3 unexpected Aboriginal experiences in Queensland

23 July 2024
Original content by Natasha Dragun

Spanning immense distances and ecosystems – from the Torres Strait Islands at the top of the state to the outback, rainforest and reef – Queensland’s Indigenous cultures are diverse. Needless to say, the experiences you can have on Country are eye-opening, and often unexpected.

1. Marvel at one of the world’s oldest outdoor art galleries

In northern Queensland, Kuku-Yalanji man Johnny Murison has developed a reputation as being quite the character – his personality is larger than life, which is fitting because so is the alfresco art gallery that he takes visitors to. Jarramali Rock Art Tours started in 2017 to showcase Quinkan rock art within the so-called ‘Magnificent Gallery’, a staggering outback museum dating back more than 20,000 years.

On an overnight adventure with Johnny, you’ll head off-road in a 4WD from the tiny town of Laura on Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula (330km northwest of Cairns), to gaze at a collection of 450 well-preserved works covering a 40-metre swathe of remote sandstone. Each painting is like a snapshot of stories significant to Aboriginal communities that lived here over the millennia, showcasing female ancestral bodies, lore men and medicine men. They also reveal what was on the menu come mealtime, with turtles, kangaroos, crocodiles and barramundi all depicted as important sources of food.

The overnight tour includes camping at a stunning spot close to gorges and waterfalls – Johnny has exclusive permission from Elders to spend the night. As dinner roasts over the coals, you gather around the campfire to listen to the evocative sounds of the didgeridoo being played. As the sun rises over the escarpment the next morning, a bush breakfast is cooked on the campfire while guests admire a view of Country that resembles ‘a mini-Grand Canyon’.

Jarramali Rock Art Tours, Laura, Queensland © Tourism Australia

2. Savour native Australian flavours, with a modern twist, on a sunset cruise

Coffin Bay oysters mornay made with macadamia cheese, slow-cooked kangaroo served on tacos with a coleslaw and desert tomato relish, native bush-spiced prawns with macadamia dukkha, beetroot tartlet spiced with lemon myrtle… these are just some of the bites you’ll enjoy on a Bushtucker Cruise with Saltwater Eco Tours. You’ll also get to sip signature lemon myrtle cocktails made from gin produced by BeachTree Distilling Co., one of the many local Indigenous businesses showcased on this two-hour Sunshine Coast sailing.

Your chariot for the experience is a 58-foot ketch (two-masted sailing boat) that is more than a century old. And it’s captained along the Mooloolah River by Simon Thornalley, co-owner of Saltwater Eco Tours. While you glide, Simon – a former commercial diver – regales you with stories of his childhood, sailing around Tropical North Queensland with his family, including the Torres Strait, where his maternal grandmother is a respected Kaurareg Elder and his great-great-great grandfather owned a fleet of pearl-lugging boats.

As the sun sinks below the horizon, the bushtucker feast is revealed. In addition to being a talented sailor, Simon is a master when it comes to playing the didgeridoo. Sit back, admire the changing colours of the day, sip that zingy cocktail and drift away while being serenaded by Simon’s haunting musical performance.

Saltwater Eco Tours, Sunshine Coast, Queensland © Tourism Australia

3. Learn traditional hunting methods

Forget the supermarket – when you’re on Country with Juan Walker, the landscapes around you provide all the sustenance you need. Juan’s half- and full-day Walkabout Cultural Adventures tours give you the chance to get hands-on with traditional Kuku Yalanji hunting and foraging methods. Which might mean wading out into the water of Cooya Beach, just north of Cairns, to throw a spear and catch crabs and fish. You might also forage for pipis in the mangroves, all of which Juan cooks up over an open fire while you feast on damper (a kind of freshly baked bread).

Walker has been hunting on and around two-kilometre-long Cooya Beach his entire life, following the traditions of his Kuku Yalanji ancestors, who’ve had a presence here for more than 65,000 years. This pocket of Queensland is where the Daintree Rainforest meets the Great Barrier Reef – two World Heritage sites responsible for nurturing some of Australia’s most incredible flora and fauna. It’s hard to imagine a more blissful, and emblematic, Australian setting: an opaline fringing reef on one side, dense jungle on the other, the aroma of barbecuing seafood and baking damper on the breeze.

Walkabout Cultural Adventures, Far North Queensland © Tourism Australia