2/17, Cairns, Tjapukai Aboriginal Culture Park and Skyrail trip

Weather was much better for those who went out to the reef today. Renate, a German woman from CA, with an amazing camera (I hope she posts her pictures somewhere!) went out and she said she saw more varieties of coral but it wasn’t very colorful because it was so overcast. And very few fish! But most people didn’t get sick like the day before so they had a nice day.

We got to see more on the Skyrail ride for an hour and a half through the rainforest canopy of the Whitfield range, stopping at 3 places to see things close up and look over Barren Falls. One of the interesting things I saw was a waterski park - where 4 skiers were going around a big circular waterhole, with NO boat pulling them! Apparently there is a track underneath with a cable that pulls the skier. There were ramps like on a snowboard track for them to slide over. Very cool!

 

I think because the sun was sometimes peeking through, we saw a lot more of the rain forest than the group the day before when it was completely overcast. We got off at Kuranda Village and had bratwurst and beer for lunch and then headed back to Cairns.

Before the Skyrail we were around the corner at the Tjapukai cultural center, that just had a several million $ renovation, said Peter. Here we heard a presentation by the rainforest Aborigine people on medicines and what they were used for, the didgeridoo and how it works, and got to try our hand at boomerang throwing and spear throwing. I ALMOST hit the kangaroo target. My first spear soared into the trees and the guide said I’d killed a koala!!! :)

 

We then saw about 5 of the Aborigines perform traditional dances and heard the didgeridoo music played. Saw them use the rubbing sticks to start a fire. Each person was painted in their totem and different designs on their bodies. They were very articulate explaining their culture.

Back inside we saw a multimedia presentation showing some of their history. I was especially interested in one of the displays that showed actual old footage of various Aboriginal groups. The history of these people seems even more tragic than the Native American story in the US. When the British arrived in the 1770s, they said no one was living here with any culture. So they claimed it for the Crown. Actually there were over a million of various tribes of Aborigines who had been here for between 40,000 and 60,000 years ago! They were scattered over the entire country, which now consists of 6 states, Victoria (Melbourne), New South Wales (Sydney), Queensland (Brisbane, Cairns), Western Australia (Perth), and Southern Australia (Adelaide), and Tasmania (Hobart), as well as two territories, Northern Territory (Alice Springs, Darwin) and Canberra - sort of like Washington, DC. When an Aborigine from the “dry” side was to marry, they had to marry from the “wet” side. Marriages were usually arranged by grandparents. This was to avoid interbreeding. They had all kinds of rules organizing their society, with men’s area and women’s areas with their varied roles very distinct.

But the colonists dismissed all of this, considered them like the flora and fauna, even shooting them just for sport, like other animals. Many times children, especially of mixed parentage, were taken away from their families and raised at mission schools where they were obliged to work - like orphanages out of Oliver Twist! Only in the 90s did some land claims come to the fore and some land has been returned to the tribes. Uluru was originally Ayres National Park but is now run by the local tribe. They consider it sacred and people are discouraged from climbing it for a sport as was frequently done in the past. I didn’t see anyone climbing when we were there. As we drove around it, we were asked by the guide to refrain from photographs on one side that is considered especially sacred. It’s all a very sad story!!


After returning to the hotel, we all walked down the esplanade to a Returned Services League restaurant, sort of like American Legion, that had a WWII memorial in front of it. At 6 we all stood as there was music played in memorial of those lost. Australia/New Zealand have a close relationship to the US because we came to their rescue when they were in danger of being invaded from the north by Japan during the War. Many US were stationed here in Cairns and trained at that time. The Battle of the Coral Sea, one of Japan’s first losses, was fought north of here.

Today, 2/18 we will tour the Botanic Gardens here for an hour and then fly to Sydney for a few days.