Feature by Carolyn Beasley
Along Western Australia’s Coral Coast, humpback whales are breaching in the blue, wildflowers are sprouting from ancient soils, and burrowing bees are guzzling nectar.
Rennee Turner of Wooramulla Eco Cultural Journeys in Carnarvon has links to this country that span tens of thousands of years. Her tours guide visitors through seasonal changes in the land and sky, the plants and the animals, and explain the vital links to culture.
If you stare at the clay pan for long enough, you may see the googly eyes of the Dawson’s burrowing bees, peering out of their subterranean homes. Soon, their fuzzy bodies will emerge, hungry after hibernation, homing in on the flowers of the poverty bush and native bluebells.
In Carnarvon, the Yinggarda season of Biddijin has arrived. It’s a time of much activity for these harmless native bees, and according to Rennee Turner, owner of Wooramulla Eco Cultural Journeys, the bluebells are already rustling in the breeze, enticing their underground pollinators.
Rennee from Wooramulla Tours, Carnarvon
Rennee says observation of nature is part of her daily life.
“My big thing is, you connect to Country, Country connects back to you,” says Rennee. “So Country’s always talking, Country’s always showing you something. You've just got to stop, look and listen.”
For Rennee, the last of these tasks, to listen, has become critical. As a Yinggarda woman, she says she is studying her language, learning from her mother and brother, two of only five or six people left on the planet who can speak their language fluently.
Culture, including snippets of language, is at the heart of Rennee’s tours, and she offers bushfood river tours, town tours, night sky tours and visits to the Kennedy Ranges (Mundatharrda) and Honeycomb Gorge (Mingah Munda).
Kennedy Ranges, near Gascoyne Junction
Recently, Rennee has noticed other tell-tale signs of Biddijin’s arrival.
“The clouds are changing, even two months ago, it would have been the bottom end the season, you would have had these huge big fat swirling clouds,” Rennee says. “Different insects are coming and going, and all our birds are active. We don’t have any more dragonflies at the moment.”
Biddijin marks the start of the wildflower season in Carnarvon, and guests of Rennee’s tours can expect to encounter many species, including the green birdflower.
“They can be used for anything from a skin wash or for diuretic purposes,” Rennee says. “You can use the flowers as an electrolyte. The flower eventuates into the fruit, obviously, and then it loses its ‘wings.’ It has these stunning little peas on the inside.”
Rennee from Wooramulla Tours, Carnarvon
Another seasonal favourite for Rennee is the Shark Bay daisy.
“I saw my first one the other day,” she says. “I was so excited, I don't know why but when I smell it, it just makes me feel home.”
And if Rennee is correct, Carnarvon is in for a bumper wildflower season.
“I just truly think we've had the right amount of fire - natural fires,” she says. “We've had the right amount of rain at the right time. So yeah, I'd be very shocked if we don't have a really brilliant year this year.”
For another Aboriginal experience in the winter months, head north to meet Hazel Walgar, Baiyungu woman and Traditional Owner of the Ningaloo (Nyinggulu) coast. Hazel’s company Baiyungu Dreaming offers tag-along four-wheel drive tours from the holiday village of Coral Bay. Visit hidden sites where Hazel’s ancestors once walked, including a shell midden laden with Aboriginal artefacts, a freshwater source in the sand dunes and a sea turtle nursery.
Hazel from Baiyungu Dreaming, Ningaloo Reef
Visitors will hear the dreamtime story of the octopus and the five-finger reef, before snorkelling the aquamarine waters with kaleidoscope tropical fish, and maybe even a real octopus. When snorkelling in the winter months, tune in to the underwater soundscape. You may be lucky enough to hear the haunting call of the male humpback whale.
Tagalong Tour with Baiyungu Dreaming, Ningaloo Reef
Those who wish to stay dry can meet Hazel at her home at Cardabia, a working cattle station of 428,000-acres, owned and operated by the Baiyungu Aboriginal Corporation. With unforgettable views of a classic west coast sunset, get cosy around a campfire with damper and billy tea, while Hazel explains her work on the Ningaloo archaeological project and provides fascinating insights about station life.
Published July 2023.