Bulgandry Art Site Aboriginal Place

In the coastal areas of New South Wales, rock engraving is a predominant traditional art form, extremely important to Aboriginal spiritual beliefs and culture. Flat, exposed areas of Hawkesbury sandstone provide the perfect 'blank canvas' for this, and are a unique style of engraving found in Australia with the iconic large figures drawn with a single outline.

One of the most significant Aboriginal sites in New South Wales is the chisel and hammerstone sandstone carvings of the creator spirit 'Baiyami' at Bulgandry Art Site Aboriginal Place in Brisbane Water National Park, a large engraving of a man thought to represent an ancestral hero, depicted with an impressive headdress. You’ll also see engravings of wallabies, fish, a dolphin and what's thought to be a canoe and a bird. Keep walking to see some stone tool sharpening grooves nearby.

Some of the Bulgandry engravings at Kariong, on Woy Woy Road, were scientifically recorded in 1951, and became part of Brisbane Water National Park ten years later. From 1978, the National Parks and Wildlife Service opened Bulgandry Art Site Aboriginal Place to the public with respectful visitor access managed with a boardwalk and signage, to preserve the engravings while also encouraging visitors to learn about Aboriginal culture. 

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NOTE FOR VISITORS:

• Please treat this site with respect and do not interfere with any cultural Aboriginal sites or engravings - it's an offence.
• Do not walk across the rock shelf or areas that have engravings.

BE RESPECTFUL AND DO NOT:

• ever touch or interfere with a sacred site
• walk over a site
• ride your bike over a site
• light fires or drag vegetation through the area

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_{Source: NPWS Hunter Central Coast Visitor Information brochure.}