Seven ‘deadly’ ways to learn about Aboriginal culture in NSW

There’s a lot to learn from the way Aboriginal culture works in harmony with the environment. At Sea Acres National Park in Port Macquarie, you can do just that. Take a ranger-guided tour and learn about the culture of Birpai people and their sustainable use of rainforest resources, which allowed them to prosper in the sub-tropical rainforests of Northern NSW for millennia.

There are two regular tours on offer: the coastal tour and the culture tour, both of which focus on bush tucker and other useful rainforest plants. The coastal tour passes through subtropical and littoral rainforest to the picturesque Shelly Beach, while the culture tour follows a 1.3km elevated boardwalk loop through rich subtropical rainforest.

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Be sure to allow extra time to explore the Sea Acres Rainforest Centre, where you can browse the unique collection of environment-inspired items in the gift shop, and stay for lunch at the bangalow palm-fringed Rainforest Cafe.

Are you ready to jump in with both feet? Over two days every August, the outback comes alive with stories, dancing, Wiimpatja music and art workshops for the annual Mutawintji Cultural Festival. It’s an amazing opportunity to truly immerse yourself in Aboriginal culture and experience corroboree on the ancient landscape of Mutawintji National Park in the far west of NSW.

Visitors at other times of the year can gain a deeper understanding of the area’s cultural significance too, by booking a guided tour of the region’s historic sites and rock art which run regularly outside the summer months.

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South of Mutawintji, you’ll find Mungo National Park, home to the famous Mungo lunette and the Mungo Lady and Mungo Man. About 42,000-years-old, Mungo man is the oldest human skeleton ever found in Australia. Its discovery helped to re-write the history of Australia and its First Peoples. Mungo is part of the Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area and holds immense cultural significance for the local Ngyiampaa, Mutthi Mutthi and Southern Paakantyi people.

Tours of the Mungo lunette with an NPWS Aboriginal guide take place most days of the year. Bookings are essential.

For centuries, songlines helped Aboriginal people navigate landscapes and seasons, and connect to the land. On the South Coast, you can walk in the footsteps of the Yuin Aboriginal people by following one of their songlines, the Bingi Dreaming track, in Eurobodalla National Park.

Linking camps, ceremonial trade sites, fresh water and coastal food sources, this scenic coastal trail is deeply significant to the land’s Traditional Custodians. Ancient shell middens can be seen along some sections of this walk, which also offers beautiful views of the coastline, Gulaga (Mount Dromedary) and Barunguba (Montague Island). The 13.5km walk will take you 4-6 hours one-way, so you may choose to tackle a shorter section of the trail for a more relaxed day out.

Before you set out on this walk, check for local alerts. The Bingi Dreaming track crosses openings to several Intermittently Closed and Open Coastal Lakes and Lagoons (ICOLLS), which can make the track impassable for weeks at a time.

Just 5km from Newcastle on the Central Coast you’ll find Glenrock State Conservation Area, a region that is home to several significant Aboriginal sites. And the best way to learn more about them is on a Glenrock Aboriginal cultural tour. Accessible and suitable for all ages, this 2-3km walk allows visitors to explore pockets of coastal rainforest while discovering the enduring culture of the Awabakal people with an experienced Aboriginal guide.

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If you’re staying in the area you should also take the time to explore all that the nearby Worimi Conservation Lands have to offer. A special Aboriginal place, this incredible coastal region boasts giant moving sand dunes that offer a playground for the adventurous, and beaches you can drive on that are perfect for whale watching and fishing. Remember: this is a culturally significant landscape, so all adventure activities should be enjoyed in a responsible, safe and respectful manner.

Adjacent to Worimi, at the southern end of the Tomaree Coastal Walk you’ll find yet another declared Aboriginal place, Birubi Point. Birubi, meaning ‘Place of the Southern Cross’, boasts expansive views of the sea and sky and is a significant spot to reflect on the strong cultural connection that the Worimi people have with this land.

Home to the Gundungurra and Darug tribes for thousands of years, the Blue Mountains still holds strong cultural significance for Aboriginal peoples.

To discover why, get a group together for a bespoke sustainable toolkit tour in Blue Mountains National Park. Guided by an Aboriginal Discovery ranger, this tour can be curated to suit your group’s interests, and includes the sharing of traditional knowledge on everything from natural resources for food, tools and medicine, to furs and art.

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Spend some time soaking up the magic of the mountains on the 2-day Grand Cliff Top Walk. One of the ‘NSW Great Walks‘, it’s a truly epic way to immerse yourself in this ancient landscape. The 19km walk from Wentworth Falls to Katoomba takes in too many highlights to mention here, finishing up with the one of most iconic views in the Blue Mountains, if not the country. Yes, we’re talking about Echo Point lookout which overlooks the Three Sisters – a declared Aboriginal Place with deep cultural significance.

The dramatic landscape of Warrumbungle National Park, near Coonabarabran, has been shaped by millions of years of volcanic activity and erosion. It has also been the land of Gamilaraay, Wiradjuri and Wailwan people for millennia.

Evidence of their rich cultural heritage can be found at Tara Cave, a sandstone shelter set among the park’s iconic spires, peaks and lava domes.

On the Tara Cave cultural tour, you’ll be guided by an Aboriginal Discovery ranger along the Tara Cave walking track, while learning traditional uses of local plants and the significance of the park’s sacred sites, and hearing fascinating tales from the Dreaming. At the cave itself, you’ll be able to see ‘grinding grooves’ firsthand on a stone slab at the cave’s entrance. These indentations show where stone axes and spears were made by grinding them against the rock.

Bookings for this tour are essential and can be made online.

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Stay a night in Warrumbungle National Park and stargaze from your campsite to find out why this area has been coined Australia’s first official Dark Sky Park. See if you can spot the Celestial Emu, an Aboriginal constellation outlined by the dark areas of the night sky.

Not too far from the Sydney CBD on Darug and Darramuragal Country, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is home to over 800 Aboriginal sites. The Aboriginal Heritage walk is the perfect way to explore this rich cultural landscape.

Just ten minutes into the 4.4km loop track, you’ll find the well-known Red Hands Cave (not to be mistaken for a cave of the same name in the Blue Mountains). Looking at the palms of generations past immortalised in ochre on the cave’s walls, it’s hard not to be in awe of this culture. Take your time here to really soak it all in. Other highlights on the walk include magnificent rock engravings and the natural beauty of the secluded, golden-sand Resolute Beach.

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On the other side of the bay, in Brisbane Water National Park, you’ll find more incredible Aboriginal rock art at Bulgandry Art Site Aboriginal Place. Here you’ll see engravings by the Darkingjung and Guringa people of native animals, a canoe and what’s thought to be an outline of ancestral hero Bulgandryu, which is where the place’s name comes from.