Bluff” on the southern side that glows red in the setting sun. The spacious camp grounds also have huts and hot showers and the wallabies that graze their in the late afternoon makes it the ideal Cape York bush experience.

The tour of the rock art sites at Jowalbinna takes about 31/2 hours by 4WD and a little bit of walking is involved, you may also be fortunate enough to be guided by one of Percy’s sons.

“Emu Dreaming” site is one of the most ancient sites in Quinkan Country and contains rock engravings rather than paintings. Natural rock erosion at the base of a cave forms the shape of an emu and over the course of time engravings have enhanced the natural formation to make the emu more distinct.

This site is believed to have been important for the initiation rites of young people into the emu clan and would have been a most sacred site.

A short drive from the “Emu Dreaming” site and a pleasant walk with magnificent views across the valleys of the area is “Giant Wallaroo” site.

The “Giant Wallaroo” site is truly magnificent and easily rivals the “Giant Horse Galleries”. The flat wall above the cave is sheltered by a rock overhang and it is on this 30 metres of walls that you begin to see as you look closer people painted as though performing a corroboree, echidna’s, kangaroos and catfish, it is simply breathtaking. There are many Wallaroos painted here but the largest of the Giant Wallaroos some 3meters long is painted in solid red ochre and is being pursued by a white painted dingo jumping at its heels.

Crawling into the cave below the rock face a series of images that are the clearest and most beautiful of all the Quinkan images can be found. This group of four figures, are painted in red ochre, in the centre a woman wearing what is believed to be a trochus shell pendant is painted in white ochre, her arms are outstretched and her massive breast heave to the side of her body to the left of her another similar female figure though smaller and to the right kangaroo with a joey painted underneath.

This is an image of immense warmth and tenderness whose meaning can only be guessed at. This is part of the frustration of the ‘Quinkan” rock art. The living culture of the Kuku-Yalanji people was washed away by the tide of miners and settlers to the region and with it much of the knowledge and stories behind the rock art sites and images.

Nathan David Kelly is a freelance writer and photographer based in Cairns, You can view more of his work at www.nathandavidkelly.com. The author wishes to thank the traditional owners of “Quinkan Country” the Kuku-Yalanji people, John Farrington at the Quinkan Cultural Centre, John Ross for taking us to “Giant Horse Gallery” and “Mushroom Rock” and Steve Trezise for his friendship, help and wide ranging discussion on many subjects including rock art.