Written by Raff – Aged 11

This Australian summer has been a bit of a shocker. Mostly because of a horrific fire season that’s been made worse by an ongoing drought and unusually warm conditions that expert research suggests are the result of climate change.

While there are fires still burning, I can’t help thinking about the brave firefighters and organisations and individuals doing so much to help people who have lost their homes, people who have lost family and friends and also our injured wildlife. And I feel like I should be doing more.

So, I started thinking and did a little research about the kind of things a kid like me could do to help aid Australia’s bushfire recovery. And it turns out there’s stacks.

From donating a little pocket money and planting a tree to travelling to support regional towns and businesses, here’s my list of ways kids (and their adults) can help.

1. Educate yourself

It’s not only grown ups who need to keep up to date with news. It’s also important for us kids to learn about the fires and the communities that have been affected by them, from reliable sources, so we can use that information to help and to do the right thing.

2. Educate others

Talk it up. Use the knowledge you’ve gained through solid research to teach others how they can help affected communities. If every noisy kid uses their voice to spread the word on what we can all do to help, regardless of age, imagine how much we can achieve.

3. If you’re old enough to use social media, use it for good

Not only can you share the word on the best charities and organisations to donate money to, you can let people from overseas know that making a trip to Australia is always a good idea by shutting down all the fake news and sharing all the good stuff about the many awesome places that are open for business.

4. If you’re not old enough to use social media, go old-school

If you’re looking for things kids can do to help Australia’s bushfire recovery and you don’t have social media, go old-school. My sister spent a whole week of school holidays hand drawing posters to encourage people to donate and help save koalas. She used a stack of  old recycled paper and, with mum’s help, distributed them all over town. They’re all still there and she was stoked that some have been moved into prominent positions on community noticeboards. So a little act can make a difference. Pro tip: Don’t attempt to post them on the wall of the police station outside the PM’s House … in front of a patrolling police officer. But definitely hand the police officer one and let him decide whether he wants to put it up for you.

5. Donate some of your stuff

How excited would your parents be if you actually volunteered to clean up your room and clear out the stuff you no longer used or needed. Now, imagine how excited a kid who has lost everything would be if you donated your toys, clothes and books to them. This one is a win win for everyone. Just remember to donate via a reputable organisation like GIVIT who have the resources to distribute items directly to those most at need.

6. Support our firies

Can you imagine what a difference we could make if every kid donated just one week’s pocket money to our amazing volunteer fire fighters who have been risking their lives in the fires to save homes, wildlife and people? Seriously guys, what’s a few bucks between friends? You can, and should, donate here NSW Rural Fire Service ; VIC Country Fire Authority; SA Country Fire Service; QLD Rural Fire Brigades and WA Volunteer Fire Service

7. Help those who’ve lost their homes and love ones

Raise some money for the people who most need it via a lemonade or cupcake stand in your neighbourhood. We chose to sell some home grown veggies and a few jars of my special homemade kimchi to raise a few dollars for the awesome people at the Red Cross.

8. Help our wildlife

Love Aussie animals? Me too. So don’t forget to save a bit of pocket money to help out all our furry and feathered critters – from koalas and kangaroos and wombats to flying foxes and wild birds – who’ve been injured in the fires. Some of the best places to donate are The Rescue Collective and WIRES.

9. Adopt an animal

Why not take it even further and adopt an animal for yourself or as a gift for a friend to help  some of our threatened species. We adopted wild koalas for our teachers for Christmas from Port Macquarie Koala Hospital and there are several other great charities offering you the chance to help a wild animal in care.

10. Visit an animal sanctuary

Help those amazing wildlife workers who are supporting and caring for our injured wildlife by visiting and supporting their facilities. Just a few of those providing housing and care to our injured wildlife include Australia Zoo, Taronga Zoo, Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park and Currumbin Wildlife Hospital.

11. Leave out a little water

Leave out shallow bowls of water for animals and birds escaping from the fires and those dehydrated from heat and smoke.

12. Keep a rescue kit in your car.

Carry a cardboard box and towel in your car just in case you come across an injured animal that you can safely transport to the nearest vet (avoid snakes and other critters that might not be as grateful for the assist and instead report their location to WIRES so the experts can do their thing).

13. Encourage your parents to swap an overseas trip with a local one.

There’s never been a more important time to see Australia. Encourage your parents to swap an overseas trip to explore all the amazing places and experiences we have right here in our beautiful country instead. Many Australians rely on tourism for their livelihood, and 99% of the country hasn’t been affected by fires, so support them by exploring home. What about here or here or here?

14. Visit a fire affected town

Go one step further and skip town for a couple of days to support one of the many fire affected towns who rely on tourism for their livelihoods.

15. Skip breakfast 

Wait, what? As if. What I mean is skip the buffet at your hotel and pop into a local cafe or restaurant instead to help spread the love and support local businesses that are struggling. Better still, support the hotel and the local cafes and have two breakfasts. You know you want to.

16. Travel light

Turn your local trip into a treat and stock up on new toys, new books and new clothes, and even produce and presents for friends from local community businesses.

17. Bring an empty esky

That way you can fill up on all the food and supplies you need from local supermarkets, farmers markets and farm gates to support them as they rebuild.

18. Get fruity

Is there anything more delicious than fruit picked straight from the vine or tree? Yep. Fruit picked straight from the vine or tree at local farms that rely on passing trade. While you’re there, fill your Esky full of all the shelves full of yummy jams and marinades.

19. Visit and support Indigenous communities and businesses

First Nations people are very connected to the land and the mistreatment and neglect of our country, and the lack of consideration of their centuries of knowledge when it comes to sustainably caring for it, has caused deep hurt. Support them. Listen to them. Learn from them. The ancient knowledge of their ancestors is the future of ours.

20. Support responsible tourism

We need to get hands on and help out for the long-term benefit of our people, our wildlife, and the environment that sustains us all. So we should try to support responsible tourism projects that assist in the long-term sustainability of communities and the local environment.

