Stinkin' (hot) Quinkins

The tall thin spirit creatures of aboriginal folklore known as Quinkins - including the ferocious giant quinkin Turramulli - were introduced to us some weeks back in an illustrated storybook mailed up by Nana Jenny. It's the same book that Budge recalls from his childhood and provides motivation aplenty for us to embark on a 450km-plus daytrip into remote Cape York "Quinkin Country", in blistering heat, to see the story come alive in one of the largest and most colourful bodies of prehistoric rock art in the world.

In front of the paintings of human figures, where we guess that the figure on the left is the female before needing to be told (the breasts in the armpits are dead giveaways....)

The dark fat creature is an echidna or spiny anteater as seen from above. The cute blonde in the front is Jack, displaying the winning smile that he can now switch on and off for photos like a movie star.

Bats, upside down.

Giant Quinkins.

Quinkin Country contains thousands of rock art sites, mostly in rock shelters along the escarpment or on giant fallen boulders. The day we visit the temperature soars to 37 degrees, so the kids will climb to the first site and not a step further - leaving mum and dad to venture up to see the bats and giants on their own.