wukalina Walk

wukalina Walk will deepen your understanding of our culture and our proud community here in lutruwita (Tasmania) as well as expose you to the wonders of our homelands.

There is so much to see and so much to learn from this cultural landscape and we look forward to sharing some of that with you.

On the first day your small group of up to 10 guests will be guided through bushland dominated by peppermint gum, melaleuca and banksia up to the granite summit of wukalina to get your bearings and look out towards tayaritja (the Furneaux Islands). During the walk your guides will explain how pakana communities came to be on those islands and about the ongoing practice of muttonbirding that continues there today.

As we hike towards the coast, the bushland gives way to heathland where kunzea may be flowering and the tall stems of yamina (grass trees) point skyward to where eagles cruise. Wallaby and wombat graze on the marsupial lawns. Sandy creek beds channel fresh tannin-brown water. After rain the surface of puddles on the track will shine with slicks of tea tree oil.

The coastal landscape where krakani lumi stands is yet another world. This is saltwater Country where the sky blends with the sea. Headlands of time-worn lichened rocks divide long bright beaches where birds are free to nest and shark eggs sometimes wash onto the beach attached to seaweed or kelp. A lagoon supporting choirs of frogs wraps around the back of krakani lumi.

For two nights you’ll sleep under cosy doonas and wallaby fur throws in domed-roof huts set within this coastal heathland and in earshot of the ocean. We settle into krakani lumi for two days before a long walk south along the beach to larapuna (Bay of Fires) where we spend the third night in a restored lightkeepers cottage.

Day One

Launceston to wukalina and krakani lumi

Distance - 11km

Difficulty - Medium

Walk time - 4.5 hours

Arrive at the Elders Council of Tasmania Aboriginal Corporation on St John Street in Launceston at 8am. Meet Elders, guides and other guests over a morning cuppa and freshly baked scones. Enjoy the scenic drive, by minibus, from Launceston to the North East, while learning some pakana and European history.

The cultural walk begins when we arrive at wukalina (Mt William National Park) where there will be a Welcome to Country. In two kilometres we reach the 216-metre high summit of wukalina. After lunch up there it’s time to hike towards the coast. You will have a chance to try bush tucka on the way. Arrive at krakani lumi – resting place – designed and built exclusively for wukalina Walk. That evening we all take part in a Smoking Ceremony.

Day Two

Time on the coast

Distance - less than 5km

Difficulty - Easy to Medium

Walk time - 2 hours

After a relaxed breakfast you will learn a lot about this important land and sea Country on a guided walk along the beach and then barefoot through a living cultural landscape (we prefer not to use the archaeological term midden). Look out for wildlife native to the area such as prupilathina (wombat), payathanima (wallaby), Forester kangaroo and sea eagle.

Lunch will be served back at krakani lumi. The afternoon is a time to take part in cultural activities such as weaving, clapstick making and shell stringing. Dinner includes traditional foods such as muttonbird and wallaby.

Day Three

krakani lumi to larapuna

Distance - 17km

Difficulty - Medium to hard

Walk time - 6 hours

Today is our longest day of walking with a guided hike south to larapuna (Bay of Fires). We follow the waterline of the beaches and walk over rocky headlands. The hike is easily broken up with stories, interpretations and more opportunities to sample bush tucka. Arrive at the Aboriginal-leased land of larapuna (Eddystone Point lighthouse precinct). At dusk and dawn wildlife often grazes on the lawns around this cosy lightkeepers cottage accommodation.

Day Four

larapuna to Launceston

Take a guided tour of larapuna and surrounds including exclusive access to Eddystone Lighthouse. Only 129 steps and you’re at the top. Participate in cultural activities with guides and Elders. Lunch is served before we get on the mini-bus. We return to Launceston via Derby at approximately 4:30pm. Enjoy nibbles and bubbly back at the Elders Council in Launceston.

wukalina Walk departs Launceston from September through to May.

Throughout the season we offer a number of guaranteed departures regardless of guest numbers.

Additional trips will be regularly scheduled depending on demand and these can be guaranteed to go ahead once a minimum of four walkers are confirmed.