21. Plant a tree

The number of trees we have lost that produce oxygen, provide shelter for native wildlife, as well as absorbing planet warming carbon emissions from the atmosphere, is beyond my comprehension. We need trees. So plant one. But not just any tree. Plant a koala compatible eucalyptus tree. Uncle Google tells me some of the more common ones are Tallowood, Swamp Mahogany and Forest Red Gum (I’ll have to trust him as I’m no tree expert). Or plant a whole forest of them, like my amazing friend’s Narelle and Tiah.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6_lIJSnS8K

If, like us, you live in an apartment and don’t have the space to plant one (I don’t think mum’s gonna approve of me growing a tree in our living room), just get someone like the Australian Koala Foundation or the Koala Hospital to plant one, or more, on your behalf.

The post 21 things kids can do to help Australia’s bushfire recovery appeared first on boyeatsworld.

Australia’s National Capital was established on the traditional land of the Ngunnawal peoples and was also a significant meeting place for neighbouring clans, including the Ngarigo, Wolgalu, Gundungurra, Yuin and Wiradjuri people. Artefacts and oral histories tell us that these clans gathered here for ceremonies, trading and marriages, for well over 20,000 years. Canberra’s very name is said to have been anglicised from a local Aboriginal name for the area, ‘Kamberra’ or ‘Nganbra’, meaning meeting place. 

The Ngunnawal continued to hunt, gather, celebrate and connect with this country into the early nineteenth century, until the arrival of European graziers, who restricted necessary movement and introduced animals that rapidly reduced seasonally abundant Indigenous food resources, including the Bogong moth and yam daisy.

While some Ngunnawal people adapted by taking jobs as stockmen, government policies created severe social pressures on Indigenous communities and many were displaced from the area. Today, descendants of the Ngunnawal people still reside in Canberra, and are working to preserve their culture through maintaining strong connections to their country and the inextricable links between sacred and secular landscapes.

In our continuing efforts to raise children who understand the importance of reconciliation and connection, and to expose them to ancient Indigenous history and culture of the areas we visit, we make listening, learning and participating in Indigenous experiences an everyday part of our travel.  And in our experience-filled National Capital, which has more than 3,500 known Aboriginal heritage sites, opportunities are plentiful.

Here, we’re sharing a few of our favourite Indigenous experiences in Canberra.

Canberra Tracks – Ngunnawal Country Self Drive Heritage Trails

In traditional times, the area now known as Canberra is generally understood to have been a meeting place where the Ngunnawal welcomed and hosted mobs from the surrounding regions to discuss land and lore, and for ceremonial purposes. Visitors are welcomed to explore this country along the self-drive Ngunnawal Country Track, one of the Canberra Tracks Heritage Trails. It’s one of our favourite Indigenous experiences in Canberra, with signposted trail stopping at various Indigenous sites including Cotter Reserve, Tidbinbilla, Tharwa, Namadgi, Tuggeranong and the Theodore Grinding Grooves, taking visitors on a journey that dates back 20,000 years.

Reconciliation Place

Canberra’s Reconciliation Place, an urban promenade which stretches between the National Library of Australia to the west and the High Court of Australia on the foreshore of Lake Burley Griffin, is an important symbol of the shared journey of Australia’s Indigenous people and its settler population. Raff and Sugarpuff enjoy meandering down it’s pretty pathways to explore and learn from the many public artworks representing Indigenous culture, reconciliation, the Stolen Generation and themes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement, belonging and connection. Each of the breathtaking installations helps us to understand and acknowledge Australia’s past, our own privilege and that reconciliation and connection is the only path forward.

The National Museum of Australia

First Australians: Gallery of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples is a permanent exhibition at The National Museum of Australia explores the shared stories and experiences of Australia’s first Nation’s peoples. The exhibition includes a welcome from Canberra’s Ngunnawal, Ngunawal and Ngambri traditional custodians and shares the story of ancient and contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history. The gallery examines expressions of culture, the impact of colonisation since 1788 and the lives of Indigenous people today through art, artefacts, Indigenous voices and innovative multimedia. For a deeper understanding of the diversity of communities and attachments to the country, a First Australians Indigenous Tour is available.

Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House

At the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, guests can learn about the pathways Indigenous Australians have taken to bring about change on a tour highlighting the experiences of Indigenous Australians within our democracy. One of the most unique Indigenous experiences in Canberra, the tour, which is available by booking only, introduces visitors to some of Canberra’s most important heritage spaces including the Senate, Prime Minister’s Office and Press Gallery as they hear stories of the contributions of Indigenous leaders and activists like Senator Neville Bonner, Wenten Rubuntja and Charlie Perkins.

National Gallery of Australia

One of the places we most often hit repeat on in Canberra is the National Gallery of Australia. It’s phenomenal Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art collection comprises over 7,500 works of art that tell myriad stories past and present. The largest collection of such artworks in the world, individual gallery spaces have been designed for different geographic regions and aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art art to highlight the diversity and richness of works by some of the most significant indigenous artists in the world. Along with early bark paintings telling ancestral stories, there is a fine collection of contemporary artworks that make intellectual, provocative or political statements in relation to racism, oppression, marginalisation and survival. To learn even more about the stories told in these incredible artworks, join members of the local Ngunawal and Ngambri peoples at 3pm daily for a First Australian’s Indigenous Australia Tour of the collection.

Burrunju Art Gallery

Fallen in love with the pictorial stories of Australia’s First Nation’s peoples? Head to the Burrunju Art Gallery on Lady Denman Drive. This purpose-built gallery was established to provide local Aboriginal people an avenue to sell their art. Visitors are able to view and purchase a range of authentic, quality carvings, glassworks and paintings from more than 35 Indigenous artists from the not-for-profit organisation.

Aboriginal Tent Embassy

Ask my son his number one must visit destination in Canberra and without skipping a beat he’ll say the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. The historically significant site, located opposite Old Parliament House and first erected in 1972 to represent the political rights of Aboriginal Australians, remains a symbol of Aboriginal protest against the government’s approach to Indigenous issues. It might seem a little odd for a kid to have a connection to a place of protest and politics, but his attachment is due to an incredible encounter he had here when he was quite young, and he likes to return whenever he can to pay his respects and drop off his pocket money as a donation for the residing activists, whose openness and generosity of spirit have not only led my kids on a path of connection to country, but to beautiful friendships. There are no bells and whistles here, but a visit provides an excellent opportunity to open a dialogue about representation and the rights of Australia’s First Nations people.

Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve 

One of the best  Indigenous experiences in Canberra is a visit to the extraordinary Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve.The Birrigai Rock Shelter at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, just 45 minutes from the Canberra CBD, is one of the oldest known inhabited rock shelters in the world, dating back over 25,000 years to the end of the last ice age. An important place for Ngunnawal ceremonies, the reserve is dotted with sacred places of cultural lore and sites special to Aboriginal People of the region. Join an Aboriginal Ranger guided Aboriginal Culture and Heritage tour for a unique opportunity to explore and understand the long and ongoing connection of the Ngunnawal people with the local flora and fauna, including the koalas, kangaroos, wandering wallabies and emus, and even the elusive platypus that still call the reserve home.

Namadgi National Park 

Venture into Namadgi to discover its Aboriginal heritage. Explore Namadgi National Park, 45 minutes south of the Canberra CBD, to discover its Aboriginal heritage. The location of the Yankee Hat art sites, a complex of boulders situated at the foot of Yankee Hat Mountain, there’s a six-kilometre trail that takes visitors to a rock shelter where artworks, thought to be hundreds or even thousands of years old, are drawn onto the rock surface with clay. Visit with Dharwra Aboriginal Cultural Tours for a guided Aboriginal interpretation of the surrounding landscape, native wildlife, bush food and traditional culture.

Note: Namadgi National Park, with the exception of Bendora, Coree and Mt Franklin Road areas is temporarily closed for public safety reasons following bushfire and storm activity.

The post Indigenous experiences in Canberra appeared first on boyeatsworld.

Who’d have thought that a visit to an Aboriginal dance performance would lead to one of the most authentic and incredible Indigenous experiences of Raffles young life? Certainly not me. But that is exactly what has happened at Katoomba’s Waradah Aboriginal Centre.

We find ourselves at the centre after stopping to wax philosophic with Katoomba’s famous three sisters, who Sugarpuff insists are called Kylie, Betty and Rosie … something she knows because, she declares, they told her. Right. A little concerned that she’s holding conversations with monoliths, I point out that she isn’t all that fluent in several-million-year-old rock and it might be an idea for us to check those names, just in case!

Waradah Aboriginal Centre, just 50 metres up the road from the Echo Point Lookout, seems like a sensible place to do just that. And alas for Sugarpuff, we discover that Aboriginal dreamtime stories have the three sisters named as Meehni, Wimlah and Gunnedoo. Sugarpuff remains unconvinced but is soon distracted by a table of craft activities, laid out for the centres excellent immersive school holiday program.

I am more inclined to examine an art gallery showcasing a collection of authentic Aboriginal artwork from the Central and Western Desert areas of Australia. Much of the artwork is based on ancient stories and symbols and I am soon lost in the tales hidden in the artworks, shared with me by the knowledgeable Indigenous staff.

I am interrupted from my lesson in Indigenous symbolism only by the squealing of Raffles and Sugarpuff who, with their faces newly smeared in ochre, appear to have become artworks themselves.

From their wild gesticulating and squawking, I gather there’s a show about to start so I follow them into the darkness of the theatre to take in a series of Aboriginal dance and didgeridoo performances.

While each performance is mesmerising, it is the dreamtime story behind the creation of the Didgeridoo that sets Raffles imagination alight, and afterwards my enamoured boy has a million questions for the performers.

Peter, from the Garul Gigula Clan of the Ngemba Tribe in North West NSW, and Waradah Aboriginal Centre’s head dancer, does his best to answer. An Elder in his tribe, Peter’s knowledge is vast and he invites us into the centre’s education room so Raff and he can chat a little more.

Their conversation sparks some kind of connection between them and Peter, sensing Raffles passion for Indigenous culture and willingness to learn, blows us away by asking Raffles to pop over to his house later that afternoon, so he can teach him even more about the didgeridoo. With pleading eyes Raffles asks if he can go and I agree to bring him by.

And that’s when the magic happens.

As we arrive, Raffles is handed a boxwood Eucalyptus trunk as tall as he is, that has been pre-hollowed by termites. Then Peter asks my wide-eyed boy if he’s up for some hard graft, because he is about to make a didgeridoo, the hard way.

Raffles is more than up for the challenge. Peter shows Raffles how to ensure the trunk is completely clean, bashing out any bits the termites may have left behind. Then he puts Raffles to work stripping the wood of bark with a sickle, Peter advising him on technique and standing by to ensure he doesn’t lop off an arm or leg, which would be inconvenient to say the least.

Together they work for the best part of an hour and when it is time for us to go, Peter hands Raffles the didgeridoo, which is his to keep, with instructions not only on how to finish his masterpiece with sand paper and lacquer, but how to play it like a pro.

It is a moment Raffles will remember for a lifetime. And once again, I am reminded that it is not only the places but the people we meet that makes travel so special for our children.

NOTE: Waradah Aboriginal Centre is now permanently closed. 

The post A cultural connection in Katoomba appeared first on boyeatsworld.

Junior journo Raffles has a passion for Aboriginal culture that is matched only by his fervour for stuffing his face. This cultural hunger is one we’re more than happy to indulge and one of our favourite places to do just that is at Sydney’s Blak Markets.

This incredible market is dedicated to Aboriginal crafts, skills, food and providing an Aboriginal perspective on history. It also provides jobs for Indigenous people and raises funds to assist Aboriginal youth at risk. So in the lead up to NAIDOC week he’s chatting to the founder of Blak Markets, Peter Cooley, about the importance of embracing our local indigenous culture, Blak Market’s exciting upcoming events and, of course, eating!

Over to them…

Blak Markets has been running for more than two years, can you tell me why it started?
We started Blak Markets to provide a place of cultural pride for small Aboriginal businesses to sell their arts, craft and culture. We know the whole world is interested in our culture but it can be hard to find a place that showcases it.  We also wanted to provide a place where young Aboriginal people could learn from skilled elders about their culture through workshops in artefact making, shell work, weaving and traditional uses of plants.
It’s such a great idea.

