We had booked a tour for the Pamagirri Aboriginal Cultural
Park and Kuranda Village for our third day in Cairns, and called to confirm our
booking the day before. Since we were on the Reef all day, we called in the
morning and to our surprise, our names weren’t on their booking reference. The
first travel agent we used for Cairns was fired for many reasons such as bad
hostel bookings, missed bus tickets and more. We found out there was airfare
for under $200 round trip and we paid around $300. To put it simply, she didn’t
do her job. She was a fired and a new travel agent, Cran, was hired a few weeks
ago. He booked the rest of our Cairns trip, or so we thought. Apparently he
just ran our credit cards through without actually booking the tour for us so
we played phone tag all Tuesday evening between the travel agent and the people
from the tour that were supposed to pick us up from our hostel on the next day.
It’s strange how easily we become adult-like and fix our own problems when we
are faced with them. I just knew to keep the receipt from the booking and
firmly suggest they get us on the booking by tomorrow or else there would be more
people involved. A few more calls later and we were all set to go.
We woke up at 7:00 am for the hostel breakfast, which was nothing short of amusing. It was in a outside kitchenette type of room, and the food was splayed around the counters covered in spilled juice, crumbs and dirty plates. I reminded myself of the $30/night hostel fee in comparison to a nice hotel and their continental breakfast. We had a choice between cereal bran bars or toast or one piece of fruit. There was no cutlery and the dishes were all different sizes of plates and bowls that looked like a collection from a garage sale. They were in the sink, dirty and we washed them (with just warm water because there was no soap to be found) and used those. I went for the cereal, which was more of an unrecognizable mush that I felt was indigestible. The juice was orange syrup basically, 95% sugary liquid. I just stuck with the milk-who knows how long it had been sitting out though. We sat down with our bread and saw there was a table of spreads, that were all different jars of jam and chocolate spread and butter. They were all opened, bugs crawling around them and had sticky exteriors. I felt strangely picky, as I am probably the least picky eater I know. This was about sanitation though, and whether or not the food would be fit for human consumption. I felt stuck between being a privileged person who expects better and a famished human who just needs food and shouldn’t complain. I leaned towards the non-complainer and just ate the minimalist breakfast. We washed our dishes and left them for the next round of people.
Today we split the group up, and the girls went on the day
tour and the guys went fishing in lagoons. We collected our day bags and
quickly walked to the night markets where the bus would pick us up for our day
trip. After a few minutes at the stop, we saw the most brightly colored bus
with Aboriginal paintings and faces stretched alongside its exterior. The
friendliest bus driver I’ve ever met, hopped out and made sure we were on the
right bus. An hour later we arrived at our first stop of the day: The Pamagirri
Aboriginal Cultural Park. It started with a wildlife tour with around the park
with a very informative guide showing all the native Australian animals and
their interesting facts.
It never gets old seeing koalas cuddling in the gum
trees and learning about wombats’ habits and feeding kangaroos. After several
encounters with the same Aussie animals, I learn something new about them every
time. We met Jack the Ripper, a 5-meter (16 foot) saltwater crocodile. The
world’s largest croc is 6 meters, so Jack was pretty massive. 
He had a gruesome
past as well. They were trying to breed him in the park and he killed all 12 of
his potential mates. Some things just want to be left alone I guess! We had the
chance to pet the dingoes there, even though they would apparently attack us if
we went over the fence with them.
After our wildlife tour, we met the
Aborigines who were going to teach us about their lifestyle. My honest first
thought was that my image of an Aboriginal didn’t meet the reality of the
people we met. Their skin was much lighter and they didn’t have though distinct
features I picture. I later found out from Tyler that they were half-casts,
with a white parent. He said that his step-dad is a half-cast and would be
offended if people didn’t recognize him as a true Aboriginal. Even the
slightest drop of Aboriginal blood makes them feel as pure as any other one in
their nation.
First we were taught about the boomerang and how it was used
in hunting. The importance isn’t that it returns completely back to your hand,
but that you throw it hard enough to kill the animal you are hunting or scare
away the animals that want to hunt you.
Heather, Katie, Lindsey and Lauren threw theirs too softly for it to return at
all, but it looked pretty awesome anyway. I actually threw the boomerang with
the same intensity I would throw a football and it went really hard and
actually returned within a few meters! The Aboriginal man said it was a great
throw and that they aren’t actually meant to return to your hands. They hand
carve and paint the boomerangs on that location, and it was refreshing to see
authentic work instead of the rows of ‘made in China’ boomerangs in all the
tourist shops. Next he taught us spear throwing and the different types they
used for different animals and distances. He was extremely accurate with the
target about 80 meters away. 
