Within an hour's drive south of the Western Australia capital of Perth lie sites around Pinjarra, Mandurah and the Serpentine River which are described as among the most important Aboriginal sites in the country.
Certainly there is a richness in the Aboriginal heritage which may often lie hidden from the eyes of visitors to Australia.
In fact, a wide area of southwestern Western Australia, including Perth, has been home to the Aboriginal Nyoongar people.
- Nyoongar is also variously spelled as Nyungar, Nyoongah and Noongar, all phonetic renditions of the Aboriginal word.
Land and water tours
Based within the Mandurah area, Kwillana Dreaming provides tours for locals and visitors alike which give an insight into the richness of traditional Aboriginal life and culture.
Kwillana Dreaming offers canoe trips along the Serpentine River, as well as land-based eco tours along the Peel Inlet, Harvey Estuary and Lake Clifton.
These tours observe wildlife, sample bush tucker, demonstrate boomerang and spear throwing and look at the environment from a Nyoongar perspective. Tasty bush tucker morning teas come in the form of wattle seed bread, quandong jam and bush berry muffins.
Symbolic of the area
Kwillana Dreaming takes its name from the local word for dolphin. Important to the Nyoongar people and symbolic of the area, the dolphin is said to have helped the Nyoongars by rounding up schools of fish and driving them into traditional traps of stakes or stones.
Day or half-day tours, land-based and canoe tours, are available from Kwillana Dreaming. To book a tour, contact the Mandurah Visitor Centre at 75 Mandurah Terrace, Mandura. More information at telephone (08) 9550 3999 or peeltour.net.au.
