ASIANOVERLAND.NET SYDNEY TO LONDON DAY 6: GARIWERD (GRAMPIANS) TO THE COORONG, NGARRINDJERI

Grampians National Park (Gariwerd) is one of the richest Indigenous rock art sites in south-eastern Australia and is on the National Heritage List for its natural beauty and Aboriginal culture. 

Notable rock art sites depict humans, human hands, animal tracks and birds.:

• Billimina (Glenisla shelter)
• Jananginj Njani (Camp of the Emu's Foot)
• Manja (Cave of Hands)
• Larngibunja (Cave of Fishes)
• Ngamadjidj (Cave of Ghosts - the same word used for white people)
• Gulgurn Manja (Flat Rock)

The rock art was created by Jardwadjali and Djab Wurrung peoples.  

Gariwerd was central to the dreaming of the creator, Bunjil, who created many landscape features in western Victoria including Bunjil's Shelter. 

Drive west from the Grampians to Mount Gambier, the Blue Lake and The Coorong, the 194 km long sandy beach running down the outer side of the Younghusband Peninsula, the longest beach in Australia. It runs from the Murray mouth to Cape Jaffa.

You still use a punt to cross the Murray River near The Coorong.

The Coorong involves the interaction of water along its length, with sea water and Murray River water meeting groundwater. Coorong mullet, mulloway and bream are the main fish species caught for human consumption in The Coorong.

The Coorong is of great cultural significance to the Ngarrindjeri people, who have songlines relating to creation stories and a long history of living sustainably.

Camp Coorong is a place of cultural learning, where visitors can learn about Ngarrindjeri culture, history, arts and crafts, including basket-weaving.

The wetlands of the Coorong Lagoon form a complex ecosystem of freshwater, estuarine, and saline waterbodies with a unique diversity of habitats for plants and animals. The coastal lagoons are critically endangered due to the loss of freshwater flows from the Murray and Darling Rivers.

The Coorong National Park has been recognised by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area which supports the chestnut teal, Australian shelduck, sharp-tailed sandpiper, red-necked stint, banded stilt, red-necked avocet, pied oystercatcher, red-capped plover, Australasian bitterns, orange-bellied parrots, fairy terns and hooded plovers.

The largest pelican rookery in Australia is at Jack Point, about 7 km north of Salt Creek.

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