Australia travel - Robert Scheer's Blog

Hidden Treasure in Australian Rainforests

When the first European explorers came to Australia in 1788, they viewed the aboriginal residents as so uncivilized that British law declared the continent terra nullius, a land with no human habitation. Today the situation is nearly reversed. Environmentalists are fighting to undo the damage caused by non-native settlers, and botanists are struggling to unlock the secrets of medicinal plants that Aborigines have used for more than 40,000 years. I recently visited several places in Australia’s tropical north Queensland where traditional aboriginal knowledge and culture are being encouraged and shared.

Jowalbinna Bush Camp, northwest of Cairns, is best known for its ancient rock paintings depicting Ang-Gnarra rituals and mythology. But when I stayed at Jowalbinna I also learned about aboriginal bush medicine – natural pharmaceuticals that can be found in the outback. I was shown a kind of eucalyptus called the Ironwood tree, also known as the sterility tree, because native women could use it to induce miscarriages. There are two kinds of termite mounds, one that cures constipation and another that treats diarrhea. Our guide stabbed his hunting knife into a mound that looked like a three-foot high gothic sandcastle. When he drew out the blade, a handful of little white bugs were wriggling on it. He passed them around to taste. The termite grubs were woody and fishy, like grit from the bottom of an old boat, but the tiny amount I sampled didn’t have any effect on my digestion.

Only a few miles north of Cairns is the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, carrying visitors above the treetops to the colorful markets of Kuranda village. On the way, I stopped off at Red Peak Station for a 20 minute guided tour with a ranger, who showed me more examples of aboriginal bush medicine. Kyo pointed out a plant with sap that can be used as an antibiotic, as can secretions from the weaver ant. Modern science still has much more to learn about the treasures rainforests may contain. Botanists recently analyzed the flora in one square kilometer near Kuranda and counted 1,500 different species of plants, seven of which had never been previously identified.

Joe Snider may not be a botanist, but he knows a lot about the rainforest that was home to his ancestors since the Dreamtime. Joe is a Tjapukai I met at the Aboriginal Cultural Park near Cairns in Caravonica Lake. Besides teaching about bush medicine, he sings and dances in the Dance Theatre and demonstrates spear and boomerang throwing. Joe’s language, Tjapukai, was nearly forgotten a dozen years ago, when it was spoken by only two community elders. It was revived with the help of seven young Tjapukai who wanted to perform a stage play in their own language. That script was a seed that has grown and blossomed into an award-winning attraction that draws tourists from around the world. Now, in daily performances, Joe and his tribesmen sing “Proud To Be Aborigine,” a song that proclaims, in both Tjapukai and English:

Two hundred years ago the white fella found,
A land he thought that no-one owned…
Black and white have got to unite,
Or there’ll be nothing left in the land down under.

One of the most unusual features at the Aboriginal Cultural park is the Creation Theatre, where I learned about Australian native spiritual and traditional beliefs from a production that combined live actors speaking Tjapukai (translated via headsets in eight languages) and giant high-tech holographic projections of swirling spirits from the Dreamtime, including the creation of the world by Rainbow Serpent. In a more conventional film at the History Theatre, I wept while watching scenes recalling the clash between Aborigines and the European invaders who pillaged, murdered and forbade native Australian children to speak the language of their ancestors.

Environmental experts estimate that Earth is losing two acres of rainforest every second. Not only are undiscovered or forgotten medicines being lost, but rainforests produce 40% of the oxygen we need to breathe. Tropical rainforests provide between 25% and 40% of all pharmaceutical products. Three thousand plants have anticancer properties, and 70% of them are found in the rainforests. Anyone who has internet access can help preserve our planet’s rainforests by simply clicking on two free websites. The Rainforest Site, http://www.therainforestsite.com is affiliated with The Nature Conservancy. Whenever someone visits, corporate sponsors make donations that help protect endangered rainforests. A similar website is http://www.saverainforest.net. There is no charge, other than having to look at a few advertising banners.

