Location 1: Arrawarra interchange northbound
Daniel Dootson
Singing in the Dolphins
The story depicted in the artwork is the singing in of the dolphins at Arrawarra. Arrawarra is home to the fish traps, a rock formation designed to catch fish with help from the high and low tides. The old people used to sing to the dolphins and the dolphins would hear their songs and help round up the fish into the traps for the old people. They would mainly do this on the night of the 2 blue moons. When the 2 blue moons were in the night sky, this was when the traps were most useful. The fish would be gathered in with help from the dolphins and as the tide went down the fish were caught inside the rock formations, leaving the old people with a good feed of fresh fish.
Location 1: Arrawarra interchange - southbound
Daniel Dootson
Singing in the Dolphins
This artwork tells a story like that of the first artwork. It tells of the singing of the dolphins and the fish traps, but in this artwork, the dolphins are busy rounding up all the fish for the old people. It also depicts some sources of food that are available in the area, googanbull and pipis. Googanbull can be found in and around the rocks, making it easy to gather for a feed, and pipis can be gathered from the sand up and down the beaches. These sources of food are still a big part of the artist Daniel Dootson’s family's diet and are still enjoyed by his people. The artwork also depicts families gathering and having a feed of their local tucker along the beach.
Location 3: Range Road Interchange northbound
Reece Flanders
The Golden Dog
Location 3: Range Road Interchange southbound
The artworks by Reece Flanders depicts The Golden Dog. The northbound artwork incorporates the mountain range, yam leaves and kangaroo tracks, with elements relating to the Glenugie Peak story.
The southbound artwork has elements relating to Arrawarra and the fish traps. It depicts the blue moons, swimming fish and dolphins, while also having the golden dog which connects to the mountain range.
Location 4: Glenugie Interchange northbound
Deborah Taylor
Birrigan and Mindi
Location 4: Glenugie Interchange southbound
Both the northbound and southbound artworks are based on the Gumbaynggirr legend of the formation of what is known as Glenugie Peak, which is near that section of the highway. It was formed when Mindi gave sight to kangaroos and Birrigan covered Mindi’s yam field to form the mountain.
The imagery in both artworks is of the kangaroo tracks, the mountain and the rocks and soil that covered the yam garden. The artworks are also inspired by the large carpet snake that lives in that area and has been mentioned to the artist Deborah Taylor by her cousins who have visited the walking track. The markings on the snake are the imagery used to depict the Clarence River. This is a homage to the southern end of Gumbaynggirr Country. Glenugie Peak is also known as a place of fine-leafed wattle or ‘gunayjin’ and, therefore, the wattle is prominent in the design. The colours used are bright and bold with the goal of having travellers see the images and know that they are on Gumbaynggirr land.