After the lesson he joked that if they can’t catch their meal, there’s always McDonalds! Interesting joke I thought. Next we got to hear him play the didgeridoo, which was absolutely incredible. He mimicked the sound of different animals in the wild, including the jumping of a kangaroo, howling of dingoes, and singing kookaburras. Coolest sound ever!! After that we watched the Pamagirri tribal dances and learned that their name means ‘silent snake.’ The welcome dance was called ‘Biba Myon’ and had the songman playing a didgeridoo summoning everyone to their Corroboree. After eight songs, my favorite was the ‘Warran-Jarra’ also known as Shake-a-leg…it was my favorite for obvious reasons!!
After the spiritual and entertaining dance, we headed over to the duck tours where we got on an army duck from World War II. They have their own mechanic who refurbishes the parts but they received the army ducks themselves from America. On the ride through the rainforest, we learned about plants that would help you survive as an Aboriginal and what would kill you. I wonder how people ever figured out all the ways of survival. It’s truly incredible. There were two species of trees that looked identical: one was a vital source of nutrients and the other was highly toxic. The harmless one grew very tall and you couldn’t reach the plant unless you knocked it down, and the one that would kill you was closer to the ground at an easy reach.
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| Duck Tour |
There was a beautiful pink flowering plant that we saw
on a little island in the lagoon, and found out if you touch it, it has
glass-like fibers that stay in your skin for over six months and send waves of
insane pain through your nervous system. There is no cure for it and no way to
get the fibers out-people have tried hot wax, bandages and other adhesives to
attach and nothing has been figured out to help the painful condition. We passed
by coffee bean plants that have berries that are very bitter but will give you
a serious dose of caffeine. The 37 degree (98 F) weather and full sun was
getting to me as the tour ended, and starting feeling dizzy. When went on the
bus to our next stop, Kuranda Village! That was not a fun ride…it was up a
mountain and saying there were windy roads is an understatement. The bus swayed
back and forth for twenty minutes at a fast speed and when we finally got off,
I could barely stand up. We hadn’t eaten since our lovely piece of toast for
brekky, so that probably didn’t help the situation either. We found a pizza
place that wasn’t over $25 per plate, and ordered our much-needed food. As soon
as I got my change back, I felt a wave of heat come over me and I couldn’t see.
I stumbled down the stairs leading outside to the ground terrace and well,
passed out for a bit. All I needed was a little five-minute nap apparently,
then I got up and walked back upstairs. No one really noticed it because we
were all just focused on ordering and finding a place to sit. After lots of water and some ham and
pineapple pizza, we were good to go.
We had about four hours in the village to
look around at the shops and walk around the colorful streets. In a way,
Kuranda Village reminded me of Door County in northern Wisconsin, because of
its touristy meets authentic vibe. Looking at all of the shops selling
Indigenous artifacts, I thought about our Native Americans. Besides a few
historical museums, the Native American culture isn’t displayed all over our
streets downtown, sold in souvenir shops or used for tourism revenue. I wonder
if the Aboriginal people feel their history and culture is being more
celebrated or exploited. Especially because all the people observing their
lifestyle and buying the souvenirs aren’t usually Australian. It just feels
different than watching the Fijian dancers amongst other locals all celebrating
their culture together. I get the sense that the Aborigine people are like the
circus performers and white Australia is the ringmaster. I could be completely
wrong in reality, but it’s the feeling I get after talking to Aussies about how
they feel about their indigenous people. It seems that the people appreciating
their lifestyle are gawky tourists and it cheapens their culture. 
There were many families and kids at the park getting their
faces painted with Aboriginal art and just playing together all day. A
reoccurring theme in Australia is that families seem to take time out to just
relax. It was the middle of the day on a Wednesday and it just seemed like
everyone was enjoying each other’s company. Some of the shops around Kuranda
looked straight out of Nimbin-very hippie influenced. My favorite part were the
art galleries of huge canvas paintings done by the Aboriginal people in that
community. They were images and abstract motions all consisting of tiny
colorful dots. Each painting was selling for over $5,000. Fascinating to see
how others value art and the artist in different communities. There was a honey-tasting
store with local honey infused with different plants such as eucalyptus or the
lychee fruit. My favorite was macadamia flavored. After an afternoon filled
with walking, observing and tasting, we caught the bus back to our hostel just
before it got dark. We met up with the guys and they told us all their fishing
stories and how they learned the whole history of Cairns from their tour guide.
They were happy with their day as well. We walked to the Woolshed and we all
got upgrades for a night. I got fish and chips and noticed how in Australia
wherever I’ve gone, they give one long fish piece instead of several smaller
ones like in America. The fish tasted incredible and you could tell they used a
lot less coating and batter over the fish because you could actually taste it.
After dinner we walked to the pier and sat on the edge and dangled our feet
over the dark ocean’s surface as we played some music and chatted the evening
away.
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