Rate Options (September 2021 to May 2023)

Per person twin share Single supplement Children (age 12-18): price as per adult.

No children under 12.

We offer special private departures all year round so please contact us about that anytime. Why not get together a group of 10 friends or family or members of a club and book an exclusive departure.

We offer special private departures so please talk to our reservations staff about this anytime. Why not get a group of 10 friends together and book an exclusive departure? We offer a 10% discount for groups of ten.

15% discount for residents of lutruwita/Tasmania and 5% discount for Victorian residents on all departures until 30 April 2023.

We offer Mob discounts – please contact us for a chat about that.

Return guests receive a 25% discount. Please let us know, when booking, if you’ve walked with us before.

Although our infrastructure isn’t wheelchair accessible, we welcome travellers with disability and will do what we can to accomodate you. Assistance/support animals are allowed in the national park. Please contact us to discuss.

Price includes:

• Pick-up and return from accommodation within a 5km radius of the Elders Centre
• Transport to wukalina (Mt William National Park) and return from larapuna (Bay of Fires)
• Twin/double share accommodation for three nights
• All meals and snacks
• Tasmanian wine/mineral water/juice offered each evening
• National park passes
• Complimentary use of 40lt backpack, Gore-Tex jacket, gaiters, travel stool and walking poles for the duration of walk
• Two qualified palawa guides for groups of six guests or more or one guide for groups of five or less
• Time with a palawa Elder and/or a craftperson/artist

The transfer meeting point is the Elders Council of Tasmania Aboriginal Corporation at 163 St John Street, Launceston 7250. The Elders is a seven-minute walk from the city centre and a 20-minute drive from Launceston airport.

Pickup is available from selected Launceston hotels and you can confirm this directly with us at least 72 hours prior to departure.

There is free street parking near the Elders if you need to leave your vehicle there for a few days.

Showing Respect:

• Always seek permission before taking any photographs of palawa.
  
• Pay attention to the body language of others. It is polite to avert your eyes and avoid too much eye contact with older people or authority figures. Be guided by the manner in which others interact with you.
  
• If our guides are placed in a position of being argued with or overly questioned, it may cause them embarrassment or offence and they will refrain from further comment.
  
• If you are met with silence rather than a verbal response please take this as an indication that the guide or Elder would prefer not to answer that question or be involved in the discussion.
  
• Elders are highly respected people within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and our relationship with our Elders is no exception.

Your guides are accustomed to interacting with non-Indigenous people who don’t necessarily understand palawa protocol. However, wukalina Walk is an opportunity for you to learn about their culture mainly by listening and observing.

Women’s business and men’s business are terms in English which relate to gender-specific knowledge and practices that cannot be known or observed by the opposite sex. These are mainly to do with health, well-being and spiritual matters. It is a mark of cultural respect not to discuss women’s business in the presence of men and visa versa. If you ask a question and a guide responds by saying it’s not their place to comment, it may be due to this.

The question “why” is virtually absent from conversations within First Nations communities. Instead, listening and observation are predominant learning devices and a shared understanding that people are given information when they are deemed ready for it. Try to keep this in mind while on wukalina Walk. That said, we do appreciate our guests being curious and interested in our culture and we do want you to feel welcome on Country.

Our Language:

Here’s a bit of insight into our language.

palawa kani is a composite language. It has been carefully constructed, over the past few decades, from words collected from the 14 languages originally spoken in lutruwita across the 48 family/Ancestral collectives – such as Trawlwoolway, Plangermaireener, Takayna – of our nine nations.

As palawa kani is a unique language of lutruwita, distinctive rules apply. Capital letters, which are optional, are generally only used for people’s names and the names of family/Ancestral collectives but not for place names. That’s why wukalina, larapuna and our beautiful southern mountain of kunanyi overlooking nipaluna (Hobart) aren’t capitalised, even at the beginning of sentences.

We don’t use italics for palawa kani words because it’s far from a foreign language. The words palawa and pakana both mean First Nations person or people of lutruwita. The words originally come from two different language groups and are interchangeable: palawa is a southern word while pakana is from the north of lutruwita. Each Aboriginal community member chooses how they wish to individually identify.