We arrived in Laura to find the Laura Races and Rodeo weekend in full swing, so decided to go out to the picnic races for a look. It was a true country experience. About 1000 people were camped in the grounds in festival style. R M Williams boots, hats mingled with little dresses and fascinators made up the good humored crowd. We watched Race 2 and then decided to place a bet on Race 3. Number 4, Malakai came in first at 4:1, paying for our entry and drinks for the day. Nice result and a fitting thing to happen towards the end of a great holiday. At around 3 pm we set off for Jowalbinna, 36 km or one hours drive away from Laura. Some sandy crossings and one reasonable creek coupled with some long steep hills found us at a well organised, cleared camp ground where we were the only people. We quickly set up our camp and then settled in to enjoy the quiet and the pretty view of sunset over the creek. There are a group of people camped on the other side who are mustering feral cattle on the property, and they have had a fire going under the boiler so we had hot showers as well. Scotch fillet steak for dinner with chocolate and hot drinks after and the stars on show. Thick and bright.
Midst morning, the tent was heavy with dew, a first for our trip, and we had had to use the sleeping bag for the first time. Our host, Steve Trelize, arrived to say g'day and we agreed to meet him at the homestead. Half an hour later we were chatting about aboriginal art and Australian pre-history in his open walled shed that is his home and studio. Steve is also a painter, as was his father, and he had many fabulous pieces around the shed. We took some pics, and then crammed into his 1989 Toyota Land Cruiser to drive to the start of a 5 hour bush walk to view some of the Quinkan art sites on his property. The drive itself was exciting, very slow in places as we crawled up deep rutted hills and across rocky outcrops. At the top of a spectacular escarpment, we could view a pristine valley, trimmed by sandstone features. At the base of the gully, a creek like something you would find In Middle Earth, bubbled away around twisted tree roots and reeds. We came to the first site, a single mans camp site, where men and boys were depicted with a dingo. At the second site, a wallaroo being chased by a pair of dingos, their tails erect, really strongly suggesting the relationship between aboriginal people and dogs around hunting. At the next site, we saw male and female figures, anatomically correct, hinting at the use of this site in sacred coming of age rituals and knowledge. Also eels, echidna, crocodile are depicted. In the third site, probably the main camp, the wall was literally layered with images, some clear and vibrant and very well preserved.
The experience of this walk and these image was breathtaking, and more impressive than we could have imagined. Steve has been guiding people here for over 30 years and is a really interesting character. Very knowledgable about the art, history, flora and fauna, and we had a great chat. The drive back was equally thrilling in the old tray back at 1.30, and now hot too. A highly satisfactory day, we thanked Steve warmly and set off for Atherton 270 kms south. And we FINALLY had a chance to wear our boots!
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