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Aboriginal experiences put First Nations guides and storytellers in charge of the day. Walk to a 1000-year-old midden at Byron Bay with a Bundjalung guide, watch the Milky Way over the Gulf Country salt pans, or tour the Larrakia Cultural Centre in Darwin. Book one for yourself, or give it as a gift they'll retell.
A smoking ceremony on a Cairns river cruise, two nights at Mt Borradaile in Arnhem Land: Aboriginal experiences vary as much as the Country they happen on. Some are a short walk, others a three-day stay. Several are guided by Traditional Owners, so the stories come from the people they belong to.
On Sydney Harbour, the Mari Nawi (the Big Canoe) carries the Sydney Harbour Aboriginal Cultural Cruise, with a cultural performance and stories of Me-Mel, also known as Goat Island. Back on land, The Rocks Aboriginal Dreaming Tour is a guided walk along the waterfront with an Aboriginal guide. Up the coast, the Byron Bay lighthouse tour visits a 1000-year-old midden and teaches some Bundjalung language.
The Uluru Astronomy Tour with Photograph sets up powerful telescopes under the desert sky, adds Indigenous astronomy, and sends you home with a digital photo of yourself under the stars. In Darwin, Larrakia guides lead the Guided Larrakia Cultural Centre Tour past the Saltwater Pond and through the Seven Seasons gardens. The Mikinj Valley Arnhem Land Day Tour spends a full day among rock art and wetlands. The Cruise to the Tiwi Islands with Guided Tour crosses from Cullen Bay to Wurrumiyanga for a welcome ceremony and an art workshop.
Cairns does evenings well. The Deadly After Dark Sunset Cruise and Canapes leaves the marina for Trinity Inlet, with a Welcome to Country, a smoking ceremony and bush food-inspired canapes. By day, Kuku Yalanji guides take the Daintree Rainforest tour with lunch through Mossman Gorge and the Daintree, with boomerang and spear throwing on the program. Inland, Explore Ancient Beginnings is a half-day at Mt Barney that opens with a Welcome to Country and a yarning circle.
Several Western Australian tours open with a welcome. The Miriwoong Culture and Mirima National Park Walk starts with a Mantha, the traditional Miriwoong welcome, then moves to the Waringarri Arts Centre and a tasting of damper and bush foods. In Broome, Broome's Ultimate Aboriginal Culture Expedition stretches across four days and adds a scenic flight and a cultural boat cruise. On the Dampier Peninsula, the Oolin Sunday Island Cultural Tour is a guided trip into Bardi Jawi culture and Dreaming stories.
Budj Bim in western Victoria is World Heritage listed, and the Tungatt Mirring Stone Country Tour takes a Gunditjmara guide through lava tunnels, caves and ancient stone eel traps in a half day. In Adelaide, walks led by a local Aboriginal guide begin with a smoking or ochre cleansing, and the Cultural Tour of Adelaide Botanic Garden has a local Aboriginal guide talking you through native plants, flowers and fungi. Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens Aboriginal Heritage Tour covers Kulin nation history on a guided walk.
A cultural tour gives someone a story they can only get in person. It suits a traveller heading to Darwin, Cairns or Uluru who would like to meet the place properly, and it suits the person at home who has walked past The Rocks a hundred times without hearing what happened there.
If you don't know where they will be, a RedBalloon gift voucher lets them choose the region, the guide and the day themselves.
It depends on where you are, but a few stand out. The Uluru astronomy tour is a popular option for Indigenous astronomy under the desert sky. For several days in Arnhem Land, the two-night stay at Mt Borradaile is a strong choice, with accommodation, meals and tours included. Closer to a city, a guided city walk is the easiest way in.
Sydney has quite a few, including The Rocks Aboriginal Dreaming walk, which is a guided waterfront walk with an Aboriginal guide, and the Aboriginal cultural cruise sails the harbour with a cultural performance. The Aboriginal Heritage Sydney Walking Tour lets you handle cultural objects, and the Wyanga Malu half-day tour starts with a Welcome Ceremony in Redfern.
Most need very little. The Adelaide walks are suited to low fitness levels with light walking, the Tiwi Islands tour runs at a leisurely pace with no special fitness required, and the Coffs Harbour paddle board tour asks for no experience. The Byron Bay lighthouse tour needs moderate fitness for stairs and a steep rainforest trail, and the Budj Bim half-day tour isn't suited to people with mobility issues.
It differs tour by tour, and many welcome children. The Kuranda family tour covers children aged 4 to 14, and the Daintree rainforest day welcomes children with a parent or guardian. The Aboriginal Cultural Rainforest Dining Experience sets a minimum age of 6, and the Royal Botanic Gardens heritage tour in Melbourne is for ages 16 and over.
Follow your guide's lead. The Larrakia Cultural Centre asks visitors to respect Larrakia customs and to treat any contact with community members with sensitivity, and the centre may reschedule a booking for cultural obligations. On the Tiwi Islands tour, you ask a Tiwi local before taking a photo of them and you don't photograph children.
Transport, permits and meals are usually covered. The Mikinj Valley day tour includes Arnhem Land entry permits, pick-up from Darwin or Jabiru, a visit to Injalak Arts and Craft Centre and lunch, with vegetarian and coeliac meals on 24 hours' notice. The Daintree full day includes transfers, lunch and morning tea, and the Tiwi Islands tour includes the ferry and an art memento.
On many tours the guide is from the nation whose Country you are on. Gunditjmara guides lead the Budj Bim tours, Larrakia guides lead the Larrakia Cultural Centre tour, Kuku Yalanji guides lead the Daintree day, and a Gangalidda guide hosts the stargazing night at Burketown.
If the night sky was the draw, evening and night tours cover stargazing and sunset cruises. For more time on foot, try bushwalking and hiking tours. Hands-on options such as weaving and painting sit under art and craft classes, and if you’re looking for something on the water, take a look at stand up paddle boarding.