From secret deserted coves and white sandy beaches perfect for sunbaking, to bustling towns set metres from the sea and some of the world’s top surf breaks, the North Coast of New South Wales offers you every type of beach holiday imaginable.
Between May and November, the North Coast is the perfect spot to whale watch with Humpback Whales playing and breaching just off shore as they migrate down the coast.
From Newcastle all the way to Tweeds Head, the North Coast is home to Bundjalung, Githabul, Yaegl, Gumbayngirr, Dunghutti, and Birpai Aboriginal nations and offers you a multitude of Aboriginal experiences. Enjoy cultural walking tours, delicious bush food discoveries, sand and sea SUP adventures, artist workshops and private gallery tours. Here are our top Aboriginal experiences for the North Coast.
Pot to Plate Gourmet Cruise
One of the purest expressions of food is the simple process of catching, cooking and eating, there is a satisfaction and enjoyment that is hard to describe. From pulling up crab pots and fishing on the beautiful Tweed River to sitting on a river bank in the sun eating the 4 hour Pot to Plate tour is a delicious immersive bush food experience.
Join your local Aboriginal guide on a Pot to Plate Gourmet Cruise and learn traditional hunting methods, try catching mud crabs, stingrays and fish with a traditional bamboo spear. Then sitting on a warm sandbank listening to Yugambeh stories and didgeridoo playing as the mornings catch is cooked on an open fire before feasting as you watch the river roll by.
Bush Tucker Walk with Delta Kay
The Australian bush is a giant well stocked supermarket if you know what you’re looking for. Join Delta Kay, an Arakwal woman, for a Bush Tucker Walk through picturesque Mullumbimby. Learn about the incredibly diverse range of edible fruits, roots, nuts, seeds and leaves growing naturally in the Australian bush.
As you walk Delta will teach you how to identify what’s good to eat and what’s not, how to forage for seasonal produce found in the bush and you’ll also have the opportunity to taste a variety of bush foods along the way.
Art workshop with Kate Constantine
Kate Constantine extends an intimate invitation to you. Join her in an exclusive and private studio tour and art workshop. Not often are people allowed into an artist’s studio, but Kate believes in making her love for Aboriginal culture and art accessible to all. Kate will open her studio doors for those who really want to delve more deeply into their love of both colour and culture.
Kate Constantine, Konstantina, is an award-winning contemporary Aboriginal dot painter, activist, mother and storyteller. She is passionate about restoring Aboriginal Art and Culture to its rightful place of prominence. This experience is a fully immersive, hands-on two-hour art worskhop. Using a traditional yarning circle Konstantina will introduce you to contemporary Aboriginal dot painting and explore the significance of colour while you create an artwork inspired by storytelling and the mindful use of colour.
Giingan Gumbaynggirr Cultural Experience
Experience Gumbaynggirr Country and culture on the Giingan Gumbaynggirr Cultural Experience. Join your Gumbaynggirr guide in discovering Gumbaynggirr culture, people and language in an immersive full day experience at Sealy Lookout, Korora on the NSW North Coast.
Sit back and take in the breath taking 360-degree views from “Niigi Niigi” (Sealy Lookout) whist listening to Gumbaynggirr stories, songs, language and the uses of native plants. Enjoy the Wajaarr Ngaarlu Dancers performance at the lookout, while tasting Aunty Jenny's delicious damper. Then take the walk down to Korora Lookout and hear the Dreaming stories of how the land was made.
Gumbaynggirr Cultural Stand Up Paddle Tours
Family, Fitness and Fun… Stand up paddle boarding is a quintessential summer holiday-must. Although you may not have the flawless style of the Gumbaynggirr guides at Wajaana Yaam and there maybe a few very ungraceful falls but you are guaranteed to have an amazing time!
Wajaana Yaam offers you the opportunity to stand up paddle with direct descendants of the world's original stand up paddlers – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders! Offering more than just stand up paddle boarding your Gumbaynggirr guide will connect you to the land and the sea through local Gumbaynggirr language and stories, you'll even collect and taste seasonal bush food. All in the pristine waters of the Split Solitary Island Marine Parks near Coffs Harbour on the NSW North Coast.
This piece was made in partnership with Welcome to Country, your guide to experiencing Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Australia.
