The Kimberley Region of North West Australia

Exploring the Australian Kimberley

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In 1992 the Trustees of the Bradshaw Foundation toured the North West Australian Kimberley with Grahame Walsh looking for Bradshaw paintings. The only way of covering this vast area of Australia, the size of Switzerland, is by helicopter due to the roughness of the terrain. We always travelled with two aircraft, as if "downed", being found was improbable and walking-out, impossible. Many of the Bradshaw Paintings and younger Wandjina paintings, are found at the same locations, usually near permanent water holes, some of which are extremely large, like the one on the Drysdale River. The Bradshaw Paintings are dated at a minimum of 17,000 BP (before present). The paint has been absorbed right into the rock surface, where as the Wandjina's still retain the original paint used by the artists thousands of years later. Most of the Wandjina paintings found in the Kimberley are only hundreds of years old. Paradise Pool on the Roe River. The wall of the pool above carry many Bradshaw paintings as yet unrecorded, and in the Monsoon tons of water pour over this cliff. Below near Wren Gorge, is a beautiful area of tropical vegetation on the Calder River is the only known home of the Black Wren. The photographs show how many paintings of Australian Kimberley are hidden on cliff faces under overhangs. Pictured below on Wren Gorge, Wandjina heads can just be seen above the man in the photograph. Some of these locations are extremely difficult to explore, but if lucky can be found with binoculars.

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