Teewah Colored Sands
Teewah Colored Sands , also The Pinnacles , is a sandstone formation over several kilometers and a sacred site of the Badtjalla Aborigines in Great Sandy National Park on the coast between Nossa and Fraser Island in Queensland , Australia .
Geology and formation
The Colored Sands are large sand dunes, which consist of pressed sand layers of different colors. The dunes reach a height of 200 meters. The layers of paint are created by adding differently composed plant residues from different epochs of sand stratification. The decay of the organic material releases substances that discolor the sand.
The phenomenon can also be seen on Fraser Island, where they are called Pinnacles Colored Sands .
meaning
The following legend tells how the Colored Sands, following the belief of the Aborigines, came about. The legend has been handed down in different wording and sometimes with different names. The following translation uses the same names as they are used in the explanatory panels of the natural monument:
“During the dreamtime there lived a young, beautiful, black woman named Wuru on the banks of the Noosa River. Although she was promised to Winyer, an older man, she fell in love with Wiberigan, the rainbow. Wiberigan came to Wuru every morning to see her. Wuru then clapped his hands for joy and sang for beautiful rainbows.
One day Winyer - a bad man from another tribe - came along and kidnapped Wuru. He made Wuru his wife and slave. He wickedly beat her and made her do all the work. Meanwhile, he sat in the shade and admired his terrible, deadly boomerang. This boomerang was larger than the tallest tree and possessed by an evil spirit.
One day Wuru ran away from her husband Winyer. As she was walking along the beach, which was still quite shallow at the time, she looked behind her. Wuru saw Winyer's boomerang coming towards him, which Winyer had thrown to kill her. She called for help and fell to the ground, feeling too frightened to keep walking.
Suddenly she heard a loud noise descend from the sky and saw Wiberigan, her beloved rainbow, as he hurried across the sea to come to her aid. The malicious boomerang attacked the brave rainbow and both clashed with a terrible clap of thunder. The tremendous blow killed the boomerang and shattered the rainbow at the same time.
So lay the rainbow, broken into many small pieces, dying on the stand. There it still lies in its blaze of color and forms the hills that can be found along the beach. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Pinnacles Colored Sands: Nature's Wonderful Sculpture. In: Drop Bear Adventures. October 23, 2015, accessed April 25, 2016 .
Coordinates: 26 ° 12 ′ 0.4 ″ S , 153 ° 4 ′ 57.4 ″ E