The Cave of Laughter

This is a Cave of Laughter – it looks like a smile - and is occupied by a happy spirit. If you feel sad or down, just simply walk in (I really ought to say "climb" - it's rather high), stay there for some time and see how your mood changes.

This is also one of few caves that are not sacred and therefore may be photographed (and can be photographed without a bad conscience in my case – most tourist take photos of everything – sacred or not). Most of the sacred caves are caves for women.

My favourite one was the “pregnancy cave” – shaped as a bell. A woman simply went in and when she came out …. she was pregnant!

Here is a story of an Aboriginal baby Matthew (from Douglas Lockwood's book: "We, the Aborigines")

"My Mummy loves me as much as any white mother; perhaps more, in fact. She is not obliged to waste a lot of mushy love on my Daddy, and is thus able to give it all to me.

The relationship between fathers and mothers in the Wailbri tribe is undemonstrative. My Mum and Dad have a deep affection for each other but I've never heard them whispering sweet nothings in the dark. The moon in June on the silver lagoon doesn't mean anything in their love lives. They are not likely to talk about the fine texture of black hair, the smoothness of black skin, or the depth of black eyes. If he wants to demonstrate his affection my Dad gives my Mum a few puffs from his pipe. She might scoop a hiphole in the sand for him, or bring him a piece of grilled lizard for his dinner. They do not kiss. The thought of doing so would be abhorrent to them. They stroke one another gently and murmur softly when they feel the physical need of each other.

I am not supposed to know about these things but there's not much privacy in an aborigines' camp. We have only one wind break, one fire, and one blanket each. We huddle together to keep warm in the winter. Mum often has to get up to stoke the fire, and it's then that I see her crawl back into Dad's blanket.

I hope you don't think I was conceived and born as a result of sexual intercourse which takes place there. Some of the sophisticated natives in Alice Springs say that a man can give a woman a child this way. But we know better than that. My Mum and Dad know that I was created by a spirit entering her body."

I don't know whether it's true but I've heard that Aboriginal children are born with white skin.
I found only one cave for men - a cave where they rest after a day out hunting.