Bare Island is such an interesting place to explore, what made you choose it as the location?
Bare Island is adjacent to both the old Aboriginal mission at La Perouse whose people were some of the first impacted by Captain Cook’s landing all those years ago. And Captains Cooks landing place in Kurnell. Bare Island was actually named by Cook’s Botanist, Joseph Banks.
That’s a lot of history.

Can you tell me about the smoking ceremony that is performed at each Blak Markets?
The smoking ceremony cleanses the island and also acts as a welcome to visitors to the island and our culture.
I really enjoy being part of it. It does make me feel welcome.

How important is it for Indigenous communities to stay connected with their culture and for elders to continue to pass on their knowledge to young people? 
It’s very important to teach Aboriginal youth about their culture, which is why we started the charity that runs the market – First Hand Solutions Aboriginal Corporation – all those years ago. We believe cultural reconnection, especially in urban areas, provides both pride and resilience to our people, which will help them stand strong and be successful.
I think that’s awesome.

Why do you think all Australian kids should be learn about Indigenous people and their culture?
My people can teach them how to look at the landscape in a whole different way and realise how all the things in our environment are connected. And hopefully this will make them make better decisions about looking after the environment and other people as well.
I spent time with some elders in the bush who taught me about the sustainable way the Aboriginal people have always lived. It’s genius. 

The markets provide jobs for Indigenous people, which is awesome. In what other ways does the market help the local Indigenous community?
We’ve got lots of young Aboriginal people working at the markets but we’ve also got over 30 Aboriginal people running their own stalls and teaching culture or skills. And they’re all supporting families. We also make sure that for the person buying from our markets that almost 100% of the profit either goes back to the person making that product or to an Aboriginal community organisation, which is important.

I was so, so lucky to do a spear making workshop with Dean at Blak Markets a while back and what he taught me about respect, patience and responsibility has really, really stuck with me. He taught me that we should only take from the earth what we need and not what we want, which I think is an awesome thing. What other workshops and tours are available at Blak Markets?
The workshops we offer vary from weaving, spear making and didgeridoo making, plant and artefact talks, to whale and healing ceremonies. We keep it varied so you can come back for something different each time.
Cool. I can’t wait to learn something new.

We loved trying the food at Blak Markets, I especially loved the deadly dumplings and emu sausages. What other bush tucker treats do you think we should try?
We’re at Martin Place this Thursday (19th May) and we’ve teamed up with a group called Bushfood Sensations who are bringing a whole variety of bushfood products to the market including cordials, desserts and chocolate. We’ll also have our very own Fred’s Bush Tucker demonstrating how to cook up fish the traditional way. And Australia’s most celebrated and renowned Indigenous chef, Mark Olive – also known as ‘The Black Olive’ – will be cooking up a feast. After that we’ll be at Barangaroo for NAIDOC week on Saturday 9th July then back home to Bare Island, La Perouse on Sunday 7 August and 4th December.
Lots of dates for our diary and lots of yummy food! I can’t wait.

Sharing the Blak Markets love with Essentially Jess for #IBOT

The post Raffles chats with Blak Markets’ Peter Cooley appeared first on boyeatsworld.

Given their mother’s rampant “bleeding heart hippie” tendencies and outspoken belief in the need for an egalitarian society, there was never a chance our kids would grow up without at least a little respect and recognition of Australia’s First Nations people.

But Raffles has surprised me with his passion for Indigenous culture. We’re more than happy to indulge his cultural quest for knowledge and, wherever possible on our travels around Australia, expose him and ourselves to the local Indigenous traditions.

Through immersion, he is learning the stuff of this country’s history in a way that can’t be acquired in a classroom. He has seen incredible artefacts and symbolic artworks and listened intently to beautiful stories. He has embraced indigenous culture through his belly. He’s learned how to make tools from nature and explored the bush with traditional teachers who have happily passed on their almost scientific knowledge of plants. And along the way, he has learned incredible lessons of equality and respect, which I hope he will carry with him for the rest of his life.

It turns out that in Cairns, opportunities abound to explore the past, present and future of Indigenous Australia. Needless to say, Raffles is as keen to get in touch with the local Aboriginal culture as he is to loll about in our hotel pool or leap over crocs.

When we explain to the wonderful staff at the Holiday Inn Cairns Harbourside what Raffles is seeking, they tell us about each of the many indigenous experiences open to a small curious boy and make enquiries for us about last minute availabilities. While he is tempted by both a Ngadiku Dreamtime Walk through pretty Mossman Gorge and joining the Kubirri Warra brothers of Kuku Yalanji Cultural Habitat Tours for a mudflat and mangrove walk, the time and distance are prohibitive on this short stay, and will need to wait until our next visit.

Instead he chooses to immerse himself into the world’s oldest living culture in the dark of night at Tjapukai, a cultural centre just 20 minutes from the hotel. Lover of all things theatrical that he is, Raffles is extremely excited at the prospect of dinner and a show but I must confess that I don’t share his enthusiasm. With all its advertised razzle and dazzle, I can’t help but suspect Tjapukai Nightfire will be lacking a certain authenticity. I am happy to be proved wrong!

Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park, the largest employer of indigenous Australians of any tourism enterprise in the country, prides itself on authenticity. And though I’m fairly certain greeting guests with trays of sparkling wine and juice is not an ancient skill passed on by the elders, or remotely authentic, the stories they share are. And it is fun.

The kids are both chuffed on as their faces are ceremoniously daubed in colours to link them to traditional lands.

Mr Eats World and I manage to sneak in a couple of moorish slow-cooked emu canapés and then we too are on the receiving end of the paintbrush while our peckish, ochre-smeared son heads off to stalk the waiters… with serious intent.

The deep growls and rumbles of a didgeridoo sounds as the Bama people, the traditional custodians of the land we are on, officially welcome us and the Dreamtime legends begin to unfold.

Raffles is entranced. He devotedly follows his Indigenous Pied Pipers across a bridge to the rainforest theatre for more stories and to watch the Tjapukai dancers perform.