If you’d like more information about Queensland destinations, here are contact details: Jowalbinna Bush Camp: https://www.facebook.com/JowalbinnaBushCamp, Skyrail Rainforest Cableway: mail@skyrail.com.au. Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park: tjapukai@tjapukai.com.au. Tourism Queensland (Los Angeles office) 310-788-0997, email: info@qttclax.com.

I visited Queensland, Australia in 1999 as part of a group press tour hosted by Tourism Queensland.

Aboriginal Magic in the Land of the Quinkans

The oldest rock paintings on Earth are in the Cape York peninsula of Australia’s tropical north Queensland. They were made by Ang-Gnarra Aborigines as long as 35,000 years ago, and were unknown to most of the world until the 1950s. The galleries are now part of the Jowalbinna Bush Camp, and in 2000 I explored them on a tour organized by The Adventure Company of Cairns.

We had flown from Los Angeles to Brisbane on Qantas. Although flights to Australia from the USA are very long, the comfort of flying Business class made the experience quite comfortable. There was less comfort but more excitement in the long drive in a four by four from Cairns through Laura to Jowalbinna, where accommodation was provided in tent-like cabins. But the transportation and housing ceased to be an issue when we finally got to see the amazing rock art.

Most of the pictures were blood red, finger-painted with hematite (powdered iron ore). The pigment had permanently bonded to the sandstone, to remain visible for millennia. Our guide, Allan, was about 60 years old with a grizzled beard, and he climbed up and down the rocky trails like a mountain goat. “A few decades ago,” he said, “experts used to tell us that Aboriginals arrived here only 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. Now they’ve revised their estimates upward to 50,000 to 80,000 years. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if a decade or two from now they’re telling us it’s 250,000 to 500,000 years since Aboriginal tribes have been around.” An archaeologist from the University of New England led a scientific excavation of a site near Jowalbinna and concluded that it was first used for religious ceremonies 40,000 to 60,000 years ago, although a severe drought caused it to be abandoned about 32,000 years ago, and it wasn’t used again until about 12,500 years ago.

Quinkan Mythology

Many of the paintings were created while casting magic spells, or purri purri. Some were intended to make food more plentiful, such as more catfish in the river, or more yams in the forest. To understand some of the rock paintings requires a knowledge of secret Aboriginal traditions. One gallery seemed to have an especially mysterious aura. There was a rock wall with a deep undercut at the bottom that formed a shallow cave. Many silhouettes of small handprints stenciled near the entrance indicated that this had been a boy’s initiation place. Allan used his walking stick to point out the strange tableau of humanoid figures painted on the ceiling. We had to crouch very low to see them. “Look at this monster,” he said. “A boy would be brought to this place to learn about sexual taboos. Elders would tell him the legend about some poor fella who committed incest and was turned into a hideous creature!”

Some of the other figures included a circumcision scene, a voluptuous woman and a man with one of his front teeth knocked out. The coming of age of an Aboriginal boy involved an elaborate ceremony, during which he would be pushed through a dark, narrow opening. There, he was met by tribal Elders, including one dressed as a spirit, who circumcised him. Following the operation, he was not allowed to talk to anyone or touch anyone until his scar had healed. Afterwards, he would be taken away by one of the older women of the tribe, who would teach him about sexual intercourse.

In the next step of an Ang-Gnarra’s initiation, he would have one of his front teeth knocked out. This is because they believe in life after death, as most Australian Aborigines do. When someone dies and is buried, their spirit rises up three days later and flies to the entrance of Woolunda (Heaven.) The door is guarded by a spirit, whose real name is so sacred it must never be said out loud, so they refer to him as “Big Boss” or “Big Uncle.” When Big Uncle confronts you, he tells you a story that’s so funny you can’t keep from laughing. And, of course, as soon as you start to smile, Big Uncle sees whether or not you’ve had a front tooth knocked out. If you haven’t endured the tooth avulsion ceremony, then you can’t get into Woolunda.

