Jar Island and Vansittart Bay

Jar Island and the Art of the Gwion Gwion

This morning’s excursion was one I know my sister Peggy would have truly enjoyed. Peggy is a great admirer of Native American pictographs and petroglyphs. The island of Jar was, a few thousand years ago, connected by land to the continent. The (now) island was a camping area for the indigenous people, including ancestors known as Gwion Gwion. (Until recently, this art was better known as Bradshaw art.) We visited two sites of art as old as 12,000 ago, as well as a burial site we were forbidden to photograph. (It is a rough pile of rocks.)

This was our first “wet landing,” where we exited the zodiacs into ankle-deep water (for just a step or two) along the beach. The art sites were a few hundred feet inland, located under overhangs and shallow caves, which protected them through the ages. Most of the remaining art is iron-based, red wine-hued pigments, which absorbed into the sandstone. Other colors, such as those based on charcoal are mostly gone except in well-protected environments.

The art is characterized by depictions of slender humans adorned with headdresses, tassels and sashes. There are also animals displayed. An internet search will produce spectacular photographs of the art, but I’ve included several of my own snapshots. Our visit was to only two of thousands of such sites.

Jar Island

Getting to the art sites involved negotiating a few tricky paths and rock steps for us of the “mature” generation.

A few of the shots of the art I took.

Some of the art depicted animals.

Vansittart Bay

After our visit to Jar Island, the Pursuit relocated to Vansittart Bay. This remote bay was the location of Truscott Airbase during World War II. But it is not the airbase that was our destination. Rather, we visited the remains of a WW II aircraft that crashed near the bay. The airplane, an American P 53, was attempting to fly from Broome to Darwin in February 1942, not long after the U.S. entered the war. (The P 53 was a non-cargo variant of the C-47/DC3.) A navigation error, poor weather and a shortage of fuel caused the pilot to attempt a wheels-up landing in the mudflats. Sighting serious rocks in his path in the final moments, he turned and crashed in the nearby forest. Of the six crew and passengers, a broken arm was the only injury. Several days later, all were saved by a Quantas flying boat. (Truscott Airbase was not yet established.)

Another “wet” landing from the zodiacs, but it was the sand that made slow going. Crossing the mudflats proved easier.

The rocks in the mudflats are what caused the pilot to turn into the forest. Visibility had been poor.

The airplane’s frame is remarkedly preserved, mostly because it was constructed of aluminum. Not long after the war, metal scavengers removed sections of the plane, even flipping one wing, but much remains to be viewed by gawking tourists such as us.