Woy Woy Road Whale and Kangaroos

Summary: A large whale, two fish and three kangaroos across three adjacent rock platforms near Woy Woy Road.

  • Site type: Rock engraving
  • Number of sites: 3
  • Number of motifs: 6
  • Motif/s: Fish, Kangaroo, Whale
  • Quality: 2.5/5
  • Condition of site: Good, Weathered
  • View site sketch – whale / fish and kangaroo / two wallabies
  • Year first recorded: 1898
  • Originally Recorded by: W.D. Campbell, F.D. McCarthy, Ian Sim
  • Campbell Reference: PATONGA Plate 27 Fig 6 in Aboriginal Carving of Port Jackon and Broken Bay (Download)
  • McCarthy reference: PATONGA Group 175 / Mankind Group 163 in Catalogue of Rock Engravings (1983)
  • Sim Reference: Mankind 7(1) 1969, Group 263 (Sheet 1, Figs A and B)
  • Sydney Rock Art – Bulgandry

Not far from Woy Woy Road, between the Bulgandry Aboriginal Site and Bulgandry 2 are three small engraving sites.

Whale

The first has a whale on a large outcrop.

engraving PLATE XXVII Fig6 v2 Woy Woy Road Whale and Kangaroos

This engraving was documented by both W.D. Campbell (Plate 27, Fig 6) and later by Ian Sim (Group 163, Series 1). The carving is quite worn, and the lower fin is no longer visible.

AWAT4014 LR Woy Woy Road Whale and Kangaroos

Fish and Kangaroo

Nearby and on the same rock are two fish and a leaping kangaroo. These were not documented by Campbell, but later covered by Sim (Group 163, Series 2).

engraving Mankind Group 163 S2 Woy Woy Road Whale and Kangaroos

The large fish is very faint.

AWAT4017 LR Woy Woy Road Whale and Kangaroos
AWAT4018 LR Woy Woy Road Whale and Kangaroos

The kangaroo – which takes up most of a small rock adjoining the main platform – is quite distinct.

AWAT4032 LR Woy Woy Road Whale and Kangaroos

The rock platform also has a modern or European carving.

AWAT4019 LR Woy Woy Road Whale and Kangaroos

Two Wallabies

Nearby and in thick scrub are a pair of wallabies (Sim Group 163, Series 3).

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to Hiking the World, and receive notifications of new posts by email. (A hike is added every 1-2 weeks, on average.)

Join 637 other subscribers

0 Comments

Leave a Reply

Aboriginal Sites by National Park

Aboriginal Rock Art – Lane Cove
Over 40 sites have been recorded within the park; many were located along the river bank and were flooded by the building of the weir in 1938.
Aboriginal Rock Art – Hornsby Shire
Hornsby Shire - which is the largest LGA in the Greater Sydney Metropolitan region - contains approximately 600 recorded Aboriginal rock art sites (and over 1,200 Aboriginal heritage sites). These date back from thousands of years to post-European contact art.
Aboriginal Rock Art – Maroota and Marramarra NP
Located to the north-west of Sydney, just south of the Dharug and Yengo National Parks, Maroota has a high concentration of (known) Aboriginal sites. Many more Aboriginal heritage sites are located in the Marramarra National Park. The original inhabitants of the area were the Darug people.
Aboriginal Rock Art – Yengo National Park
Yengo National Park was an important spiritual and cultural place for the Darkinjung and Wonnarua People for thousands of years, and 640 Aboriginal cultural sites are recorded in the park and nearby areas.