going walkabout

If you want to discover a range of top-quality, authentic indigenous experiences, you can’t beat Cairns

Be mesmerised by a
corroboree dance at
Tjapukai Aboriginal
Cultural Park by nightWORDS MIA LACY

Venture into the wild spaces of Far North Queensland, and you enter a world steeped in ancient Aboriginal culture. Exploring the region and meeting the indigenous rainforest people offers a rewarding and culturally enriching experience.

“In our language, we say bama – it just means the people,” explains our Tjapukai guide. The Tjapukai, or Djabugay people, are the traditional owners of the area extending from Cairns to Kuranda and, in the language of Aboriginal tourism, their cultural park near Cairns is a success story.

The Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park is situated on 10.1 hectares at the base of the Kuranda Range, north of Cairns. Its cultural centre introduces visitors to the many facets of Aboriginality, offering art, dance, music and traditional story-telling experiences as well as great food and a natural landscape to enjoy,

Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural
Park by dayAt Tjapukai by Night, we are handed tapsticks and asked to join the people lakeside, where we become part of an ancient corroboree ritual which climaxes in the ceremonial making of a fire. At the close, each dancer introduces himself by his totem and his language name.

During the bush foods and medicines show, Martha Brim explains how her ancestors viewed the tropical rainforest as a pharmacy. She is an engaging teacher and quick with the jokes. “Termites are full of magnesium so you crush them up with water and drink that to stop diarrhoea. If you overdose, you’d better start eating some of these bush figs here!” she laughs. (Tjapukai by Day: adults AU$31, children AU$15.50; Tjapukai by Night: adults AU$87, children AU$43.50.)

Francis Walker reveals some
cave art secretsThe award-winning park is a private enterprise with the majority shareholding in the hands of local Aboriginal tribal councils. Tjapukai founders Don and Judy Freeman, both now indigenous business consultants, pioneered Aboriginal tourism and know better than anyone what visitors want is to engage and be impressed with quality and authenticity. “Self-management and the expression of their cultural rights are the drivers of today’s successful operators. Projects such as Aurukun Wetland Charters in Cape York are setting new benchmarks in interpretive indigenous tourism,” says Judy.

Martha Brim of
Tjapukai Aboriginal
Cultural ParkThe natural abundance of the Aurukun waterways, one of Australia’s largest wetland areas covering 1.1 million hectares, is a revelation for visitors. From the Pikkuw, a custom-built mothership which sleeps eight guests, we venture out on daily explorations. On a typical wetlands eco tour, custodial elders tell the ancient stories of the places visited along the way. We collect bush tucker, take part in art and weaving demonstrations, swim, birdwatch and even fish for dinner. In fact, the other side of the Pikkuw’s business is catering to the avid fishermen who are lured by the staggering possibilities of the virtually un-fished river systems of the Archer, the Watson and the Ward. (Adults AU$680 per night, children 8–14 years AU$450 per night.)

Dancers at Tjapukai ParkOr do your part for the environment with Cape York Turtle Rescue at Mapoon, six hours from Cairns. Here, guests volunteer to assist the indigenous rangers in researching and protecting coastal nesting turtles from June to October. Over a typical six-day stay at the Chivaree Camp, activities involve measuring and tagging turtles, gathering data, cultural walks and removing the deadly ghost nets from the beach. The bush camp is located in a grove of casuarina trees where a tidal creek flows into the Gulf of Carpentaria. It’s a majestic, wide-open coastline and the stargazing at night is simply awesome. (AU$1,275 per person for three nights at Camp Chivaree.)

You can also discover the Cairns’ region The Bama Way, an enterprise linking three local indigenous companies. It’s a clever idea – a journey from Cairns to north of Cooktown along the story-lines guided by the land’s original custodians.

Cape York Turtle Rescue
hatchlingsThe first of these is Walker Family Tours at Wujal Wujal, a coastal community four hours north of Cairns, where sisters, cousins and nieces work together to take guests to one of the most inspiring locations in the tropics. Bloomfield Falls is a 40-metre waterfall emerging from lush Daintree rainforest and, during the 30-minute bushwalk into the falls, Francis Walker recounts the many ways her Yalanji people interact with the natural environment for food, medicine and ceremonial purposes. Afterwards, there’s time for a cuppa and a yarn-up. “Everyone loves the yarn-up, when they get a chance to talk to Aboriginal people and ask them questions,” says Francis. (Bloomfield Falls tour: adults AU$15, children AU$7.50.)

At Cooya Beach north of Port Douglas, guests can take a two-hour coastal walk with brothers Linc and Brandon Walker on a Kuku Yalanji Cultural Habitat Tour. The brothers reveal nuggets of their ancient Kuku Yalanji culture and give practical lessons on tracking and spear handling to capture food. (Two-hour coastal beach walk: adults AU$75, children AU$45.)

Learn a completely different
way of life with a Kuku Yalanji
Cultural Habitat TourNorth of Cooktown, Nugal-warra elder Willie Gordon is waiting with a smiling welcome to lead us on his Rainbow Serpent Tour, one of two trips offered by Guurrbi Tours. A magnetic speaker and the clan’s traditional story-teller, Willie philosophises as he leads us through the bush to an ancestral birth cave and a reconciliation cave. Up on a sandstone escarpment we sit in a loose circle around Willie, beneath cave art which dates back 45,000 years. “Before, our spirituality was a big part of us and it kept us strong and formed our laws. The laws ensured my people survived. These two ‘S’s – spirituality and survival – were our core. Today, we’ve made our lives comfortable with a third ‘S’,” Willie says, drawing a $ sign in the sand. “But we still need the first two ‘S’s to make us culturally strong,” he says quietly. (Rainbow Serpent Tour: adults AU$80, children AU$40.)

Find It:
Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park
Kamerunga Road, Smithfield, tel: +61 (7) 4042 9900
Aurukun Wetland Charters
Tel: +61 (7) 4058 1441
Cape York Turtle Rescue
Tel: +61 (7) 4069 9978
The Bama Way
Tel: +61 (7) 4053 7001
Walker Family Tours
Tel: +61 (7) 4060 8069
Kuku Yalanji Cultural Habitat Tours
Tel: +61 (7) 4053 7001
Guurrbi Tours
T el: +61 (7) 4069 6043

Remember to ask an Aboriginal person if you can take their photograph. Be respectful of sacred sites and elders, and in particular, respect the privacy of others.