Mudurup Rocks

During mid to late summer, birok, (Dec-Jan) and burnoru (Feb-Mar) the Noongar people used to frequent the place called Mudurup, which is now known as Cottesloe Beach. The ceremonial site of Mudurup is considered as one of the most important mythological coastal sites on the Swan Coastal Plain.

The Mudurup site is a limestone outcrop that overlooks a platform that used to be a popular fishing spot. If you look at the limestone ledge and almost stalactite pipes projecting down from a distance the site resembles a shark with its mouth open. Moonda or Moonder means Tiger Shark. It's name translates to "place of whiting" ,when "Kadjil the Crow Man" a man who could turn from man to crow, visited Mudurup, fish such as mullet and salmon would be arriving soon. 

Mudurup site was part of the initiation process, where initiates were taken to learn about Kurannup, the destination of the spirits beyond the western sea towards Garden and Rottnest Islands. The Noongar people believed that the ravens helped to carry the spirits away toward the setting sun, which drops on the horizon between the two islands.