Imagine standing beneath a tree so incredibly
massive that its root system literally looks
like, I don't know, like the flying buttresses
of a Gothic cathedral. Oh, yeah. It's just wild.
Right. And you're staring up into this canopy
smelling the damp earth of a tropical rainforest.
And then you find out that this single, like,
500 -year -old tree served as the grocery store,
the pharmacy, and the hardware store for an entire
civilization. And the best part is... You are
not learning this from some crackly microphone
on a crowded tour bus. Oh, definitely not. You're
actually standing there with a local expert whose
ancestors utilized that exact tree. I mean, it
completely rewires how you understand the landscape.
It totally does. Well, welcome to the Travel
Podcast by Excursion Pass. We are your resident
travel experts. And in today's deep dive, we're
taking you completely off the beaten tourist
trail. Absolutely. We are pulling insights directly
from Excursion Pass and TripAdvisor reviews to
bring you a front row seat to an experience that,
well, the two of us were incredibly fortunate
to intimately experience together. We really
were. We are heading to the Atherton Tablelands
in Queensland, Australia for a private Aboriginal
culture tour. Specifically, we're diving into
the Yadingji Explorer Tour and the rainforest
to bush cultural experiences. But before we get
into the incredible mechanics of this journey,
we probably need to address the elephant in the
room. Because if you're planning a vacation right
now, your guard is probably up. Oh, absolutely.
I know exactly what you're probably thinking.
You're like, is this going to be one of those
generic crowded bus tours where I'm just treated
like a walking wallet? Right. Or is the... quote
unquote, cultural experience going to feel like
a cheesy staged theatrical show. Let's be honest,
we have all been burned by those highly commercialized
transactional tours. All the worst where they
parade. I do. But what makes this deep dive so
compelling is how this specific experience completely
dismantles that expectation. First of all, just
the logistics alone eliminate the crowd factor.
Thank goodness. Yeah, this is an exclusive private
experience. It is literally Just you, your partner,
or your small family. Just us in a private 4WD.
No megaphone, no crowd of 50 people jostling
to take like the exact same identical photo through
a smudged window. Exactly. The moment our guide,
Alan, picked us up from our accommodation, it
genuinely felt like going on a road trip with
a remarkably knowledgeable local friend. Because
the entire mission here is built on genuine connection
to country and meaningful conversation. Alan
and his team are Yadingi people. They are the
traditional custodians of this land. You aren't
getting some rehearsed script designed to get
you in and out in 15 minutes. You're stepping
into an active ongoing dialogue about a living,
breathing culture. And to really show you why
this isn't your standard sightseeing checklist,
let's start with that massive tree I mentioned
at the beginning. The minute you leave the modern
hustle of cairns or the surrounding towns, you
drive deep into the wet tropics. That's a gorgeous
drive. It really is. And then you step out of
the vehicle at the Cathedral Fig Tree. OK, but
we really need to redefine the word tree in this
context. Oh, for sure. Because the Cathedral
Fig is a 500 -year -old strangler fig. From a
purely biological standpoint, it is a marvel.
Like, it doesn't grow from the ground up like
a normal tree. Wait, really? It doesn't start
in the dirt? No. It's crazy. A bird drops a seed
high up in the canopy of a host tree. That seed
sprouts, and it sends these vine -like roots
all the way down to the forest floor. Oh, wow.
Yeah. And over centuries, those roots... thicken,
weave together, and literally strangle the host
tree, depriving it of sunlight and nutrients
until the host dies and rots away. Leaving behind
this colossal, hollow, architectural masterpiece.
I mean, do you remember getting out of the car?
The sheer scale of it just humbles you instantly.
The air suddenly drops in temperature, it smells
like rich, ancient leaves, and the canopy just
swallows you up. But Alan didn't just give us
the botanical facts. Right, the biology is just
the prologue. Allen uses the sheer age and the
imposing structure of the cathedral fig as a
foundation to discuss Yidinji homelands and clan
boundaries. the tree becomes a physical anchor
for a much deeper lesson in survival in society.
Which brings me back to the grocery store analogy
because that completely blew my mind. When we
were standing there, Alan started pointing out
the surrounding vegetation and I realized this
single ecosystem was an all -in -one survival
center. It really was. It was the hardware store.
They used the incredibly tough lawyer cane vines
to weave baskets and construct shelters. And
it was the pharmacy too. The rainforest is just
packed with medicinal compounds. Alan explained
how specific barks were crushed to treat fevers.
