Mandingalbay Cultural Experience | 9am - 12pm
The Mandingalbay Yidinji Eco Cultural Tour begins at the Cairns Reef Terminal and glides across Trinity Inlet, dotted by yachts, and up Hills Creek to where the salty water of the sea meets freshwater flowing off the surrounding mountains.
The rainforest-clad mountains of Mandingalbay Yidinji lands is a bush supermarket and pharmacy abundant of food and medicinal plants used for sustenance and healing, which include edible flowers, sweet fruit and native herbs.
The air is alive with a chorus of birds all year round, and in the winter months, a cloud of butterfly’s filter the air with their wings as your guide takes you on a short trek at the base of Grey Peaks National Park.
Features
- A short cruise on Trinity Inlet from Cairns Reef Terminal
- Cultural Mandingalbay Yidinji welcome and cleansing smoking ceremony
- Guided bush tucker & medicine walk
- Light refreshments (coconut damper, tea and fresh fruit)
Location and times
The Miandingal Bay experioence departs from the Reef Fleet Terminal in Cairns City.
check-in: 8.30am – 8.40am
location: marina point, 6/2 pier point rd, cairns
departs: 9.00am
returns: 12.00pm
The Cruise Liner Termina has parking for $2 per hour. It is a short 2-minute walk to the Reef Fleet Terminal.
Mandingabay Yidinji
Mandingabay Yidinji are the traditional owners of the country that lies just across waters from the cairns marina.
take a 3-hour journey back in time starting with a 15-minute river cruise on the calm waters of trinity inlet discovering a cultural landscape as seen through the eyes of the mandingalbay yidinji people.
learn about the extraordinary work being done to save the environments of east trinity as part of an indigenous protected area program. walk an ancient pathway through the forest with your guide, learning about the impact each season had on the people, touch, smell and feel native foods, tools, and medicine.
“sharing our culture keeps us connected to our ancestors. being on our country and looking after our country helps keep our culture and our people strong.”
River Cruise
Guided river cruise in a specially designed, fully covered vessel travelling across trinity inlet leaving from the cairns reef fleet terminal
Smoking Ceremony
Mandingabay Yidinji welcome and traditional cleansing smoking ceremony.
Guided Bush-walk
20-minute guided bush-walk discovering the mandingalbay yidinji bush foods, tools, and medicine as well as sites of cultural significance.
Morning Tea
Morning tea under the stingray shelter
Return to Cairns
Return transfer by vessel to cairns reef fleet terminal
The Mandingalbay Cultural experience Departs Cairns Reef Terminal 9am–12pm and 1pm–4pm
