Cultural flavours of Australia's Red Centre

Karrke Aboriginal Cultural Experience & Tours, Watarrka National Park, NT © Tourism Australia

A plump white witchetty grub wriggles in the hot ashes of the campfire. A few seconds later it is cooked and ready to eat.  

Aboriginal tour operator Christine Breaden holds the delicacy out to me encouragingly. I hesitate, unsure I want to taste this particular example of bush tucker: the larva of a moth found in the Central Australian desert. But curiosity wins, and I tentatively bite, chew and swallow. It’s a little bit eggy, a little bit nutty, and definitely not as unpalatable as it looks. 

Karrke Aboriginal Cultural Experience & Tours, Watarrka National Park, NT © Tourism Australia

Sharing desert culture

Christine and her partner Peter Abbott live on the traditional lands of their ancestors in the Aboriginal community of Wanmarra (population 10), just inside Watarrka National Park in Australia’s Red Centre, about three and a half hours’ drive north of Uluru, or four hours’ drive south-west of Alice Springs on the sealed highway. Alternatively, you can explore the area over several days, with stops and diversions, if you take the Red Centre Way, for which a 4WD is recommended, but no longer essential.

Christine is a Luritja woman and a Traditional Owner of the Wanmarra community, and Peter is a Western Aranda/Pertame (Southern Aranda) man, also from Central Australia. They run Karrke Aboriginal Cultural Experience & Tours, introducing visitors to their ancient culture and Creation story, and teaching them about traditional foods and medicines used by the Luritja and Pertame people, as well as hunting skills, dot painting and carving with fire. 

After a traditional smoking ceremony to welcome us, we are soon immersed in stories of the Dreaming, Aboriginal cultures and living on Country. 

The business, we learn, takes its name from the western bowerbird, or ‘karrke’ in the Aranda language. The male of this beautiful species, found in this part of Central Australia, is noted for the pink plume on top of his head. Like other bowerbirds, he collects and decorates his bower with shiny things – flowers, berries and anything else that catches his eye – to attract a mate.  

The name was chosen because it conjured for Christine an image of visitors ‘flying away to share their experiences with their friends’ and attracting them to pay a visit here themselves.  

Karrke Aboriginal Cultural Experience & Tours, Watarrka National Park, NT © Tourism Australia

An unexpected bounty

There is more bush tucker: Christine shows us how to use large stones to grind mai, or food, in the form of edible tree and grass seeds, and explains how they have been used by countless generations of hunters and gatherers. We lick the sweetness from tjala (live honey ants), and try seasonal fruits including wild passionfruit, quandong, desert raisins, bush plums, wild figs and onions.  

We emulate the light taps and the rhythm that Peter sets with the clap sticks before throwing a spear and a non-returning boomerang (with mixed results).  

Sitting on the red earth, we marvel at a vivid expanse of seeds from a bats-wing coral tree. Laid out on the ground, they reflect the colours of this Country: green, red, yellow, orange, brown and dark purple.  

An accomplished and multi-talented artist, Christine shows us how seeds are used to make bracelets and necklaces, explains the cultural symbols and shapes found in dot painting, and demonstrates fire branding.  

The wealth of information – provided generously during our time together – is worth noting, but it’s the warmth and positivity of our hosts that proves the most exceptional aspect of this experience. Peter and Christine’s quiet devotion to their heritage, and willingness to share it open-heartedly, sets the tone for a rich and rewarding few hours, that leaves each visitor feeling closer to the land.