Now then the Tjapukai experience … this is an award winning tourist attraction run by Aborigines of the Tjapukai tribe with the permission of their elders. Any profit goes back into the tribe to help the them. You are given an itinerary which included a brief history, the ‘creation’, dancing, didgeridoo session, bush tucker and medicines, boomerang throwing and lastly spear throwing.
We got there at lunchtime so we opted for food than the history bit as we thought we could catch that later on. The restaurant was fantastic and the food very tasty, with not a witchetty grub anywhere to be seen! We feasted on a fabulous buffet of fish, chicken, curry dishes along with salads, desserts and the best tasting fresh bread ever.
The ‘creation’ session was really clever as it was a mixture of live actors along with a special laser show for the special effects. The actors told the story of how the world was created which, basically summed up, was all to do with a cassowary egg, and the magic Rainbow Serpent. If you see one of the cassowaries you can see why the Aborigines would have thought them to be the most magical creatures with their rainbow faces.
After the show we walked through the park to the dance stage and, low and behold, the actors from the creation show were there! They showed us their various dances which was brilliant, along with the reasons for the paint jobs on their bodies … all to do with the various animals around, e.g. kangaroos, dingoes, emus, etc. There were also the various dances that matched the various animals which was excellent to watch.
They did like to take the micky out of the white man but then a second later they are asking if you enjoyed the show to let others know and get them to come and support them. Mmm, so they hate white men for what they did but then they want their support, all seemed a bit double standards to me. This was the only bit that didn’t sit very comfortably with me.
After the dancing guess what? The actor/dancer then became the didgeridoo player and another one became the bush tucker man. Then they became the boomerang and spear throwing tutors … all in all we thought the place must be run by about 10 people and that was it. They were very good though and you could see the ones who had been doing it for a while and enjoyed it.
The boomerang throwing was a laugh and I have to admit to being the best boomerang thrower of our group as I was nearly able to catch it on its return, whereas everyone else’s seemed to end up in a hedge somewhere. The man was brilliant with the kids and even gave them a boomerang to take home which was very nice of him.
The spear throwing though was difficult as you had to use another bit of wood to catapult the spear through the air which made it impossible to aim but I think I killed a kangaroo from the side by sheer luck – well at least a bale of straw with a kangaroo poster tied to the front of it anyway!
So back to the history show which just explained how the white man came and took over the land and claimed it for himself. It was the usual sad story of rape, pillage, burning down villages, slavery, etc., all of which was a dreadful story to listen to.
Overall, a worthwhile experience and a good insight into our native people.
