The Color of Love

With around 70 different shades of colored sands, it may appear that weather patterns and erosion have cast a spell on Rainbow Beach in Australia. According to local Aboriginal legend, however, the brilliant hues actually come from an Australian love story with a tragic ending.

The story goes that a beautiful maiden named Murrawar fell in love with the rainbow in the sky that visited her every evening. In a distant place lived an evil man named Burwilla, who possessed a boomerang that was bigger than the tallest tree and was filled with evil spirits. One day, Burwilla stole the young Australian maiden as his slave, often beating her cruelly.

One day, while Burwilla sat admiring his deadly boomerang, Murrawar escaped. As she ran along the Australian beach toward her home, she turned to see Burwilla’s boomerang behind her, quickly catching up. Terrified, she fell to the ground; too frightened to move, she called for help.

Suddenly, she heard a loud noise in the sky and saw her faithful rainbow racing toward her from across the sea. The wicked boomerang sliced the brave rainbow as they met with a thunderous roar. The rainbow’s colors were shattered into the small grains of sand coloring the cliffs and Australian beaches of the area, the remains of the rainbow that gave his life to protect his love.