Kooyang Yana - Kooyang Walk Full Day Tour
We invite you to UNESCO World Heritage listed Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, near Portland in Western Victoria to experiences traditional Aboriginal aquaculture. The tour will take you on a journey into the lifecycle of kooyang (eels) and their importance to the Gunditjmara people, dating back over 6,000 years. See ancient stone kooyang (eel) traps and stone channels, stone house sites and eel smoking trees, as your cultural guide shows you how the Gunditjmara worked the landscape, with evidence of traditional and modern farming and aquaculture.
Visit Lake Gorrie for a look at historic drystone walls dating to the 1800’s that were used for sheep washes. After a light lunch, enjoy a guided cultural walk of the Tae Rak (Lake Condah) wetlands, seeing the complex aquaculture system and an area of lava flow featuring two weirs and a dam associated with trapping and holding kooyang.
This tour operates all year round.
Location
4/48 Edgar Street, Heywood, VIC
What to expect
Experience Highlights
- Learn about the farming and aquaculture practices of the Gunditjmara
- Visit the Kurtonitj Indigenous Protected Area and Budj Bim National Park
- Learn about drystone wall building techniques of the Gunditjmara
- See an ancient smoking tree that was used for smoking kooyang (eels)
- Visit an area of lava flow featuring two weirs and a dam
- Learn how the Gunditjmara used aquaculture systems to trap and hold kooyang
- Morning tea at Lake Gorrie and lunch at the Tak Rak Aquaculture Centre and Café
Itinerary
This tour takes visitors through the history of the Budj Bim cultural landscape from creation to farming. The tour covers Budj Bim National Park, Lake Gorrie drystone walls and Kurtonitj IPA, along with a guided walk of the Tae Rak (Lake Condah) wetlands.
Kurtonitj (meaning 'crossing place') is sacred to the Gunditjmara people with enormous cultural, archaeological and environmental significance.
The tour starts with a visit to the Kurtonitj Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) in the centre of the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape with historic stone kooyang (eel) traps and stone channels, stone house sites and eel smoking trees. Your guide will show you these sites, as well as an area of lava flow featuring two weirs and a dam associated with trapping and holding kooyang.
After Kurtonitj the tour continues on to Lake Gorrie where you will enjoy morning tea before a short guided walk. The site is an example of a well preserved drystone walls used for sheep wash - built by the Gunditjmara people and used by early pastoralists.
Constructed in the mid 1800’s, the drystone walls demonstrate a high level of craftsmanship and skill in their construction and have been deemed of archaeological significance by the State of Victoria. There are large numbers of Karrayn (grey kangaroo) living in this area.
After Lake Gorrie visit Budj Bim National Park, where your Gunditjmara guide will lead a cultural walk with key features of interest including Lake Surprise, caves, surrounding forest and native wildlife.
After visiting Budj Bim National Park, return to the Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre & Café for lunch.
After lunch you will enjoy a Guided Cultural Walk of Tae Rak (Lake Condah) and the surrounding wetlands.
What is included
This is an 8 hour experience that runs from 8:30am on Wednesday through to Sunday.
Bookings are essential and the tour operates with a minimum of 2 people.
The walking tour finishes back at the Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre and; Cafe at approximately 4pm. From here we transfer you back to Heywood to arrive at around 4:30pm.
Morning tea and light lunch is included in your experience.
A kooyang (eel) tasting plate can be ordered for an additional cost.
Meeting point
Budj Bim Cultural Landscape Tours Office, 4/48 Edgar Street, Heywood, VIC
What to bring
- Camera
- Hat
- Repellent
- Sunglasses
- Sunscreen
- Water bottle
YOUR EXPERIENCE PROVIDER
Budj Bim Cultural Landscape Tourism
Budj Bim Cultural Landscape is a UNESCO World Heritage listed area near Portland in Western Victoria and is one of Australia’s great national heritage landscapes.
Budj Bim is recognised nationally and internationally as a special place that offers unique and authentic experiences of a living Indigenous culture, history and landscape. Budj Bim is the Gunditjmara name for Mount Eccles, an inactive volcano located within the Western Victorian Volcanic Plains.
The First Nations owned and operated Budj Bim Cultural Landscape Tourism offer a guided experience of southwest Victoria’s Gunditjmara Country, where First Nations history dates back more than 39,000 years, characterised by the region’s ancient aquaculture systems.
Budj Bim Cultural Landscape Tourism is led by local Gunditjmara guides and invite visitors to discover a vibrant Indigenous culture and landscape through shared stories and along raised boardwalks designed to preserve the precious natural environment.
The state-of-the-art Tae Rak Traditional Aquaculture Centre and eatery offers refreshments as well as kooyang (eel) tastings, bringing to life the traditional farming techniques practiced over hundreds of generations.