Daintree Dreaming Traditional Aboriginal Fishing From Cairns Or Port Douglas

Reviews

• 

  natalieliew 5

  12 Feb 2020

  My mum and I had such a wonderful experience. Our guide Bridget was really knowledgeable not only just about the wet tropics but also the little things she knew about other parts of Australia too. The family we visited shared their knowledge of country with us and it was fascinating and truly enlightening. Highly recommend this experience for anyone from home or abroad who wants to learn about far north qld and what it has to offer :)

  • Like
  • Dis-Like
  • Report
  • Comments
  • Share Now
• 

  Jill T 5

  13 Jan 2020

  Great day out. We only had a couple of days in the area so this was a good way to combine the rainforest with the seaside. The rainforest obviously gets quite busy, but our guide Brigit was full of knowledge about the area which you wouldn’t get going alone. The beach combing was a really lovely way to spend the afternoon, finding out about foraging for food in the traditional way. We came from Cairns so were able to take in the spectacular scenery on the way our. A great day.

  • Like
  • Dis-Like
  • Report
  • Comments
  • Share Now
• 

  barbara b 5

  18 Nov 2019

  My adult daughter Andrea and I went on the day tour to the Daintree Rainforest Tour November 14 and we were blown away! We had an absolutely fantastic time. It was so informative, and the forest break taking. Roy, the curator of the center provided a wealth of history and we were so honored to participate in the smoking ceremony. He is a true legend Our tour guide Bridget was A-MAZ-ING! She was so personable, approachable and knowledge and answered all our questions big or small. Our minds were blown with all the information she gave us as we walked through the rainforest. What a gem you have in her! I don’t know if I have enough superlatives to describe our experience. For me it was the best part of our 12 day Australian trip. Great tour! Great employees!

  • Like
  • Dis-Like
  • Report
  • Comments
  • Share Now
• 

  mothrunit 5

  26 Sep 2019

  I had read many reviews about this tour and knew that we would enjoy it. But boy were we surprised! What an awesome experience and one that should not be missed. Guides Bridget, Keenan and Ryan provided us with a day that will surely not be forgotten.

  • Like
  • Dis-Like
  • Report
  • Comments
  • Share Now
• 

  kaenhu 3

  03 Aug 2019

  I want to support everything aboriginal that I can so I feel a little bad giving this just a so-so review. Hopefully, my review can be used to improve this experience. So the drive up to Port Douglas was nice and scenic. We had some good photo ops in Port Douglas, including one with the 4 mile beach. We got to the Daintree Visitor Center and were received by Skip, our first aboriginal guide, who talked a little bit about the smoking ceremony and showed us a few things with paints and sassafras. This was pretty interesting and cool but really short. We had a brief walk in the rainforest, but not with our aboriginal guide. When we got to the Mossman Gorge, we were told that the Visitor Center and authorities of the Daintree Rainforest National Park strongly discouraged people from swimming the gorge. Too many fatalities in the past. This was pretty disappointing. They didn’t even want us to wade in the water. So after hanging around for a bit, we had lunch in the Cafe and had some time to shop. Then we were taken to Cooya Beach where we met Ryan, our second aboriginal guide. Ryan had spears for us and spent a few minutes showing us how to throw them. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon—at least an hour or so—walking around the beach at low tide, “hunting and gathering” bush tucker for our meal. Obviously none of us could find anything though Ryan finally found a sole fish. Then we walked back to Ryan’s home, where his family made a meal fo us while we sat out on his porch. We got to meet some of his family and ate some snails and crab cooked in a delicious broth, and the sole fish marinated in some sauce and tomatoes. His uncle showed us his music room and we messed around on his keyboard. The positives are that our non-aboriginal guide and driver, Andrew, was excellent. He had a lot of information and was super diplomatic and conversational. We really enjoyed chatting with him, even after his microphone malfunctioned. I was glad he let me sit up front with him so I could talk to him without having to take off my seat belt and lean forward. The Daintree Rainforest is amazing and the Visitor center is wonderful—I loved that it was 100% owned and operated by aborigines. It was also nice to meet Ryan’s family and have some eats. The things that should be improved: why not have Skip tell us more about other aboriginal rituals and customs? Why not have him give us the tour through the rainforest? Show us things that aborigines used to do and how they used to live. Tell us about some of the issues they face and how they are working towards resolving those issues. If this is to be a cultural experience, show us some culture. This was just too short to be a true cultural experience. I think walking around the beach with Ryan for over an hour was a waste of time. It is obvious none of the tourists can really hunt and gather. Show us how to throw a spear, let us practice that for a bit, show us a few things on the beach, and then take us back to the house to talk to the family and share a meal or snacks (from the beach) with the family. Or something else that is cultural. I don’t know enough about their culture to even suggest something but I think an extra activity needs to be added here. Lastly, since this activity is mostly for tourists, I think it would be good to advise the aboriginal guides and staff that if they are okay with photos to let the tourists know. I wanted to be respectful to them and the culture so I did not even ask to photograph and they did not offer, but I later found out that a lot of them are fine with the idea since they know it comes with the tourist industry. All in all, I felt that this experience could really be improved with more information and education about the aborigines, the rainforest and any ecological issues, and more hands on activities.

