Split Rock is near the township of Laura, south of Cooktown. It is a dry sandstone environment. There are 3 main panels of artworks to explore. Artwork is superimposed with layers of images on top of each other so it can be difficult to make out individual objects. Many animals are recognisable such as bats, dogs and emus. Things I noticed: One panel of artwork looks similar to Bradshaw paintings. There is a large faint python image going across the main panel. Some of the dog looking images could be extinct tigers (Thylacine). I discovered a few hand prints and a fish image that are adjacent to one of the panels and are probably missed by most visitors.
Black Mountain is an eerie place - just south of Cooktown in North Queensland Australia - this place has Aboriginal reports of giant snakes, historical reports of cattle and drovers disapearing into the dark caverns, and farmers reporting a large (extinct) Tiger on the loose that attacks cattle. Don't go climbing it or might disapear into the dark depths below.
Girringun Aboriginal Art Gallery in Cardwell Australia displays fascinating Aboriginal artifacts including weapons as well as hunting and gathering equipment. Cardwell Museum located in the Centre of Cardwell just off Hinchinbrook Island has an array of artifacts from settlement. Two of these I found very interesting:
1. Tiger in Queensland, Australia. The plaque reads: Alfred Arthur Hull, Surveyor and Artist - 1871, 26th “… and a native tiger roaring close to our camp; the tiger came within one hundred yards of our tent, but we could not get a shot at him, owing to the darkness and the scrub. I believe it is not generally known that there is such a thing as a native tiger in Queensland, but it is nevertheless a fact.” 2. An unknown early shipwreck just north of Cardwell - canon balls found in a creek. Just north of Carwell is wreck creek (interesting name) where several canon balls from an unknown decaying ship wreck were found in 1864. The canon was retrieved and restored, mounted on the Cardwell foreshore jetty. Apparently two lads attempted to ignite the canon in 1872 for the Governor’s ship arrival, it did not ignite. Later a group of locals ignited the canon and it exploded. No parts of the canon have been located since. Refer to plaque for more detail. There are things called metal detectors and it would be interesting to scan the shallows and sandbars of wreck creek - watch out for crocodiles! |
Sheros
The Shero Files are on-site investigations into the past. Archives
February 2018
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