{"id":51793,"date":"2022-06-03T09:35:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-02T23:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/?p=51793"},"modified":"2024-01-10T07:02:26","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T20:02:26","slug":"wukalina-walk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wukalina-walk\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecting to Country on Tasmania’s incredible wukalina Walk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tasmania\u2019s wukalina Walk<\/a> is an Indigenous-owned, multi-day hike through some of the most stunning scenery on Australia\u2019s wind-battered southern coast. For travel writer Kerry van der Jagt, it was a life-changing experience \u2013 a walk back in time, tracing the footsteps of the palawa.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This blog was brought to you in partnership with <\/em>Welcome to Country<\/em><\/a>, a not-for-profit marketplace for Australian Indigenous experiences.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bay of Fires is beyond compare. An arc of wild beauty, where peacock-blue water froths against bone-white sand and sea eagles soar against an enamel sky. Hemmed by fluorescent grass trees and pinned in place by lichen-covered boulders,<\/strong> it is arguably one of the loveliest stretches of coast in the world (with the Lonely Planet badge to prove it).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m on the final leg of the four-day wukalina Walk<\/a>, Tasmania\u2019s first Indigenous–<\/strong>owned and \u2013guided multi-day hike, starting from wukalina (Mount William National Park) and ending in larapuna (Bay of Fires) on the north-eastern edge of the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At intervals we pause, foraging for saltbush \u2013 which is used to add flavouring to kangaroo meat \u2013 or snatching a piece of sea spinach, eaten as briny salad greens. Our pace is slow as we scan the wet sand for sea treasures. One minute it\u2019s a drift of sea sponges, the next it\u2019s the silver thread of a seahorse. <\/strong>Later, we\u2019re standing ankle-deep in cockle shells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Walking along the Tasmanian coast. Image: Rob Burnett<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As we stroll along, <\/strong>our young guide Carleeta Thomas, a descendant of Mannalargenna, a renowned 19th<\/sup>-century warrior chief, shares her stories about connection to Country, and explains how the walk is allowing her people to regain their independence and reclaim their culture, birthright and palawa kani language (always written lower case). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For thousands of years this remote coastline \u2013<\/strong> named the Bay of Fires in 1773 by English explorer Tobias Furneaux \u2013<\/strong> was the traditional homeland of the palawa. Then, within three decades of the invasion by British colonists in 1803, the original inhabitants of lutruwita (Tasmania) were murdered, brutalised and enslaved to near annihilation. It was systematic genocide on a grand scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While textbooks will have you believe that the last Tasmanian Aboriginal died in 1876, when local woman Trukanini passed away, it\u2019s a little-known fact that 47 First Nations people survived on Wybalenna (Flinders Island) after being detained there. It\u2019<\/strong>s the descendants of these survivors who now lead the wukalinaWalk: <\/strong>a project of hope, survival and recognition, more than a decade in the making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Bennett’s wallabies at sunset. Image: Rob Burnett<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe walk was founded by palawa Elder Clyde Mansell,\u201d explains Gill Parssey, General Manager of wukalina Walk. \u201cIn conjunction with community and the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania,<\/strong> the project came about as a way for palawa people to come onto their cultural homeland and share their stories through tourism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day One sees us trekking up wukalina (which, at 215 metres, is more mound than mountain) before turning towards the coast to spend two nights at the wukalina Walk\u2019s standing camp of krakani lumi (resting place). Designed by Hobart architects Taylor + Hinds, the award-winning camp consists of five elegant sleeping pods and a chic, eco-friendly communal building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe design of the pods is based on the domed shape of the palawa seasonal shelters,\u201d says Gill. \u201cThe sleep that you have here feels like being in a cocoon. It\u2019s incredible how well they knew the environment and how to situate themselves in it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n