‘Rock Art Retreat’ 4-Day / 4-Night Special Event Package
Faraway Bay, The Bush Camp
2 to 6 May 2013 & 15 to 19 July 2013

As home to one of the Kimberley region’s most prolific collections of ancient rock art, the multi-award-winning Faraway Bay has announced a special four-day ‘Rock Art Retreat’, with tours to rare Indigenous art sites usually not accessed by the general public.

With a choice of dates – 2 to 6 May or 15 to 19 July 2013 – the unique cultural experience will be led by respected and well known Aboriginal elder Ju Ju ‘Buriwee’ Wilson, and internationally-renowned archaeologist Lee Scott-Virtue.  The pair have been recording and cataloguing the rock art of Faraway Bay since 1998.

Scott-Virtue says the general area of Faraway Bay appears to have been a mecca for Ice Age painters, with some of the most unique examples of the late Pleistocene Bradshaw style of rock art in Australia.

“The range and diversity of rock art there is extraordinary.  The archaeological evidence indicates that the Faraway Bay area may have been one of the central areas occupied by the painters of Bradshaw rock art.

“An incredible range of Bradshaw art can be found in almost every rock outcrop throughout the area.  The thousands of images and the diversity of the Bradshaw motifs provide a valuable insight into the social and cultural behaviour of the people who painted there.”

Access is mostly by boat, however minimal vehicle access and a lot of walking can also take the keen rock art enthusiast into some magnificent sites.

“The sites themselves are often located in some of the most amazing geological rock formations found anywhere in the Kimberley,” Scott-Virtue said.

In the words of Ju Ju Wilson: “The rock art is very important. It’s a living thing. When I go, I hear things like people laughing and crying, people dancing. Spiritual things. It’s very sacred.” 

Back at the camp, Wilson will tell stories of her Aboriginal heritage as she paints.  Tours around the camp will show how food was gathered by Indigenous people many years ago and highlight the plants used to create traditional bush medicines.

The fully-inclusive Rock Art Retreat package includes a series of tours across four days, scenic air transfers ex-Kununurra, four nights’ twin-share accommodation in an ensuite cliff-top cabin, all gourmet meals and beverages, a boat cruise to King George Falls - WA’s largest waterfall, fishing and all activities.  The four-day / four-night Rock Art Retreat package is $5,540 per person. Places are strictly limited to a maximum of 16 guests only.