Oh, and the stinging trees. Yes. How the sap
from certain leaves was used to neutralize the
pain of stinging trees. The depth of the localized
knowledge is staggering. You can't just know
that a plant is medicinal. You have to know exactly
when to harvest it and how to prepare it. Right,
so it heals you instead of harming you. And,
of course, the grocery store aspect. Knowing
which nuts require extensive washing to remove
toxins before they can be eaten, or recognizing
the subtle seasonal shifts that indicate a particular
fruit is finally ripe. It's incredible. It is
a living supermarket, but there are no aisle
signs. You literally have to hold the entire
map in your head. Which naturally leads into
the tools required to interact with that environment.
And I think this was the part of the tour at
the Cathedral Fig that surprised you the most.
Oh, I was so skeptical. When I saw Web - presentation
on the itinerary, I actively groaned. You did.
I remember you rolling your eyes. Okay, fair.
But usually these weapon demos feel so performative.
Someone stands on a stage, yells a bit, throws
a spear at a hay bale while everyone claps, and
it just feels incredibly contrived. Yeah, but
Excursion Pass highlights a crucial distinction
here. The demonstration is treated strictly as
context, not a stage show. And experiencing it
firsthand, it felt more like a master class in
ancient engineering and physics. Exactly. I mean,
it completely subverted my expectations. When
Alan brought out the wumara, which is a traditional
spear -throwing tool, he didn't just chuck a
spear into the woods, he broke down the mechanics
of it. Yeah. The wumara is essentially a lever.
It fits into a notch at the end of the spear,
and it effectively extends the length of your
arm. It is brilliant biomechanics. By artificially
lengthening the throwing arm, The woomera dramatically
increases the rotational velocity and torque
applied to the spear. It's basically a physics
lesson. Literally. It allows a hunter to transfer
a massive amount of kinetic energy into a relatively
lightweight projectile. That gives it the speed
and penetrating power needed to take down large
game from a safe distance. You're standing in
the quiet of the rainforest, examining this carved
piece of wood, and realizing you're holding thousands
of years of refined physical science. And we
actually had the space to ask genuine questions.
I asked him how the hunting actually worked in
practice, and the answer tied right back to the
society itself. You couldn't just take your wumara
and hunt wherever you wanted. Right. The Klan
boundaries. Exactly. Klan boundaries. strictly
dictated where you could go and what you could
harvest. It was the sophisticated system of ecological
management disguised as territorial law. They
ensured no single area was ever overhunted. It
strips away all the theatricality and replaces
it with profound respect for the intelligence
of the culture. And from that very practical,
survival -based grounding at the Cathedral Fig,
the journey shifts gears. Yeah, we piled back
into the 4WD. You move from the mechanics of
everyday survival to the deep geological and
spiritual history of the land itself. So we leave
the dense rainforest canopy and we travel into
Dolgabura -Yedinji country. Picture this. You
emerge into this bright open space and suddenly
you are sitting at a lovely local timber cafe
sipping a genuinely fantastic cup of locally
grown coffee. Such good coffee. So good. And
you're just looking out over Lake Boreen. The
juxtaposition between the tranquil setting and
the geological history of that lake is striking
though. Lake Boreen is a Marr crater. Okay, for
those of us who aren't geologists, break down
what a Marr is because the violence of its creation
is hard to fathom when you're just looking at
a calm lake. Right, so a mar is formed by a phrydomagmatic
eruption. Basically, thousands of years ago,
rising superheated magma intersected with the
local groundwater table. When that magma hit
the water, the water flashed into steam instantly.
The resulting expansion caused a massive explosive
vaporization that literally blew a huge hole
in the Earth's crust. That is terrifying. It
is. Over millennia, that violent crater filled
with rainwater to become the serene, mirror -like
lake you sit beside today. It is so hard to wrap
your head around that level of explosive force
when you're just enjoying a scone and a coffee.
I know. But then you take a short walk along
the water's edge to see the twin cowrie pines.
And this is where the concept of deep time really
hit me. These two trees are believed to be over
1 ,000 years old. Just let that timeline marinate
for a moment. They were seedlings during the
Middle Ages. They were growing before most modern
countries even existed, but standing beneath
them brought up a really heavy question for me
on the tour. Yeah, I remember you asking Alan
about this. The Atherton tablelands are beautiful,
but they were heavily logged by colonizers. The
red cedar and pine forests were decimated. So
how does a tour guide balance the awe -inspiring
beauty of these ancient surviving trees with
the tragic reality of the colonial timber history
that completely altered the environment? And
that tension is where the expertise of Alan and
his team elevates this from a simple nature walk
to a profound historical reckoning. They don't
shy away from the difficult realities, nor do
they try to make you feel guilty. No, not at
all. They simply tell the truth of the land.
