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The main reason we chose to stay in Laura is because I have read that there is some great Rock Art around here and we book a tour for the morning with a guide whos father actually was one of the people who found and documented these sites around here in the 1960's.
Laura itself is tiny with only one road where there is a police station, a shop come petrol station come post office and a "hotel" with 2 rooms which also doubles up as the campground. So we stay here for the night and just as we arrive we see a wallaby right next to us in the camp ground. This is really starting to feel more like the outback now which is great. I make some dinner and we share it with our next door camper who has lived here for 6 years and he tells us a few tales.
We go to the hotel bar for a few drinks and bump into some people who are doing a motobike tour up to the tip, we have already seen them at Cape Tribulation and we realise we will probably be seeing each other most of the
way up. I have a few glasses of wine then realise the measures are so big that before long I have drunk the whole bottle. Something gets me singing country music to this new audience and then I decide I am going off to get my guitar. Well I manage to find the car in the dark and Shenton comes looking for me to try and persuade me not to do it as he can see how drunk I am but of course I dont listen. I decide I am going to play the gambler which without alchol I am actually not bad at, but in my current condition I cant even see the strings on the guitar let alone put my fingers in the right place to play the chords, so one horrible attempt and some scared looking faces later I decide maybe the world is not ready for my music yet and we play pool instead.
Have to go early for our booked trip so am a bit hung over but after a big breakfast we are ready for the off. Steve our guide tells us about the site and that this is a very sacred place
of worship and it is where apparently the major spirit god, called Tamara around here, entered the earth. Our visit had to be sanctioned by the elders of Laura and only around 100 people each year get to visit this place. When we reach the rock art it really does move us seeing that these drawings date back thousands of years. Steve is an excellent guide and we can see this is his passion as he has been coming here since he was a child. The art we see dipicts all the different clans who would come to this place for special ceremonies. There are kangaroos, fruitbats, snakes, peoples totems and lots of hand prints everywhere, it truly is a magical place and we both feel very privledged to have done the trip. We dont take any pictures as it really didnt feel right to take any and it would not have shown the magic of the place anyway.
Around here we are starting to see loads of termite mounds and they are all different shapes and sizes. Each different soil type and shape is actually a completely different type of termite and some look very gothic, just like
castles.
We finish our trip around lunchtime and head off to the Hann River to do some fishing. We dont actually catch anything but Shenton does spot bubbles moving towards him in the water which we think was most likely a crocodile. Just before he saw these bubbles his rod had got tangled and he went into the water to cut it free, I dont think he will be doing that again in a hurry! It is now around 4.30 and we could camp here for the night but we decide to head on and try to get to Coen, the next town. This means we are driving at dusk, the roads are ok but there are loads of cattle and roos in the road so we have to be careful not to hit anything.
We pull into Coen and stop for a drink at the hotel which was called the Exchange hotel according to my book but someone has added an S so now it is the Sexchange hotel! The barman tells us we can head out 3km and camp by the creek and we can swim in it as there are no crocs, so this is
what we do. We find it in the dark ok and there are a couple of other people camping here. Have a great nights sleep and in the morning have a lovely swim in the creek. It is so quiet with noone around and really a perfect place just the kind of thing we were expecting on this trip.
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anonymous
non-member comment
seen that art when went to laura dance festival ,, all indegenous people whited people minority was first tim felt the australian quality away from mainstream white anglo oz our in rare place real oz , brilliant guys brilliant