Page 87 - Off The Tourist Trail - 1000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives (Part 2 of 2)

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Cueva de las Murujuga Font-de-Gaume
Maravillas NEED TO KNOW NEED TO KNOW

LOCATION Murujuga begins INDONESIA LOCATION The caves are 6/*5&%
NEED TO KNOW at Dampier, around 785 miles in the Dordogne region of ,*/(%0. ART AND CULTURE
(1,265 km) north of Perth, Indian Darwin southwest France, 78 miles 1BSJT
LOCATION The cave is Western Australia Ocean Coral (125 km) from Bordeaux
around 30 miles (50 km) "UMBOUJD 0DFBO Sea
DATING FROM MURUJUGA DATING FROM '3"/$&
east of Santo Domingo, in Around 8000 BC Around 12,000 BC
the Dominican Republic 1VFSUP 1MBUB AUSTRALIA '0/5 %& -JNPHFT 48*5;&3-"/%
DAYTIME DAYTIME
DATING FROM )"*5* %0.*/*$"/ TEMPERATURES TEMPERATURES ("6.& -ZPO *5"-:
Around AD 1000 3&16#-*$ Perth Adelaide Sydney
Jan: 91°F (33°C); Apr: 93°F Jan: 42°F (6°C); Apr: 52°F #PSEFBVY
DAYTIME 4BOUP %PNJOHP (34°C); Jul: 82°F (28°C); Melbourne Canberra (11°C); Jul: 70°F (21°C); 5PVMPVTF
TEMPERATURES: $6&7" %& -"4 Oct: 91°F (33°C) Oct: 57°F (14°C)
Jan: 75°F (24°C); Apr: 79°F ."3"7*--"4 41"*/
(26°C); Jul: 81°F (27°C); $BSJCCFBO 4FB
Oct: 81°F (27°C)
The remote Burrup Peninsula, or Murujuga, of There are very few prehistoric painted grottos still
northwestern Australia, is part of the Dampier open to the public. The finest is Font-de-Gaume,
Discovered in 1926, the Cueva de las Maravillas Archipelago. It is home to what is claimed to be with some 240 paintings and engravings dating
(“Cave of Miracles”) is a veritable subterranean art the world’s largest array of rock carvings, dating from around 12000 BC. As at Lascaux, the paintings
gallery. The walls of the single huge grotto, over back some 10,000 years or more. According to were created using color-blowing techniques, as
2,625 ft (800 m) long, are decorated with almost estimates there are as many as a million carvings well as employing the natural contours of the
500 quaintly stylized and perfectly preserved to be found here, showing an astonishing range karst cave walls to lend shape and volume to
pictographs and petroglyphs, created by the Taino of images including animals (kangaroos, emus, figures. There’s a positive menagerie of animals
people around 1,000 years ago. The cave is also snakes, dogs, turtles, and whales) and humans, on display here: bison, mammoths, deer, and
home to an impressive quantity of stalactites, some depicted carrying traditional objects such horses appear most often, but you can also make
stalagmites, columns, and other unusual as boomerangs and wearing ceremonial head- out a wolf, a bear, and two rhinoceroses. Together
crystalline formations. With guided tours lasting an dresses. The threat of industrial development to with enigmatic hand outlines and geometrical
hour, it is well set up for visitors and is one of the the archipelago’s archaeological treasures has shapes, they offer a rare and fascinating glimpse
few caves in the world accessible to wheelchairs. become a cause célèbre for conservationists and, into the lifestyle of a remote Paleolithic era.
in 2007, most of the area was added to Australia’s
National Heritage list. There are ongoing appeals
Practical Information Practical Information
for it to be given UNESCO World Heritage status.
Getting There and Around Fly to Santo Domingo. From here, catch a taxi or Getting There and Around The caves are on the D47 road, 1 km from the
bus to the caves, or take an internal flight to Cueva Las Maravillas airport at town of Les Eyzies. The nearest airport is Bordeaux (90 mins drive away)
San Pedro de Macoris. The caves lie east of here, on the La Romana highway. and the nearest train station at Périgeux (20 mins drive away). You will
Practical Information
When to Go November to April is dry season. The caves are open all year. Getting There and Around Fly to Perth, then catch a connecting flight to need your own transportation to explore the local area. Note that only
Website www. gocaribbean.about.com/od/attract4/gr/LaRomanaCaves.htm Karratha Airport, from where you can rent an off-road vehicle for the 200 visitors are allowed to enter the caves each day. Advance booking is
25-mile (42-km) drive to the Burrup Peninsula. essential in peak season.
Spectacular stalactites descending in curtains from the cave roof at When to Go The cooler winter months from May to October are best. When to Go Easter holidays and July–August are particularly busy. May,
the Cueva de las Maravillas, Dominican Republic June and September offer good weather and fewer crowds.
Website www.burrup.org.au
Website www.francethisway.com/heritagesites/fontdegaume.php
Bird tracks etched into the stone at Deep Gorge on the Burrup
Peninsula of Western Australia
Contours of the cave wall lend volume to images of bison at the
caves of Font-de-Gaume, France

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