  • Like
  • Dis-Like
  • Report
  • Comments
  • Share Now
• 

  nickdm2019 5

  18 May 2019

  Our guide was very knowledgeable and gave wonderful descriptions of how the different language groups between Cairns and the Mossman Gorge interacted as we drove through each area on the bus. The walks through the rainforest and mangroves gave us some idea of how the people in the area found food and were able to live and trade. We were able to sample some of the periwinkles, mud crab and crayfish that we found while learning about the artefacts that were created and traded by the indigenous people. Bring an open mind and you'll enjoy the experience.

  • Like
  • Dis-Like
  • Report
  • Comments
  • Share Now
• 

  nicolatW9475LZ 5

  07 Mar 2019

  With big thanks and respect to the Kuku Yalangi people, we spent a fantastic day on the Dreamtime discovery day. Simon was our guide - we have experienced exceptional guides in great places all over the world, but I’ve never learned as much from a guide as I did today. Simons passion for conservation of the rainforest and his deep respect for Australia’s indigenous peoples is truly contagious, he is a wealth of knowledge, avoids academic jargon and allows the interests of the group to tailor the tour. The rainforest itself is awesome, just bursting with life in every square inch, the cultural welcome was inspiring, and the lunch delicious. Simon pointed out all sorts of interesting things en route from and back to Cairns, his commentary whilst traveling in the bus was truly captivating. On the way. back we stopped to visit members of the Walker family and were taken on a tour of the beach at Cooya where all sorts of traditional customs and types of plant and wildlife were explained and demonstrated, what a great family - thank you Walkers! We also stopped to see a large group of wallabies. I can’t recommend this trip enough.

  • Like
  • Dis-Like
  • Report
  • Comments
  • Share Now
• 

  William M 4

  18 Feb 2019

  We had a long ride from Cairns, however the views along the coast, and the pickup in Palm Cove were very scenic. Our guide, Simon, was extremely informative. The brief encounter with Mooks and the smoke ceremony at Mossman was interesting (good). During the hike thru Mossman Gorge we learned about every plant and animal, and how they all worked together in a delicate balance. The swimming hole was OK, swimming was limited due to water flow, and the benefit of going in vs. getting covered with sand wasn't worth it for us. Lunch at the center was good. In the afternoon we went to the coast. It was low tide and we walked and walked and walked. Along the walk, our guide pointed out various worms and tiny crabs. Our hunting was unsuccessful, one advance guide did spear one crab. We didn't get into the mangroves. Upon return, we washed off and had a lecture about shells and weapons. We sampled some crab, prawn, and bread - all were tasty. Overall it was a valuable learning experience, and a long day

  • Like
  • Dis-Like
  • Report
  • Comments
  • Share Now
• 

  Annechka 3

  30 Dec 2018

  The Rainforest part was nice and the tour guide was knowledgeable. However, the whole "aboriginal" part could be skipped all together. Essentially we walked knee deep in the mud gathering periwinkles so we could get to a spot to catch crab. When we got to a spot, the aboriginal guide declared the tide is too high and we have to turn back. Really? I thought the tides are a regular occurrence and can be timed. We also never got to try the periwinkles that we gathered. The group size was too big. The aboriginal guide never warned us about mosquitos in the mangroves. One guy was literally covered in bites by the time he got out. I guess to compensate for that the aboriginal guide generously poured us coconut oil all over our stuff to help with mosquito bites... Don't recommend the "aboriginal" experience, just go straight to the rainforest. Also a lot of sitting around, waiting or driving compared to time we were doing stuff.

  • Like
  • Dis-Like
  • Report
  • Comments
  • Share Now
• 

  ghargiss 5

  20 Dec 2018

  I had an awesome experience with Adventure North Australia this past summer. I learned a ton about Australia, the Daintree, and Aboriginal Culture. We explored the Daintree and got to crab hunt at low tide. An unforgettable experience and a must do!

  • Like
  • Dis-Like
  • Report
  • Comments
  • Share Now