In no time Raffles is on stage with them, clapping, dancing, whooping and generally carrying on. It was always going to happen. He is rewarded for his fine efforts with a message stone painted with an intricate sting ray totem (a symbol of stealth and power in Aboriginal society that will safeguard him against evil spirits and offer him good luck).

Ironically, it is the performers who are going to need a little luck in getting our enthusiastic wee show pony off the stage.

After the show, we’re led along a fire lit path to a clearing where we’re all handed Aboriginal clapping sticks. And then we too join the performers clapping, stomping and chanting as they have us form what they call a ‘Rainbow Serpent Circle’ around a fire pit.

The didgeridoo continues to share its haunting stories as the performers light a ceremonial fire… sans matchsticks.

The mesmerising hum of the music has the crowd in a happy trance and while Sugarpuff is focuses intently on working her clapping stick magic, Raffles is drunk on the atmosphere and leaping about with unrestrained joy to the beat.

That is until a spectacular fireball shoots towards the stars and leaves him, and all of us, momentarily started and still. The shock and awe doesn’t last and he’s soon back dancing to the beat of his own inner drum.

On a high from the performance, we once again find ourselves following our hosts along the cultural park’s fire lit bridges to the Flame Tree Bar & Grill for dinner and Raffles second performance for the evening – his best impression of Monty Python’s gluttonous Mr Creosote.

He piles his plate high with fresh local prawns, mussels with finger lime, native spiced salads, baked local fish and slivers of kangaroo. Rapturously trying all the new and intriguing flavours on offer, Raffles is in his happy place.

Thankfully there is no wafer-thin mint on the dessert table and he passes on exploding, instead heading off to digest his mighty meal over a chat around the fire with his new buddies, the Tjapukai Nightfire warriors.

For my little idealist, it proves the perfect ending to what has been a magical night.

NOTE: Tjapukai was permanently closed as of January  2021

Disclosure:  While The Eats Worlds were guests of Holiday Inn Cairns Harbourside, our visit to Tjapukai Nightfire was independently paid for.

The post Cairns with kids: Tjapukai Nightfire appeared first on boyeatsworld.

I’ll never forget my first time. I was just 17. It was in the back of a car, my body glistening with perspiration from the heat, my heart beating with excitement. It was everything it had been cracked up to be and more.

My first sight of Uluru.

One moment ochre-brown, the next blazing red, I knew as soon as I’d picked my jaw back up from off the car floor that this sacred sandstone rock had many stories to tell. And I, probably for the first time in all of my teenage years, was ready to stop and listen.

Science tells us that Uluru thrust itself out of the earth 600 million years ago (give or take a millennia or two) during a saucy geographic episode known as the Petermann Orogeny. But I much prefer the elaborate creation stories of the local Anangu people. They believe Uluru was created by a group of ten ancestral spirits (including Kuniya the woma python woman and Liru the venomous snake man) who emerged from the void during the period of Tjukurpa: The Dreamtime. Those stories belong to the Anangu people and are not mine to share, but it was while listening to them that I decided that one day I wanted to tell my own.

Problem was, at 17, I could barely summon the words to describe its indefinable magnificence. Though I was almost certain that “It’s a really, really big rock” was hardly going to have the ghost of Hemingway quivering in his gin-soaked boots.

So what exactly was a 17-year old doing hanging out in the middle of the desert with this particular rock star? Well, fresh out of school and eager to see the world I’d scrimped and saved and worked crazy jobs and hours to buy my first car – an extremely unattractive Kingswood that rocked a similar vintage to myself. Despite not yet having a driver’s license, I gathered a few pals who did and waved good-bye to my spectacularly unimpressed parents to set off around Australia.

There was a whole world outside my beige suburban existence that was waiting to for me to explore it and having no license, no money and no idea wasn’t going to stop me doing just that. My equally unprepared companions and I travelled across the country, surviving on Cruskits and Spam, sleeping in the car and – when we felt like being decadent – trading up to dodgy caravan parks that were like something from the set of Mad Max.

Everything on our journey was new and exciting, but nothing prepared me for the punch-in-the-gut impact of that “really big rock”.

Given my extreme teen fan-girling, I was a little worried that revisiting Uluru almost three decades later might be a bit like catching up with a once rocking-ex who’s turned a conservative shade of middle-aged beige, and that our old magic would be gone.

But, oops, that gorgeous rock did it again!

Though this time, in place of the cruskits and spam, I’m being romanced by the stone to a didgeridoo soundtrack while sipping (read: guzzling) Louis Roederer Champagne and nibbling emu prosciutto canapés atop a desert dune at Ayers Rock Resort’s intimate Tali Wiru Uluru Desert Dining Experience.

Clearly out to make up for lost time, Uluru is doing its dazzling dance of many colours and for extra impact has ordered in an intense rainbow-hued sunset. You know, just in case.

Not to let a little thing like darkness get in the way of making an impression, the rock’s presence is still felt post sunset as the wooing continues with an intimate table d’hote four-course dinner with an indigenous twist.

There’s a delightful amuse bouche of cauliflower soup with Sevruga caviar.

A starter of Paroo kangaroo rillettes with Davidson plum puree and Persian feta.

A perfect medium rare Darling Downs Wagyu Fillet with wild mushroom ragout follows these feats of culinary magic. Incredibly – given that we’re literally in the middle of the desert – each course is prepared in a basic camp kitchen with only barbecue power (there’s no electricity) by the talented chefs.

To further sweeten me up is a sublime dessert of coconut panna cotta and desert lime curd topped with a couple of passionfruit macarons for good measure. All of this matched with premium wines and served by candle light under a sky crowded with stars.

I’m weak at the knees by the time a local storyteller joins us to share more captivating tales of spirituality, land and culture.

At this point, Uluru slips in a romantic roaring fire and a glass of congac. I almost feel the need to point out to it that I’m a happily married woman… though one with a not so secret extra-marital crush… on a rock.

As an extraordinary night at beautiful Tali Wiru draws to an end, Uluru has once again stolen my heart and leaves me with nothing but beautiful memories, a full belly, and a fine dusting of fire engine red soil coating my boots.

