Thierings on Tour

We had a very early start to join an Aboriginal cultural tour with Trevor this morning out of Djarindjin, which meant driving about 1h20 to get there. It was a much easier drive without the van on the back and we were excited to go and explore new parts of the Dampier Peninsula.

Trevor is a local whose father has grown up on Bardi land, whereas his mother is closer to Cygnet Bay. He explained that connection to land tends to carry through the father’s line. Trevor had his grandson Levi with him, which is a nice way to pass on traditional ways of life. 

Our first stop was a nature stop learning about different types of plants in the area and their uses. Such as the boomerang tree and the Kakadu plum, which makes both great eating and can also be turned into a Betadine like liquid by scraping and boiling the inner bark.

Then it was time to try our hand at throwing boomerangs. Trevor has won a few local competitions and gave us three different types of boomerangs to try. The timber ones were much heavier and travelled through the air more easily. Everyone had a go and I think we even improved somewhat in the short lesson time we had…

Shortly after we were back in the car and on our way to the mudflats. We waded through mud and shallow water in hunt on mud crabs. Trevor had a spear with him ready to go, but our big group and the many noisy kids were a bit of a deterrent at first. However we managed to get two crabs in total, ready to cook up on some coals later on.

We were lucky enough to stop at two magnificent swim spots and the turquoise water against the white sand did not disappoint! The water was also beautifully warm, probably at least 26C, so we all enjoyed a splash.

At the first spot a boat pulled up and the fishermen showed off their haul of massive tuna. This inspired Chris to throw the rod in at the second spot too, but alas he had no luck. Trevor also didn’t have any luck with the handling this time, but he did mention that fishing with handlines in that area is a lot more moon and tide dependent.

Trevor also shared a bit more about his childhood and the history of the area with us. Some of it did cover the darker aspects of history, including the cruel behaviour by first settlers and the history of the Stolen Generation of the area. Let’s just hope that history doesn’t repeat itself.

On a lighter note we got to see some incredible shells, which Trevor shared were used for digging and carrying water in more traditional times. The nature around the area is so untouched and we w were truly lucky to be allowed on traditional lands for the day.

The last stop was our cookup of mudcrab, straight on the coals and absolutely delicious. Even the girls enjoyed it! Trevor and Levi also dug up some bush carrots for us. I loved how he peeled it by rubbing the outer skin on the bark of a stick and then cut it up. Interestingly, it actually tasted more like coconut!

It was a big day of adventure and everyone was pretty tired by the end of it. We headed back and enjoyed a firm favourite of tacos back at camp. The other souvenir from today was some very dirty feet, just to give an insight to caravan life 😂

Kms travelled – 195