In the East Macdonald Ranges, close to Ross River Retreat, lies N’Dhala Gorge. N’Dhala Gorge Nature Park contains Eastern Arrernte men’s sacred sites, including petroglyphs, art sites and shelter sites. The traditional owners call the area Ilwentje. The petroglyphs have been created using either a fine pecking or pounding technique, which are thought to have been used in two different periods.
As this new site has only just been opened to visitors, it wasn’t on our original itinerary but, true to our ethos, we make and take the opportunity to visit places of interest along the way, whether we knew about them before the tour started or acquired knowledge along the way.
A short 2 km walk around the gorge gives us the opportunity to site up to 6000 petroglyphs – we won’t do them all but the effort of discovery adds to the reward of sightings.