By Jo Hindle

During my four-wheel drive tour through this frontier country I explored the outback's masterpieces and discovered some of their Dreamtime meanings along the way.

First stop on the way to the Desert was the Ewaninga Rock Carvings, a sacred Aboriginal rock art site. There are many Aboriginal scriptures here, carved onto rocks as flat as easels in a natural sandstone gallery. A 15-minute stroll around the sandy reserve revealed many symbols that I'm told are a record of important beliefs of the Arrernte people. What fascinated me, however, was the secrecy surrounding the meanings of the symbols - the Arrernte people consider them too dangerous to divulge to non-initiated people.

Pondering the mystery I jumped back into the vehicle. Chambers Pillar was the next destination and I was anxious to see the icon I'd heard so much about. It's little wonder why the Pillar is such a hot topic of conversation; it's pretty impressive. The Pillar rises as a solitary beacon out of the vast red plains, a red and yellow sandstone column that stands 50 metres tall. It was obvious why the early pioneers used it as a navigational landmark.

As we climbed to the base of the formation, our guide revealed the Dreaming story attached to the Pillar. Itirkawara, the Gecko Ancestor, ran off with a young girl from his tribe. They were related. She was banished by his tribe and they retreated to the desert. As they grew tired and weakened, time froze them to stone, him in the form of the phallic symbol of Chambers Pillar, and her as the Kneeling Woman, a nearby rock formation resembling just that.

At the base of the pillar, the strength of the wind blowing around the stone was amazing and here I was introduced to the 'Historical Roll Call', a series of engravings on the soft sandstone walls made by the pioneers of this amazing country. Some of the dates were in the early 1800s and I could have spent hours pouring over the carefully carved inscriptions.

A bumpy trek over the rolling sand dunes took us to our final destination for the day, Rainbow Valley. Nestled in the James Ranges, Rainbow Valley is an awesome sandstone bluff with rainbow-like bands of red, yellow, orange and white embedded in the sandstone. When the vast claypan that stretches out beneath the ridge is full of water, I'm told it provides a magical mirror image of the Valley above it.

On this day, the Valley was shadowed by a blanket of cloud, and I was worried that I wouldn't see the Valley in the sunlight when it's at its most beautiful. As if my thoughts were read, the sun's rays suddenly shot down through the clouds and bathed the valley in a warm glow. The prism effect this had on Rainbow Valley was an almost spiritual experience.

My visit to the Simpson Desert evolved my long-held perception that the Centre's desert is a bleak land, devoid of colour and plentiful in nothingness. I discovered vibrant sandstone formations that have stood proud for millions of years and learnt about their significant meaning to the Aboriginal people.

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