Wukalina Bay of Fires Walking & Cultural Experience

Please find your own way to the Grand Chancellor Hotel Launceston. Check in starts at 2pm. Enjoy the afternoon while exploring the township. Later in the evening you will be invited to an informal WELCOME dinner at the Aboriginal Elders Centre in Launceston. Here you will meet your fellow travellers and receive your first learnings about the Palawa community. Accommodation: Grand Chancellor Launceston

11km, medium, approx. 4.5 hours walking. You will be picked up around 8am from the Grand Chancellor. Our first stop is at the Elders Centre (‘Chalmers Hall’) on St John Street in Launceston. Get to know Elders, guides and other guests over fresh scones and a cuppa. Spend some time inside what is an important place for the Palawa community. On the walls are historic photographs, stunning monochrome portraits of Elders and framed cultural arts such as shell necklaces and quilts from Truwana (Cape Barren Island). If needed, Backpacks, gaiters and rain jackets will be issued before departure if required. We then climb onboard a minibus and enjoy the scenic drive to the North East. You’ll learn some Palawa and post-invasion history along the way. Have a stretch and a coffee in the coastal town of Bridport and, later, a quick stopover in the small town of Gladstone. The drive ends at Wukalina (Mount William National Park). This is Trawlwoolway Country where the cultural walk begins. You’ll be led as a group to the 216-metre-high summit of Wukalina – only 2km from the carpark – for a picnic lunch with 360-degree views. Look out across the cultural landscape as you learn about Truwana (Cape Barren Island) and other Tayaritja (Bass Strait Islands). On a clear day, you will be able to see the dramatic features of islands that have both historic and contemporary significance to us. After lunch you will be guided towards the coast, stopping along the way to hear cultural and botanical interpretations from our qualified guides, and potentially spotting animal and bird species endemic to the area. Once you arrive at the purpose-built standing camp of Krakani Lumi (resting place), relax around the firepit or in the domed lounging area or in your private hut. Regroup for drinks and dinner. Spend the evening around the fire in conversation with guides. Settle down to a comfortable night’s sleep in your domed hut under cosy doonas and wallaby throws. Accommodation: Krakani Lumi private Camp

5km, easy, approx. 2 hours walking. Today is spent in and close to camp. After a leisurely breakfast you’ll be guided along a traditional coastal pathway though living cultural landscapes. This beautiful part of the coast, with its fine bright sand and rounded rocks, is incredibly important to Palawa. Interpretation by guides will focus on traditional food sources, medicines and animals. You’ll learn about practices of the past as well as those that continue in the present day and will do so into the future. There will be opportunity to sample coastal bush tucker and learn new this living cultural landscape. Lunch will be served back at Krakani Lumi. The afternoon is a time to relax and to take part in and learn about some of our cultural activities. Guides, and sometimes an Elder, lead these cultural sessions around the fire or sitting on wallaby skin cloaks in the striking domed sitting area. These and other important cultural practices connect palawa to each other and their Ancestors. Dinner that evening includes traditional foods such as mutton bird and wallaby. Watch guides cook on the fire and, as the temperature drops as evening comes, share another meal together inside around the long table in the kitchen. You may encounter wildlife such as prupilathina (wombats), payathanima (wallabies) and kangaroos. Accommodation: Krakani Lumi private camp

17km, medium, approximately 6 hours walking time. After breakfast it’s time to say goodbye to Krakani Lumi and head south, on foot, along the beach towards Larapuna (Bay of Fires). Follow the line of sand and round the rocky headlands covered in the striking red lichen typical to this region. This is the longest day of walking, and most is on sand, but the distance is broken up by the guides sharing stories and knowledge. There are also snack breaks, a lunch break and you’ll sample seasonal bush tucker. You’re also likely to get engrossed in conversation during those long beach stretches or lose time in personal reflection. Have lunch together lounging in the dunes or sitting near a marsupial lawn. The destination is in sight for much of the day and by mid-afternoon you’ll arrive at Larapuna. Our community has a 40-year lease on Eddystone Point Lighthouse Precinct. Your night’s accommodation is in a beautifully restored lightkeepers cottage. The interior of the cottage has been renovated and redecorated throughout. The pink granite exterior walls, which had been suffocating under blue paint, have been fully revived. Settle into your hotel-style room within the cottage and put your feet up or join the group for nibbles and a drink in the lounge. Peruse the reference books, have a wander or sit on the veranda and watch the light change as the sun sets. This is the last night of the trip and you’ll share an intimate dinner that evening. A delicious wallaby lasagne will be served and there will be opportunity, over the meal, to reflect on the last three days together and share stories. Accommodation: Eddystone Point Lighthouse, lightkeepers cottage

There’s time for a bit of a sleep-in this morning followed by a leisurely breakfast. Although the hiking element of the trip is over you will be guided on foot to various points of interest on this northern headland of Larapuna. Walk to a scenic lookout, a rock quarry on a beach and up into the lighthouse tower – all 129 steps. Eddystone Point Lighthouse is fully operational and wukalina Walk guests have the opportunity to access this historic building. From the top you can take in unrivalled views of the world-renowned larapuna. For the past 250 years this area has been referred to as Bay of Fires, since English navigator Tobias Furneax counted over 200 fires along the coastline. You will learn more about this history from our perspective, including the importance of cultural burning practices, and other fires that would have been documented and sighted during this time. From your vantage point at the top of the lighthouse it’s not uncommon to see black swans, arctic terns, pelicans, sea eagles and, at certain times, a pod of dolphins or even whales in the water below. Lunch is served before boarding the minibus back to Launceston. The driving route to the city is via Derby, where you’ll have a cafe stop. Arrive back at the Grand Chancellor Hotel Launceston around 5:30pm for a last night, the evening is at your own leisure. Accommodation: Grand Chancellor Hotel Launceston

Enjoy a hearty breakfast and if time allows explore more of this lovely town on your own. We look forward to seeing you on your next adventure with Australian Geographic Travel.