Gulaga and Barunguba. A story of disobedience and rising seas.

The area between Narooma and Bermagui is considered to contain some of the most important Aboriginal places on the South Coast of NSW, including Gulaga and Biamanga. The Gulaga and Barunguba Dreamtime story is about the mother mountain Gulaga and her two sons, Barunguba and Najanuka: 

Gulaga's eldest son Barunguba, who became the island of Barunguba (Montague Island) wanted to explore his independence and move away, but Gulaga entrusted him with the responsibility of connecting the land and saltwater. However, Barunguba didn't listen to his mother and snuck away to go fishing. He was washed off his canoe by a big wave and laid down in the water, where he still lives today.

Gulaga's younger son Najanuka, who became Little Dromedary Mountain was forbidden by Gulaga to go far from home like Barunguba, so he stayed close to his mother. Najanuka now lies at the feet of Gulaga, who remains looking out to sea at her older son.

It is easy to consider this story a warning to alway listen to your mother and to do as you are told. However, it is also fascinating to consider whether the story also contains a memory going back many thousands of years to a time when what is now the island of Barunguba was connected to the mainland. Rising seas levels at the end of the last ice age led to it being cut off. The Yuin people would have been in the area and witnessed this change. How fascinating to think that a story that relates this major climate change has endured for over ten thousand years through oral storytelling alone.