GPS coordinates may be pretty jumpy, therefore climb the wall just
ahead the waypoint
30°16'20.60"S; 139°17'15.61"E
The container is a 4l tin can providing logbook, notes and
pencils. An opening tool is nearby - otherwise use your car
key.
Enjoy the environment and the waterhole, however, please do not
swim in it as this may alter its layered salinity levels. In
addition, sunscreen and other chemicals would damage the the
fragile ecosystem.
The Story:
Nooldoo Nooldoona is "where they rolled great rocks down to
block Arkaroo's passing". As often as not, native names conjure up
a whole story.
Arkaroo, the legendary "Bunyip" or Serpent of the Northern
Flinders Ranges, monarch of the high ranges, once developed a great
thirst. He descended from his mountain lair and drank Lake Frome
dry. Then, with his belly full of brine, he retreated, dragging and
carving out the sinuous great gorge that is the Arkaroola.
Variously, along his serpentile trail, he halted to rest, or was
held up by dreamtime creatures that barred his way. At each of
these places, he "made water", leaving a waterhole that remains to
this day.
Upstream, still further along what is now the cool, deep
Arkaroola Gorge, lies Nooldoonooldoona Waterhole. It was here that
Arkaroo encountered hostile Dreamtime Warriors. "Go Back", they
yelled. Arkaroo would not, so they rolled great stones down in
attempt to block his path.
The great rocks are still there. The largest weights several
hundred tons and was torn from the ravine-like gorge nearby.
Matching quartz veins tell exactly from just where. The rock has
moved 30m since it fell. it moved several meters further during the
record floods of the 1970's.
References:
Reg C. Sprigg: "Arkaroola - Mount Painter in the Northern
Flinders Ranges, S.A.: The Last Billion Years" (1984) Gillingham
Printers Pty Ltd, Underdale, Australia