At another rock art gallery we saw a spirit believed to be Big Uncle. He was a very tall, thin figure, painted with a white outline, in-filled in red. His long arms and fingers were outstretched, and his eyes bulged white. There were several layers of figures painted one upon the other, so it was difficult to tell whether Big Uncle was supposed to have an enormous penis, or whether a garfish or crocodile painting had simply been superimposed between his legs. When Tommy George, the head Ranger for the Ang-Gnarra Aboriginal Corporation, saw the painting, he said: “He’s the big boss for all people — white man too!”

Besides hunting and initiation, other rock art had been painted for more personal reasons, such as love charms. If a love magic spell were done correctly, it could empower a man to get any woman he wanted, and she would not be able to resist. Allan told us it didn’t matter that some paintings were done on top of others. “The magic happens while the painting is being made” he said. Even more sinister were spells that could “sing someone to death.” Rock art that shows people inverted or lying on their side is evidence of black magic.

The Laura River area is the only place on Earth with rock pictures of Quinkans. Some Aborigines even refuse to pronounce their name, because Quinkans are such powerful supernatural spirits. They lurk in caves and other dark places and come out at night. The first Quinkan we saw didn’t look all that menacing. She was a Quinkan woman whose arms were raised above her head and her knees were bent, as if she was jumping up and down. “She’s an Imjim Quinkan, sometimes called Anurras,” Allan told us. “They’re short and fat, and bounce around at night like kangaroos.” According to Tommy George, “they can bounce half a mile in one hop.” Other varieties of Quinkans are tall, skinny Timaras, who protect children, and the nasty Turramulli, a no-necked giant.

The discovery of several multi-faceted quartz crystals at a nearby archaeological dig puzzled scientists until an Aborigine Elder explained that their purpose was for protection against Quinkans. The stones would have been placed around the campfire while the people were asleep. If any evil spirits tried to sneak up in the dark, the light from the fire would be reflected by the crystals. The flashing light would blind the Quinkans and drive them back into the night.

Many stories are told of visits to the Jowalbinna rock art galleries by Aborigines who were afraid to talk about Quinkans after dark, and who walked very quickly and nervously from the campfire to their tents.

Around our campfire, we told ghost stories and kept a watchful eye out for any Quinkans that might have been lurking in the tall grass beyond the ghost gum trees. There was an enormous full moon and a sky full of bright stars, so I didn’t really need the big flashlight Allan offered me, but I decided to take it back to my tent, anyway. Just in case!

If I ever return to Laura and Jowalbinna, you can be sure I’ll pack several good size quartz crystals in my luggage. After all, you can’t be too careful when you’re in Quinkan country.

Browse More Tours Available Now From Cairns

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Jowalbinna Bush Camp and The Adventure Company Australia
Tel: 1-800-388-7333
https://www.facebook.com/JowalbinnaBushCamp

Tourism Queensland (Los Angeles office)
310-788-0997,
www.DestinationQueensland.com

Qantas airlines 1-800-227-4500 or www.qantasusa.com

All photos by Robert Scheer

Contact Robert

Exploring Brisbane Australia

My trip to Queensland began with a Qantas flight from Los Angeles to Brisbane. The trip took nearly twelve hours, and I was very grateful to be seated up in Dreamtime Business Class, where I was treated like a king.

As a travel writer on assignments, I have been on several very long flights in regular economy class, including Houston to London, London to Nairobi, London to Mumbai, Toronto to Tel Aviv and Mexico City to Lima, and I know from painful experience that the extra comfort and amenities of Business Class become more worthwhile with every long hour spent in the plane.

An early check-in at the hotel had been arranged, so my companions and I could freshen up before heading out to discover the sights and start to experience the capital and most populous city of Queensland and the third largest in Australia. The accommodations were at the Conrad International Treasury Hotel and Casino, a grand old heritage building in the heart of Brisbane. The more than 100-year-old sandstone buildings were once the Land Administration and Treasury Building, and they were honoured with an Australia Heritage award after their restoration was done in 1995.

About a 10- minute walk from the Conrad was the North Quay Pontoon on Elizabeth Street, where we caught the City Cat Ferry for a fun ride to the Parklands on the South Bank of the Brisbane River, located on the site where the city hosted their World Expo in 1988. The 17-hectare site abounds with parklands, restaurants, arts and craft markets, a stall with a psychic and tarot card reader, a performing arts center and more. I bought a couple of colourful souvenir t-shirts at the Aboriginal Art Culture Craft Centre.

