Ochre Pits

I am breaking again the line of thought or the theme in these past blog posts, but I could not avoid it because today's subject intrigued me. Last year, when we travelled to the Red Center, precisely Alice Springs, we visited the MacDonnell Ranges. One of the popular places to see there is the Ochre Pits (top picture). The story goes that the Arrernte Aboriginal people used to collect ochre from the pits, mix it with emu fat and paint their bodies for rituals. The place inspires respect, it almost has a religious feel, and touching the colorful rock that in places peels like paper is an experience I will never forget. Against the deep blue sky, the red, brown and beige stand out like in a painting. Now I'll go back to Melbourne. I walk to work every day on a road just above the train tracks between Heidelberg and Eaglemont, in the North-Eastern suburbs. Like in a flash back, I see the Ochre Pits (bottom picture), or anyway something that makes me think of them and the Arrernte people. Only that here the ochre probably gets eroded every day by the fast passing trains and sadly, no Aboriginal people can collect the ochre to use it for rituals. Do you see the similarity?