Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the land be integrated into the national park. The legal steps necessary for the in-
clusion of the lease into the park were well underway in 2012. Meanwhile, the
Ranger mine − which is officially not part of the national park but is surrounded by
it − was transitioning from an open-cut to an underground mine in late 2012.
However, expansion of the mine is not guaranteed and under current legislation it
is due to close in 2021, with rehabilitation complete by 2026.
Ubirr & Around
It'll take a lot more than the busloads of visitors here to disturb Ubirr's inherent majesty
and grace. Layers of
rock-art paintings
, in various styles and from various centuries,
command a mesmerising stillness. Part of the main gallery reads like a menu, with im-
ages of kangaroos, tortoises and fish painted in x-ray, which became the dominant style
about 8000 years ago. Predating these are the paintings of mimi spirits: cheeky, dynamic
figures who, it's believed, were the first of the Creation Ancestors to paint on rock
(...given the lack of cherry pickers in 6000 BC, you have to wonder who else but a spirit
could have painted at that height and angle). Look out for the yam-head figures, where
the head is depicted as a yam on the body of a human or animal; these date back around
15,000 years.
The magnificent
Nardab Lookout
is a 250m scramble from the main gallery. Survey-
ing the billiard-table-green floodplain and watching the sun set and the moon rise, like
they're on an invisible set of scales, is glorious, to say the least.
Ubirr
( 8.30am-sunset
Apr-Nov, from 2pm Dec-Mar)
is 39km north of the Arnhem Hwy via a sealed road.
On the way you'll pass the turn-off to Merl Camping Ground (
Click here
), which is
only open in the Dry and has an amenities block, and the Border Store (
Click here
),
selling groceries and takeaway food (no fuel).
2
Activities
Bardedjilidji Sandstone Walk
WALKING
Starting from the upstream picnic-area car park, this walk (2.5km, 90 minutes, easy)
takes in wetland areas of the East Alligator River and some interesting eroded sandstone
outliers of the Arnhem Land escarpment. Informative track notes point out features on
this walk.
Manngarre Monsoon Forest Walk
WALKING