I enjoyed my first, but far from my last genuine Australian beer over lunch at the Plough Inn Tavern. The best-known beer brewed in Queensland is Four-Ex, and they spell it XXXX. This prompted the joke often repeated in the South of Australia that the XXXX spelling is because Queenslanders are too dumb to be able to spell BEER.

That’s one of those jokes that is funnier when the person telling it has a broad Aussie accent. And it gets increasingly more hilarious depending on the number of beers you’ve had.

The Plough is a family owned Aussie pub and steakhouse that dates back to 1864, the time of the great Australian gold rush. We didn’t stay for the live entertainment they have every night, as we had a date with some sheep, kangaroos, wombats and koalas.

Our next stop was the Australian Woolshed on Samford road, where we enjoyed watching a sheep-shearing demonstration and learning about the various breeds and their uses. And the Woolshed is where that picture of me holding the Koala was taken. If you think koala bears are cute and cuddly, you are mistaken on several counts. First, they’re not bears, they’re marsupials, whose closest living relatives are wombats. And they may be cute at a distance, but up close they are far from cuddly. Mine had very sharp claws and, although his job was to pose for photos with tourists, I could tell that his heart just wasn’t in it, and he was longing to go back up into his eucalyptus tree.

Dinner was at Il Centra Restaurant on Eagle Street Pier, an Italian inspired eatery that has been recognized for many years as one of the finest dining experiences in Brisbane, and their walls are covered with tourism awards, all well deserved. It was here that I learned about one of “Brizzie’s” strangest sounding but most delectable dishes, Moreton Bay Bugs. They are sort of a cross between a lobster and a crayfish, and are officially known as Flathead Lobsters. However you enjoy lobster, that’s most likely a great way to nosh on Moreton Bay Bugs, such as with garlic-infused drawn butter and crusty French bread.

One of the best ways to appreciate the spirit of a city is to go on a walking tour with someone who is a native, an historian, and a gifted storyteller. Our guide, Brian Ogden, met all three of those criteria. As we strolled around on his historical walking tour, we learned highlights of Brisbane’s history, from its inception in 1799 when it was a penal colony outpost for convicts, to the present era, and got a deeper appreciation for its heroes and villains.

We left Brisbane and made our way to the Gold Cost to check out the world’s first hotel designed by the high fashion Versace empire. The Palazzo Versace is a 205-room luxury hotel and an architectural masterpiece, reflecting the opulent style and elegance of Gianni Versace, and it welcomed and pampered its first guests in August of 2000.

After a lunch fit for royalty, we proceeded to the nearby Marina Mirage for a Fastcat ferry ride to an utterly different world than the one we had just seen. On South Stradbroke Island, Couran Cove Island Resort is a holistic eco-resort that is such an outstanding experience it deserves its own special page on this blog. You can read about all my Couran Cove experiences by following this link.

It was hard to say goodbye to Couran Cove, but we had more exploring to do, so off we went on the launch back to the mainland and up into the mountains by motor coach to O’Reilly’s Rainforest Guesthouse. We got there in time for lunch in the invigorating mountain air.

The O’Reilly family used to be dairy farmers, but in 1926 they decided to make a big change and transformed their farm home into a guesthouse. That was three generations ago, and today’s O’Reillys are just as hospitable, and their love of nature’s beauty is still strong.

The guesthouse is a Mecca for birders, as brightly feathered birds by the dozen are attracted to the feeders on the hilltop at this World Heritage-listed temperate rainforest. Among the rare species that can be seen are the Albert lyrebird, as well as king parrots, lorikeets, and several kinds of bowerbirds. Even if you’re not into bird watching, if you are a nature lover you will enjoy the walks through the woods to waterfalls and lookouts. That evening we went to a cave-like grotto where we witnessed the spellbinding sight of magical glow-worms!