They weave it all together so seamlessly. They
really do. Alan shared the indigenous creation
stories of the volcanic crater, drawing parallels
between the ancestral memories of the explosions
and the literal geology we just discussed. and
then he brings you directly into the colonial
era. You're looking at these two majestic 1 ,000
-year -old pines, and they suddenly transform
from botanical curiosities into monuments of
survival. They are the few that were spared from
the sawmills. The storytelling acknowledges the
pain and the environmental devastation of colonization,
but it focuses entirely on the resilience of
the Yedinji people and their unbroken connection
to this altered landscape. It was incredibly
moving. It makes you realize that the landscape
is not just a pretty green backdrop for a vacation
selfie. Exactly. It is a historical document.
And having Alan there was like having someone
read the earliest most important chapters of
a book you never even knew existed. And that
transition from passive observation to deep historical
understanding is exactly what prepares you for
the second half of the day. Right. Because the
tour moves from absorbing history to active,
hands -on participation. Right. After all that
heavy history and deep time at Lake Boreen, we
grab lunch at a local spot and then we head further
out into Mbabaram country. The environment shifts
entirely again. You arrive at Hay Sea Swamp.
It is this phenomenal, expansive wetland area,
famous for bird watching. The chorus of wildlife
there is deafening in the best way. It was so
loud. But the swamp serves as a transition into
the final major site in Watsonville, where the
tour gets wonderfully tactile. You aren't just
looking and listening anymore. You are physically
interacting with the culture. We went on a short
bush walk and this is where we learned about
traditional umbarbarum and yadingji fire burning
practices. With all the global news about catastrophic
wildfires and debates over forest management,
hearing firsthand how these cultures have used
fire for thousands of years to regenerate the
land, it was a total paradigm shift. Yeah, they
practice what is often called cool burning or
cultural burning. Instead of letting fuel load
build up for years until a lightning strike causes
an uncontrollable inferno, they conduct low -intensity,
highly controlled burns. Right. They typically
do this early in the dry season or even at night
when there is dew on the ground. I remember Alan
pointing to the canopy and explaining that a
proper cool burn shouldn't even scorch the upper
branches of the trees. The flames just slowly
creep through the undergrowth. It clears out
the dead brush, which prevents massive destructive
wildfires later in the year. But it is also a
tool for regeneration. The ash leaves a nutrient
-rich alkaline bed that fertilizes the soil.
Oh, and the smoke thing. Yes. The smoke itself
actually triggers the germination process for
specific native seeds that literally will not
sprout without chemical cues from the smoke.
It is highly advanced applied ecological science.
And after wrapping our heads around the science
of fire, we finally got to experience the physical
culture. We got to try throwing spears using
the wumara we had learned about that morning.
And I think it's safe to say that understanding
the physics of the wumara did not immediately
translate into athletic success for either of
us. Oh my gosh, I was terrible at it. I nearly
threw my shoulder out and the spear just sadly
flopped into the grass about 10 feet away. It
was pretty bad. Hey, you weren't much better.
But you gain a whole new, very humbling appreciation
for the sheer athleticism and muscle memory required
to actually hunt that way. It was a very grounding
moment. And following that exertion, the tour
concludes with tasting the traditional meal bush
tucker. You are literally tasting the environment
you've spent the entire day learning about. For
those wondering, bush tucker isn't a gimmick.
It is the authentic native ingredients of Australia.
We're talking about flavors like lemon myrtle,
which has this incredible intense citrus punch,
or native macadamia nuts, and beautifully prepared
kangaroo. You're engaging every single sense.
You saw the giant trees, you heard the creation
stories, you touched the tools, you smelled the
smoke of the fire practices, and finally you're
tasting the land itself. It is a complete sensory
immersion. However, as an expert traveler, you
have to look at the logistics. We did the full
itinerary, the Cathedral Fig, Lake Breen, Lunge,
The Swamp, Watsonville, Bush Tucker. That is
a comprehensive eight -hour day. Right. And if
I'm playing Dulles' Advocate for a second...
