Desert to the Sea on the CSR

Jo McDonald and Emily Grey

The first Desert to the Sea trip this year took place in April, on Martu ngurra at Pinpi (Durba Hills, Well 17 on the Canning Stock Route - CSR). This fieldwork was hosted by project partner Jamukurnu-Yapalikurnu Aboriginal Corporation (JYAC). The focus of this trip was to document rock art around Pinpi with a focus on managing tourism around cultural sites, and to study the range's water.

The team arrived at camp in the early evening to a beautiful full moon.

To reach Durba Hills the researchers travelled from Melbourne and Perth via Newman, before joining with Martu custodians from Parngurr and Jigalong.  The convoy travelled for two days from Jigalong along the Puntawarri Track, crossing Savory Creek, sand dunes and claypans before arriving at Pinpi in the early evening.  We set up camp the next day, and then had a group meeting to discuss the research nodes being focused on for this trip  – rock art, water, fire and management.

Team meetings were held at Pinpi throughout the trip; Centre top - current signage describes Martu traditions in the area.

Guided by stories and knowledge sharing by Martu custodians, the water team (Sarah Bourke and PhD student Logan Brauer) collected water samples from named springs, soaks and rock holes across the area. The spring known as Jilakurru is highly significant to Martu (Canning’s Well 17, is installed near this) and this valley is currently closed to tourists.

The hydrology work aims to understand which water sources are permanent, and whether these are rain- or groundwater dependent. Emma Beckett flew a multispectral drone to get high resolution imagery of vegetation and topography around these water places. 

Top left - The water team getting ready to make a collection; top right - Logan sampling at Biella rockhole; bottom left - Emma Beckett flies a multispectral drone to capture the area's vegetation health; bottom right - a beautiful local waterhole.

Guided by Martu custodians, three rock art teams documented key art sites originally recorded with custodians during the Canning Stock Route Project (2007-2010).  As well as auditing site location, the goal was to ensure the records were up to current standards and in the correct location.  This supporting information will help JYAC rangers to interpret and monitor these cultural places. PhD student Antonia Papasergio also undertook work with a multispectral camera to investigate non-destructive methods to understand pigment use in the art.

Top left - Jo McDonald and Zoe Southam recording snake motifs at a rock art site; top right - Antonia Papasergio uses a multispectral camera to document pigment in a rock art site; bottom left - Ken Mulvaney and Zoe recording an engraved block; bottom right - the team recording different rock art- elements in a small rock shelter.

To assess whether there was a risk to rock art places from wildfires we identified if vegetation was present within the rock shelters. Several cultural-burning fires on-country around the Ranges allowed us to observe the direct impact on rock surfaces (no rock art was impacted by these fires!). 

Left and centre - Martu custodians and researchers observe the effects of cultural burning together; right - Emma Beckett flies a drone to document the fires. cultural fire burning on Martu Ngurra.

The trip concluded with a return drive out along the Puntawarri Track, camping for a final night under the incredible desert sky. It was a privilege to be out on Martu Ngurra, and we look forward to more desert trips working with people on country!

Right - driving out at the Puntawarri Claypan, cleaning spinifex from under the cars; centre - camping on the track; right - a beautiful last sunset.

Leaving the Canning Stock Route at the end of the trip - hopefully back again soon!