It was a bit of a long haul driving back down the mountain from O’Reilly’s to the Brisbane airport for a short flight of about an hour to Cairns and Tropical North Queensland. I stayed that night at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in Cairns, and the next day, when I went for an early morning walk before breakfast, I was delighted by all the birds. The trees were alive with colourful and very noisy budgie-like critters singing their parts in the dawn chorus.

Our first adventure of the day was a ride on the longest gondola cable system in the world, the Skyrail to Kuranda Village. We sailed above the rainforest treetop canopy and had a spectacular view of Cairns, the ocean and the mountains.

On the way, we stopped at the CSIRO Interpretive Centre to learn about bush medicine, and to have a face-to-face encounter with two very fearsome-looking cassowary birds. It’s a good thing they were on the other side of a strong, chain-link fence! Some cassowaries can be as tall as six-feet, and weigh close to 130 pounds. And those beaks look very sharp.

We had another stop for souvenir shopping at the Kuranda Trading Post before finally stopping at the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park. After a delicious lunch, we watched several shows. At the Creation Theatre, you can find out about the Tjapukai mythology that explains how the Earth was created. Then there was traditional dancing to the haunting growl of didgeridoos and a demonstration of aborigine spear-throwing.

That night, we made arrangements back at the Raddison to store some of our excess luggage, because we needed to travel very light in the four-wheel drive vehicle up into the Cape York Peninsula to Laura and Jowalbinna Bush Camp. On the way, we made a quick stop in Bundaberg at the rum distillery to pick up a bottle or two, just in case. Bundaberg rum is made from the sugar cane that grows in vast fields in north Queensland.

As we wound our way along increasingly more narrow and rugged roads, we learned the story of how some of the most ancient and magnificent native rock art galleries were “discovered.” Although the Ang-Gnarra people have always known there were there since “Dreamtime” the first of the white colonists to find them was a very colourful character, Percy Trezice. Back in the 1950s, he was a bush pilot, carrying doctors on mercy flights to remote settlements. As he flew back and forth over the Laura River, Percy realized he was seeing groves of trees not native to the area. He eventually concluded that the trees had grown from fruit seeds brought in from more distant parts of the country. Curious, he decided to explore and ultimately was amazed to see what is most likely the largest body of rock art in the world. The paintings, made by the Ang-Gnarra people, are part of such a wonderful story, that I wrote another full blog post just about it. Click here to read more about Aboriginal Magic in the Land of the Quinkans.

I was honoured to get to meet Percy Trezice before he passed away in 2005. An artist, author and illustrator of many children’s books, Percy was the leaseholder of the land on which we would be staying – the Jowalbinna Bush Camp. But on the way, we stopped at Percy’s house and discovered he was obsessed with the idea there was a Thylacine living near his property.

More commonly known as a Tasmanian Tiger, the last Thylacine was commonly believed to have died in captivity in 1936 at the Hobart Zoo. But Percy thought otherwise. He had glimpsed a dog-looking creature with striped markings in the distance, and he showed us plaster casts of the footprints he had made. He said his detractors said it was only a wild dingo dog, but Percy showed us his pet dingo and said that, he may be old, but he still knows a dingo when he sees one. His theory was confirmed when a visiting student told him she had seen an animal that looked more like a Tasmanian Tiger than a dingo.

I like to think that, long after Percy’s passing, there is still a Thylacine or two secretly lurking about in the forests of the Cape York Peninsula.

One final story I would like to relate about my stay at Jowalbinna came about after I was back home from Australia.

We had been camping in the bush where the only available water supply was the Laura River, and all the people associated with Jowalbinna assured us that the water was as clean and pure as could be, and there was no problem with drinking it right out of the river, which we did for three days.

But, nearly the moment I got home, I became violently ill with digestive issues so severe that I needed immediate medical treatment. The doctor said it was salmonella.

When I related the time line of when I left Queensland and flew home, he reassured me that it my illness could not have been caused by drinking Laura River water. It was much more likely that the culprit was a “king” cheeseburger I ate at a fast food chain kiosk at the International Terminal at Los Angeles Airport.