Anzac Day - Celebrate this Land

On Anzac Day on Ngunnawal land, the Aussie and the Kiwi went on a bit of a trek in the Namadgi National Park. A bit of kanga stalking, rock tripping, a picnic under the gum trees - and heaps of sunshine! Highly recommended.

Entered the track from Gudgenby, a few Ks from the Gelndale Crossing about 30ks from Tharwa. Bring a 4WD cos it can get a bit hilly and dusty. Don't forget hat and sunscreen cos 70% of the track is open air with very little trees overhead due to land clearing. At Yankee Hat rocks you can see Aboriginal rock painting. The indigenous people of this land resided here till 1860s till it was turned into farm land. Its only been protected and heritage listed in 1984 when Namadgi was made national park. The rock painting is done by a mixture of clays, red ochre and some blood. The rock and the rock painting is likely to be a meeting place, with the black markings most likely from an open fire. You can see that the different figures in the painting depicts different animals - ie. the big white one is a kangaroo (looking suspiciously like our Milly...) smaller white ones are dingos, and the birds depict emus. The figures with the longer limbs are humans, and you can also see figures of a turtle and an achidna. The above picture is of a type of eucalyptus tree - commonly called scribbly gum - a type of moth's (called scribbly moth- eh!) lavae lives just under the bark and makes those marks (apparently doesn't hurt the trees). And on the right is another gum tree waiting to bloom.