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Budj Bim Cultural Landscape Tourism
Things To Do Breakaway Creek, Glenelg, Victoria
Adventure and Outdoors Tours
The Budj Bim Cultural Landscape is a unique place with universal heritage values that demonstrate how Gunditjmara people worked with the natural resources and environment of the Victorian southwest region to establish a permanent place of human society over the past 30,000 years and beyond.
Budj Bim Cultural Landscape Tourism offers visitors a first-hand experience of Southwest Victoria’s Gunditjmara Country, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list for its outstanding universal value.
The First Nation’s owned and operated company provides guided tours of the landscapes’ various components, where visitors can engage with Budj Bim’s fascinating history – from the creation of the landscape to present times.
A state-of-the-art Aquaculture Centre brings to life ancient freshwater eel farming techniques practised by Gunditjmara people for thousands of years, while the café offers eel tasting plates prepared using traditional Aboriginal techniques and flavours, and a selection of retail items.
Services
$89
A Gunditjmara guide leads an informative walk around Tae Rak (Lake Condah). The lake comprises of 1,700 hectares of significant wetlands and stony rises right next to the historic lava flows of Budj Bim National Park. The Gunditjmara people have sustained life here for tens of thousands of years and created what is considered to be one of Australia’s earliest and largest aquaculture ventures.
The tour starts with a walk to the front of the lake. Your guide will give you an overview of the Gunditjmara creation story and point out the extensive marine and bird-life of the lake. Continue along the western edge of the lake to look at the ancient landscape and the extensive range of stone aquaculture sites and fish traps.
Learn about: Culturally significant flora and fauna, and the Tae Rak landscape, The Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre and the Gunditjmara people, Introduction to traditional kooyang (eel) harvesting and processing, Stone country and Kooyang traps and the network of aquaculture systems designed to trap and harvest Kooyong for food and trade.
Tours start at 10:00am and 2:00pm, finishing back at the Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre & Café.
Disabled Access
Carpark Family Friendly Non Smoking$159
The tour starts with a visit to the Kurtonitj Indigenous Protected Area (IPA). Kurtonitj (meaning ‘crossing place’) is in the centre of the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape and has historical stone kooyang (eel) traps and stone channels, stone house sites and eel smoking trees. Your guide will show you these sites, as well as:
An ancient smoking tree used for smoking kooyang (eels)
An area of lava flow featuring two weirs
Dam associated with trapping and holding kooyang
After Kurtonitj visit Budj Bim National Park where you will enjoy morning tea.
Budj Bim is a Gunditjmara name for Mount Eccles, an inactive volcano located within the Western Victorian Volcanic Plains. The Gunditjmara call the area ‘Tungatt Mirring’ or Stone Country, and it is where the legend of Budj Bim began.
Your guide will take you on a cultural walk with key features of interest including Lake Surprise, lava tunnels, caves, forest, and wildlife including an extensive koala population.
After Budj Bim, return to the Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre & Café, arriving approximately 1:00pm. (Lunch not included)
Participants have the option to join the 2:00pm Guided Cultural Walk of Tae Rak (Lake Condah) – Additional cost
Disabled Access
Carpark Family Friendly Non Smoking$199
This tour takes visitors through the history of the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape from creation to farming. Visit Kurtonitj IPA, Budj Bim National Park, Lake Gorrie and Tae Rak, showcasing the living Indigenous culture and landscape through Gunditjmara eyes.
Located at the heart of the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, Kurtonitj (meaning ‘crossing place’) is sacred to the Gunditjmara people with enormous cultural, archaeological and environmental significance. The site has historical stone kooyang (eel) traps and stone channels, stone house sites and eel smoking trees, a stone art installation, as well as an area of lava flow featuring two weirs and a dam associated with trapping and holding kooyang (eel).
Move on to Lake Gorrie for morning tea. The site is an example of a drystone wall sheep wash, built by Gunditjmara people and used by early pastoralists. You could also see large numbers of Karrayn (grey kangaroo) living here. Constructed in the mid 1800’s, the drystone walls demonstrate a high level of craftsmanship and skill in their construction and have been deemed of archaeological significance by the State of Victoria.
Enjoy lunch at the Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre followed by a two hour guided walk of Tae Rak (Lake Condah).
Disabled Access
Carpark Family Friendly Non Smoking
