CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: Mossman Gorge; Daintree Rainforest; Walkabout Cultural Adventures tour; natural spa with Jarramali Rock Art Tours;
Mossman Gorge Cultural Centre PICTURES: Tourism and Events Queensland/Sera Wright, Phil Warring, Jason Charles Hill, Liam Brennan/PixelFrame
DOS
& DON’TS
when booking an authentic Indigenous experience
Do check out Tourism Australia’s Discover
Aboriginal Experiences list
of verified Aboriginal-owned and run businesses at
discoveraboriginalexperiences.com
Do ask if a tour is 100% Indigenous-owned before
confirming a booking; this is usually clearly stated on the company website.
Don’tbook a tour that’s run by non-Indigenous
stakeholders. It hinders the economic potential for Indigenous-owned businesses.
her home and brought up at a mission on Palm Island, off the Queensland coast. A proud Kuku-Yalanji man, Murison has been guiding
small groups of visitors to see the rock art on his ancestral land since 2017. There are, he says, 10,000 sites here; he’s found a hundred so far. “I have a way to go, but I’d be happy to locate a thousand of them,” he laughs. “I just hope I can bring more employment and opportunity to my family and community.” I’m among a group of four spending two nights with Murison on his ancestral land. As well as hiking to rock art galleries, we’ve been swimming under waterfalls and in rock pools, learning about the leaves and barks once used as food, medicine and shelter, and spotting wallabies forage in the bush. In the evenings, we sit around a fire watching blood-orange sunsets, grilling barramundi and sipping beer while having a ‘yarn’ about ancient medicine men. Each night, I’ve fallen asleep under a blanket of thousands of stars, listening to the calming hum of the cicadas. It has all brought me close to a culture and wildlife I never expected to experience.
DREAM MAKER
Heading east, I stop at Mossman Gorge on the outskirts of the 180-million-year-old Daintree Rainforest, where I opt to take a 1.5-hour guided Ngadiku Dreamtime Walk with Kuku-Yalanji guide Angelina Sipi. We begin with a traditional Welcome to Country ‘smoking’ ceremony, involving the burning of native foliage to ward off bad
42 9 APRIL 2026
33We sit around a fire watching sunsets, grilling barramundi and sipping beer while having a ‘yarn’ about ancient medicine men
spirits. On the walk, Sipi dives into the Dreamtime stories steeped in this ancient rainforest, while identifying humpies (traditional shelters) and the vegetation that has customarily been used as medicine by her people. The Daintree covers less than 0.2% of Australia’s landmass, she tells me, yet is home to around 30% of the country’s native frog, reptile and marsupial species. Our ears remain attuned to the distinct call of a golden bowerbird throughout. When Sipi declares that we’ve all earned a sweet bush tea and pulls a tea-towel-wrapped plate of damper (campfire-baked bread) from her backpack, everyone is delighted. We finish at a creek in the river, where I slip under a small cascade and allow the cool, fresh water to soothe my tired shoulders.
INDIGENOUS LORE Near Port Douglas, Juan Walker’s Walkabout Cultural Adventures has been a trusted institution for Indigenous storytelling along the jalun, bana and bubu (sea, water
travelweekly.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
