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Kuranda, Australia
16° 49' S 145° 38' E
Jan 06, 2004 05:34
Distance 17km

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Tjapukai Tribal Dinner

Text written in: English

Well, the day wasn't a total loss. We didn't go on the reef cruise, but we did go to Tjapukai by Kuranda for a Tribal dinner. The idea is similar to a Polynesian luau type event.

The Tjapukai are the Aboriginl Tribe that is located around Cairns/Kuranda. They have a special centre that is a tourist attraction and its goal is to educate people about the Tjapukai's beliefs.

We arrived around 7:30pm and were brought into a gallery type room that displayed artwork on the walls and artifacts in glass cases. The artwork were of traditional stories told by the Tjapukai. They were beautiful and very detailed.

Then the lights went down and some dry ice fog came into the room. A man dressed as a god came in, it had neon tassels on the costume and huge blue eyes that glowed in the dark. We were told the story about good and evil and how the Tjapukai began.

Then the doors to the dining area opened and an aborigine dressed in traditional garb invited us in. We went through the dining room out onto the lawn behind the building which overlooks a small lake. We were each given instruments - two cylindrical pieces of wood. We were told to form a circle and then learned a traditional chant for starting fire. The ceremony ended with a flaming spear being thrown into the lake, simultaneously a fire ignites on the other side of the lake. The fire signifies welcome and ceremony. Another boat of the Tjapukai came across the lake to our side. The aborigines got out of the canoe and led us into the dining hall, lighting torches along the way.

It was really cool and gave a small glimpse into the traditions of the Tjapukai.

The food was incredible, steak in mushroom sauce, fish in a coconut curry cream sauce. Grilled vegetables. Rich chocolate cake with ice cream.

The show that was put on was short and didn't have a lot of traditional elements. It was definitely worth going though.

We got home around 10pm and went straight to bed - the bus for the balloon ride was picking us up at 4:25am.