The post Romancing the stone at Tali Wiru Uluru appeared first on boyeatsworld.

There’s not much about Sydney that hasn’t been written about. But this city still has secrets, and if you think that you’ve seen everything it has to offer, think again. I could start by telling you about tranquil secret gardens and pristine Harbour beaches left largely untouched by visitors. I could tell you about Sydney’s own Hanging Gardens of Babylon, a sunken water garden surrounded by heritage columns not even ten minutes from the city centre. And of course I could tell you about pretty spaces filled with Gumnut Babies and fairies. But as delightful as all of these things are, I’m not going to.

No, its NAIDOC week and given my bleeding heart hippie tendencies, I’m going to take the opportunity to reveal a few Sydney surprises that offer an opportunity to expose your kids, and yourselves, to the ancient Indigenous culture and history of the country we live in.

But lets start at the beginning. The very beginning!

Aboriginal Australians have danced, drawn, sung and been at one with this land for more than 60,000 years, and while you might think a trip to Uluru is needed to truly connect with and learn from one of the world’s oldest and most fascinating cultures, you’d be wrong.

New South Wales is home to Australia’s largest Aboriginal population and Sydney was once the unspoiled home of The Eora Nation. This nation of more than 29 clan groups made up the coastal Aboriginal population around what is now known as Sydney until the arrival of Captain Cook. I say until because the Indigenous population didn’t have the foresight to implement a human rights violating “stop the boats” policy and Captain Cook decided, in spite of walking, talking evidence to the contrary, that this land was “unoccupied” and, to a soundtrack of musket fire, declared it the property of England. As one does. At least when one suffers genocidal tendencies. But I digress…

The Gadigal people, who lived in around Port Jackson, were decimated during colonisation, thanks to the new settlers predilection for guns, which they used to full effect, and the arsenal of diseases they brought with them, including small pox, which  wiped out as much as 80% of Sydney’s Indigenous population. But descendants of the survivors of the Eora Nation are still living in Sydney and, with its oral tradition unbroken, their culture remains alive.

Many illuminating cultural experiences can be found in Sydney and from the very depths of my soul I implore families to share these with their children in the spirit of respect and recognition of Australia’s First Nations people.

On our doorstep we have incredible museums and galleries including the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ Yiribana Aboriginal and Torres Strait Art Gallery and The Australian National Maritime Museum’s EORA First People exhibition. Either would make a great starting place and both boast incredible artefacts and symbolic artworks that tell beautiful stories. But, as wonderful as they both are, the Eats Worlds prefer to connect with culture by immersing ourselves in a truly authentic experience.

Here we share three of our family’s favourite Indigenous Sydney experiences that have allowed us to learn the stuff of this country’s history in a way that it can’t be learned from book or classroom.

1.Cadi Jam Ora

My kids are fascinated with the scientific knowledge Indigenous Australians have of plants for use as food and medicine. The Royal Botanic Garden’s Cadi Jam Ora; First Encounters Garden is the place to explore ‘nature’s supermarket’ in Sydney. The cultivated Botanic Gardens were once a wild place chock full of native plants and animals that, until the arrival of Cook and England’s deported crooks, provided food and shelter to the Gadigal people. This weekly tour, every Friday at 10am, led by an Aboriginal guide, not only shares the secrets of bush tucker and medicinal plants but allows visitors to hear about the events that occurred on this piece of land from both a European and Indigenous perspective.

2. Tribal Warrior

There’s really no better place to spend a sunny Sydney day with the family than on a boat exploring the most beautiful harbour in the world. And the Mari Nawi isn’t just any boat. On this vessel, the Aboriginal hosts and crew share the stories of the Eora, Cadigal, Guringai, Wangal, Gammeraigal and Wallumedegal people, along with their knowledge of traditional fishing methods and food gathering techniques… handy tips for a pelican like Raffles.

3. Blak Markets

It wouldn’t be us if we didn’t attempt to embrace indigenous culture through our bellies. Enter the incredible Blak Markets, held on the first Sunday of ever month at Bare Island, La Perouse. The incredible market is dedicated to Aboriginal crafts, skills, food and providing an Aboriginal perspective on history whilst raising much-needed dosh to assist Aboriginal youth at risk.

Our love of the markets isn’t just because Raffles likes to eat his way through the amazing food stalls, devouring bowls full of ‘deadly dumplings’ and spearing kangaroo kebabs into his gob, while Sugarpuff sucks back the refreshing Lilli Pilli cordial. Though it certainly doesn’t lessen the appeal.

For us it is the unsurpassable opportunity for our kids to be exposed to and learn about local indigenous culture from traditional teachers. These generous folks give their time each month to pass on the knowledge that has been passed on to them for generations with mesmerising tales and hands-on workshops that leave both our children spellbound.

Sugarpuff is enamoured with the cute mini cultural workshops where she can paint, stick and colour with the lovely ladies of Blak Markets, who she simply adores. And for Raffles, an intense but fun workshop in spear making not only filled him with confidence in his own ability to create something useful from nature, but left him passionate about the importance of a kind, responsible and sustainable way of living.

Knowledge that I hope he’ll one day pass on to the next generation.

The post Three of the best Indigenous Sydney experiences for families appeared first on boyeatsworld.

Raffles is pretty excited when we tell him we’re going to explore a real fort. When we add the bit about him making his very own weapon while he’s there, he’s just about ready to sign up for a job with Border Protection. I’m not sure he’d last long in the job though as he shares his  mama’s “bleeding heart hippie” ideals of equality and offering refuge, and rather than “stopping the boats” he’d more likely be whipping up the hungry passengers an omelette and a nice cuppa before joining them for a bit of a chin wag. I so like this kid.

Given our penchant for sipping on the aforementioned hippie juice, one might consider it odd that I’m actively encouraging my child to make a weapon, but the weapon that Raffles will make today is a very special one that has more to do with self-respect, responsibility and connection than with violence. But more on that in a sec…

We’re at Bare Island in Sydney’s La Perouse, named for Comte de La Pérouse, a French navigator who rocked up here just a few days after the first fleet of convicts had arrived in Botany Bay. Luckily for both him and the convicts there was no Border Protection around in those days otherwise they would all have been unceremoniously turfed out on their arses… given their watery arrival.