If you're planning a packed vacation itinerary,
particularly with young kids or older parents,
a full eight -hour deep dive in the tropical
heat sounds a bit exhausting. It's a long day.
Yeah. What if a traveler simply doesn't have
a whole day to spare? Do they just have to miss
out on this incredible connection completely?
That is a very practical concern, and it's something
Excursion Pass clearly anticipates. their listing.
If you don't have the capacity for the deep eight
-hour immersion, there is a specific 150 -minute
private 4WD Explorer version of the tour. Oh,
two and a half hours is incredibly manageable.
How do they condense an eight -hour philosophy
into that time frame without it feeling rushed?
It works because it's highly focused rather than
rushed. It still includes the private 4WD pickup
from your accommodation, but it concentrates
entirely on the first half of our journey, the
Cathedral Fig Tree and Lake Boreen. So you still
get the guided rainforest walk, the deep dive
into the living supermarket of seasonal foods
and medicines, the Wumera biomechanics display,
and the creation stories at the volcanic lake.
Precisely. It is a concentrated dose of the exact
same high quality intimate cultural interpretation.
You're just omitting the afternoon journey out
into Mbabaram country for the fire management
in the swamp. Got it. It's designed perfectly
for travelers who might be doing a self -drive
route through the table lands and just want to
insert a highly impactful, authentic experience
into their morning before moving on. I love that
flexibility. It removes the friction of trying
to navigate unfamiliar territory and find these
cultural sites on your own while ensuring you
still get the context that makes the sites meaningful
in the first place. Absolutely. And honestly,
the proof of just how impactful this tour is,
whether you do the short or the long version,
really lives in the reviews. We pulled some of
the TripAdvisor reviews and they completely validate
everything we experienced. The ratings are uniformly
a perfect five out of five bubbles. But it's
the specific language reviewers use that tells
the real story. One reviewer simply stated that
Alan and his team were the coolest people in
Queensland. I love that review because it is
so true. It highlights that this isn't a stuffy
academic lecture. It genuinely feels like hanging
out with incredibly cool, incredibly smart people
who just want to share their home with you. But
there was one review that actually stopped me
in my tracks. Oh, the what about the local guy?
Yeah. It was from someone who actually grew up
in the area but had been away from the Appleton
table lands for 40 years. That one carries so
much emotional weight. They wrote that taking
this solo tour allowed them to, quote, reconnect
with the countries of Yedinji and a Baburam First
Nation. Yes. They specifically said the tour
gave them a sense of being back home and the
intimacy of connection to country. Just imagine
the authenticity required to achieve that. A
tour that is so deeply rooted, so devoid of commercial
fluff, that it can take a local who has been
gone for four decades and make them feel intimately
reconnected to the soul of their own homeland.
You're never ever gonna get that on a generic
sightseeing bus with 50 other people. Never.
Another reviewer summed up the core ethos perfectly
saying It is so important to know whose country
you are walking on and to acknowledge the care
traditional owners have given it. That is the
ultimate takeaway. This experience completely
strips away the identity of the passive tourist
and transforms you into an informed guest. So
what does this all mean for you, the traveler?
It means that if you're heading to Cairns or
exploring the Atherton table lands, this tour
is the ultimate way to experience the landscape.
It replaces the superficial checklist of snapping
a photo of a big tree or a pretty lake with rich,
deeply educational storytelling. You're finally
understanding the laws, the engineering, and
the generations of people who have actively managed
that ecosystem for millennia. It changes your
entire paradigm of travel, and it leaves us with
a beautiful reflection drawn directly from the
Excursion Pass source material. In describing
the tour, the listing states that cultural knowledge
is carried in place. Cultural knowledge is carried
in place. That is such a powerful way to phrase
it. It implies that the landscape itself is a
living library. The strangler figs, the volcanic
crater lakes, the swamps, they aren't just scenery.
They are the actual shelves holding the memories,
the history, and the laws of the people who tended
them. So the provocative thought I want to leave
you with today is this. If a landscape is a living
library, How does that change the way you look
at the nature, the trees, and the local parks
in your own town? What stories are sitting silently
in the soil of your own backyard, just waiting
for someone with the right knowledge to read
them to you? Next time you step outside, remember,
you're walking on pages of history. It's time
to start reading. Thank you so much for joining
us on this journey today. We are your resident
travel experts, signing off from the Travel Podcast
by Excursion Pass. We invite you to book the
adventure ditch the generic conveyor belt, and
truly experience the world.