Description

This site was given its intriguing name by Stanbury & Clegg, who show in their book a lovely engraving of two lovers. Sadly the site is now badly damaged by weather, and the female is almost destroyed by exfoliation of the rock. The shield (shown above) is still well-preserved, but is difficult to reach and not recommended except for the most ardent enthusiast. I was unable to reach the whale engraving because of thick bush and a swollen creek at the time of visiting. I include this site only for the sake of completeness as it is listed by Stanbury & Clegg.

To get there

Drive into Kuringai Chase National Park along West Head Road, and park at the second turning to the Salvation Loop Track. Walk about 100 metres further North along the road, and on a sharp bend you will see a wall on your left, above which is the rocky plateau for which you are aiming. Climbing up onto it here is almost impossible, so I recommend retracing your steps about 15 metres, and you will see a much lower and smaller rocky plateau (at 33.62573,151.26149). Climb onto this, and on the Northern end you will, with difficulty, find the remains of the lovers' engraving(33.62572,151.26174). Now walk to the westernmost point of this plateau, and then continue through the thick scrub (mind the snakes!) about 10 metres to the North-West, until you reach a convenient place to climb the much larger rock plateau. Once up on the plateau, you can admire the magnificent view, and find the shield engraving (at 33.62526,151.26171).

The whales engraving is a short distance to the North, but I haven't yet succeeded in reaching it because of the thick scrub and a creek which was full on the one occasion I visited this site. Stanbury & Clegg recommend going back to the road at this stage, and approaching the whale engraving from the road, but that route too was impassable when I visited.

For more information

• Stanbury & Clegg, p. 54

For full information on books (publisher, ISBN, etc) see the "Further Reading" page.

Image Gallery

Click on thumbnail on left to see full-sized image

	Plan showing the location of the site, reproduced by kind permission of John Clegg. © Stanbury & Clegg 1990.
	Sketch of the engravings, reproduced by kind permission of John Clegg. © Stanbury & Clegg 1990.
	The engraving of the shield. Note how the peck marks are still distinct, and have not been smoothed together to form a groove, suggesting that this is a fairly recent engraving. Fortunately, this engraving is well-protected by being on the sloping edge of the rock plateau, facing thick vegetation.
	The male lover. The distinct shape of his penis may be seen on the left, and his head can be seen with a little more difficulty on the right. Compare this with the sketch above from Stanbury & Clegg.
	The remains of the female lover. Much of her has disappeared under the exfoliation of the rock to the left, and the remaining grooves are indistinct.