But I digress, we’re not here to discuss border policy, the arrival of the First Fleet or the fact that had the French only turned up a few days earlier we would all be running around singing Edith Piaf songs, eating croissants for breakfast and wearing Chanel thongs. Bugger. Je ne actually do regrette rien that. I’d quite like a French accent.

Bare Island is both a historic military fort and the host of the wonderful Blak Markets, a monthly market dedicated to Aboriginal crafts, skills and culture. The market raises funds for Aboriginal community programs to assist youth at risk and I implore you from the depths of my soul to take your children. It is fun, entertaining, unique and provides an unsurpassable opportunity for our kids to be exposed to and learn about local indigenous culture while helping Aboriginal youth become proud and resilient through that culture.

Beyond great market stalls showcasing everything from Aboriginal art and handicrafts to homewares and fashion, visitor’s can enjoy mouth-watering bush tucker inspired food, Indigenous entertainment and witness a traditional smoking ceremony where native plants are burnt, producing smoke to spiritually heal, purify and ward off negativity.

If you like things more hands on, there are bush tucker tours, a Catch N Cook kids fishing tour and great workshops with traditional Aboriginal teachers who’ll pass on the knowledge that has been passed on to them for generations.

Raffles is fairly preoccupied with eating his way through every one of the amazing food stalls in the courtyard. He goes back for seconds of the “deadly dumplings’, delicious chicken dumplings with warrigal greens served in a bowl of chicken broth, and the barbecued Kanagroo skewers.

But it’s time to make that weapon I mentioned at the beginning of my ramblings… a spear to be precise. The Spear Making workshop with Dean Kelly of Warada Kinship is not only hands on but quite spiritual. Dean takes his culture very seriously and loves to share a way of life he says “was given to him by the old people”. Dean explains the spear’s history and how it has evolved. How the knowledge of this ancient technology was shared with him by the old people and how it can set the direction for life’s journey.

The spear Raffles will create will uniquely represent him and the hard work is not done for him. Raffles will need to make his spear from scratch. When choosing the trunk of a Gymea Lily (also known as spear lilies) he must choose the one he feels most connected to, the one that fits. Raffles must do the same with the timber spear head (these have been carved already) and he carefully picks each up and studies it until he finds the one that speaks to him.

And then it’s off to work. Manually removing the remaining leaves from the trunk and sanding it back. Painstakingly putting the pieces together and tightly winding twine around his spear-to-be.

While Raffles (and his dad, who is also making a spear today) work away, I take Sugarpuff off for some lemon myrtle lollipops and Davidson plum sherbet and we find a great mini cultural workshop where she too can make something of her own. She chooses to paint and decorate a set of clapping sticks with the lovely local ladies. The hot pink theme she goes for isn’t very authentic but she’s pretty chuffed with her handiwork, as are the lovely ladies who assist.

When we return we find the boys scooping up handfuls of orange goo, made from crushed rock and tree resin, taking only what they need to seal and paint their spears by hand.

All in all they spend two painstaking hours working on their spears. Listening, learning, sharing and connecting.

My son is taught about the importance of taking only what he needs not what he wants from the land. To Aboriginal people, the land has a spiritual connection. It is their mother and they believe that everything is born from her and will return to her. It represents everything that is needed for living and they take from it only what they need to survive… a kind, responsible and sustainable way of living that I’m thrilled my son is being exposed to.

Raffles, who I swear is about to actually burst with pride, is now the owner of his very own handmade spear and generations of knowledge that has been passed on to him by Dean.

My little boy has learned so much more than just how to make a weapon, he has learned respect, patience and responsibility and he will take that with him along with his spear… which he can use to stir the next batch of mama’s Kool Aid.

Blak Markets at Bare Island is open 10.30am-5pm on the 1^st Sunday of every month. Workshops and tours range in price and entry to Bare Island, usually only open for tours, is $2 per person, with children under 5 free. http://www.sydneyaboriginaltours.com.au

The post Hands on learning at Blak Markets at Bare Island Sydney appeared first on boyeatsworld.

Do you know the muffin man? I do. Turns out he’s about four-ft tall, blonde, extremely cheeky and only six-years old.

Inspired by our recent bushtucker adventures in Jervis Bay, Raffles asked me if we could hit the kitchen for a little experimenting with some of the native flavours we’d learned about and tasted in Booderee National Park. Three-year old Sugarpuff too wanted in on this particular caper so to keep things simple I figure we could just torment a basic muffin recipe and see what we come up with.

But our innocent afternoon in the kitchen soon deteriorates into full and bloody combat with my normally sweet and non-competitive son determined to out muffin his mother. It’s a bake off!

In fact, it is spatulas at dawn when, justifiably proud of thebush tomato, lemon myrtle and pepperberry combo that I was planning to share here, Raffles and his sassy sous chef, Sugarpuff, tell me where I can stick my savoury offering. Not that they don’t like them, It’s just that they’ve declared theirs superior (even while munching happily on mine).

Indeed so sure they are of their muffin supremacy that they have commandeered the blog and are insisting that instead I share their contribution to our experiment in native flavours – macadamia, wattle seed and crystalised ginger muffins with a hefty dollop of golden syrup.

And, just quietly, while I hate being bested by a six-year old in the kitchen, I’ve got to admit my muffin man’s sweet, sticky and aromatic creation is a moist and moreish work of gingery genius…

THE RECIPE

Macadamia, wattle seed and crystalised ginger muffins
(makes six large muffins)

Ingredients;

1 ½ cups self raising flour
1 tsp wattle seeds
½ cup macadamia nuts chopped
½ cup crystallised ginger chopped
50g butter, melted
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons golden syrup
1 banana, sliced (for moisture)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a muffin tray with individual baking papers.
2. Sift self raising flour and wattle seeds into a large bowl.
3. Add macadamia nuts and crystallised ginger.
4. Make a well in the centre and add butter, milk and egg, banana and golden syrup.
5. Mix ingredients (mixture should remain lumpy)
6. Spoon evenly into lined muffin tray.
7. Bake for 20 minutes (or until they spring back when touched lightly)
8. Cool and serve (these are particularly lovely still warm).

The post Bushtucker baking: Wattleseed, Macadamia & Ginger Muffins appeared first on boyeatsworld.

I bought my first beaten up jalopy before I’d learned to drive – such is my love of hitting the road. By the time I had my P plates I knew my way around its V6 engine so well that I could practically repair it myself. Mind you cars were pretty simple when I was a teenager. You know, back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth.

In spite of my impressive mechanical skills my parents were mortified when, at age 17, I packed my car, my meager savings and a couple of pals and hit the road to discover Australia. They predicted I’d be out of money and back home in a week. They were only out by four months. And I came home with change!

Fast forward a few decades and my adventurous offspring have inherited their mother’s passion for the road so there’s plenty of cheering when I suggest we pack Terry-Lulu – the Ford Territory Titanium that we’re driving for the Voices of 2014 Paint the Town Ford Challenge – for a Jervis Bay family getaway.

Given the Territory Titanium’s boot is the size of a football pitch, the kids take us a little too literally when we tell them they can pack whatever they want. But, even with our luggage, esky, bikes, toys, kites, scooters, stuffed sharks (don’t ask), an arsenal of plastic weapons and enough musical instruments for us to tour with the Rolling Stones, there’s still loads of room left… so the kids suggest we buy a dog!

Terry-Lulu is only on loan and I’m not aware of any timeshare pet emporiums so, sans canine, we program the Ford’s easy to use navigation system, pop the iPod in the dock, stop any potential arguments about the temperature between my icicle loving husband and my warmth loving self by setting the dual-zone automatic air-con and hit the road for our weekend getaway.

To get a feel for a town we try to make the local markets our first stop and, as luck would have it, a monthly produce market is in full swing when we reach Huskisson. The tables of bursting ripe fruit and local delights, pretty pet parrots at a trinkets caravan, eccentric musos, oodles of great food and friendly people are a pretty good indication we’re going to like it here.

At pretty Greenwell Point we scoff luscious local oysters that are expertly shucked in front of us.

Sugarpuff balks at actually eating the moreish molluscs and instead, while we chat to the owners of Jim Wild’s Oyster Farm about the life cycle of their produce, sets up her own oyster shop. When we ask our little entrepreneur if we can buy one of her oysters she explains that they’re not going to be ready for another 2 years… but we can leave a deposit and come back to collect them then.

Whale Watching proves more fail than whale. It’s a little choppy on the water and besides one brief glimpse of a magnificent white tail, the only thing we see on the bumpy boat ride is people trialing the sick bags. We’re kindly offered the  option of a repeat cruise another day but given that Raffles drops and kisses the ground when we get back to Husky, I’d say that’s unlikely.

At stunning Hyams Beach we lose the rest of the afternoon collecting shells and building palatial castles in sand that the Guinness Book of Records says is the whitest in the world.

Sunday morning I awake early. With cuppa in hand I take a leisurely stroll along Huskisson beach to watch the sunrise and find myself waxing philosophic with a pod of dolphins who’ve dropped by for a friendly frolic just metres from shore.

Sadly the rest of the family are still snoozing soundly and miss the magic moment.

It’s time to get the kids for the weekend’s main event. As always this mama wants to expose her children to the culture of the places we roam. In Jervis Bay that culture goes back several millennia so we’ve organised a hot date at the spectacular Booderee National Park with members of the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community, the area’s indigenous custodians.

Booderee, is a word from the regional Dhurga language meaning ‘bay of plenty‘ and is a place of great significance for the local Indigenous people. The lovely Jenny Freeman and her son Clive of Galamban: Extraordinary Aboriginal Experience are here to tell us why and to share several lifetimes of knowledge passed on by an unbroken link of ancestors who lived here.

Jenny and Clive show us how to use plants to protect from mosquitoes and sunburn, make antiseptics and antibiotics and treat stings.

They make ropes from plant fibres, show us vines that can be woven into crab pots and explain how fish and plants react to the same weather changes and how they observe that. An awestruck Raffles rightly declares the Indigenous technologies genius. Sugarpuff? She’s mostly just enamoured with her pretty fern frond hat and callistemon hair brush.

Then it’s time for our favourite subject, food! We’re shown berries and leaves that are safe to eat straight from the bush, those that need heating and treating and those that should be avoided. Raffles tries lilly-pillys and native currants, seeds that taste like bubblegum and leaves that taste like snow peas.

While pretty parrots flutter by Raffles is shown how to use a long thin leaf to make a whistle that will attract snakes (if he should feel like one for breakfast) and told how certain leaves placed in streams can attract and temporarily stun fish by taking oxygen from the water – making them easy to trap and catch.

Before Raffles eats Jervis Bay out of National Park and we bid our farewells, my ever inquisitive son has one last curly question. “How did the first indigenous person get here?” Jenny shares an enchanting tale of how the land and the people were created by ancestral spirit brothers who took the form of wind and sea while my spellbound boy laps up every word. Beautiful.

This is the stuff that cannot be learned from a book or in a classroom. This is the stuff of lifelong memories.

On the drive home we make a quick pit stop at Nan Tien Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in the Southern Hemisphere, for tea and a moment or two of tranquility and contemplation before hitting the road in the fabulous Ford once more.

Just like the temple, the drive home in the Territory Titanium is whisper quiet as the kids are fixated on the car’s built-in DVD player watching Frozen. Again! But with the two clever wireless headphone sets that come with this magic mobile resting on their little heads I can’t hear a word. Well played Terry-Lulu, well played!

Thanks to Ford Australia and Kidspot, we’re delighted to be enjoying our adventures in a newFord Territory Titanium as part of the Voices of 2014 Paint the Town Ford Challenge. This is the last of the three posts we’ll be sharing on our adventures with the lovely Terry-Lulu (as the kids have dubbed the SUV). For more Painting the Town Ford you can read all about day tripping and urban adventures Territory Titanium style.

The post Beaches, Booderee & Bush Tucker in Jervis Bay appeared first on boyeatsworld.