ngaran ngaran culture awareness

I took my family - including my 84 year old grandmother - back to Yuin country to experience and discover our misplaced Yuin culture with the help of Ngaran Ngaran Culture Awareness. Dwayne and his team were incredibly helpful and thoughtful throughout the whole process, from the point of enquiring about whether it would be an appropriate experience for my grandmother and the rest of my family, right through to the end of the experience. It was beautiful to be there learning about our culture in a warm, welcoming environment, and to have all our hearts opened. Suitable not only for non-Indigenous people, but also Kooris themselves. We all came away feeling enriched, stronger, with a much better understanding of where we belong in the world. The food was brilliant and covered all our varied needs, and the accommodation and location perfect for the experience. Thanks so much to you all x

This was such a fantastic experience. Our family had an amazing time, we also met lovely couples so it suits any and all. The weekend is organised perfectly, great accommodation and food and time to relax. BUT the best best part of it is the connection you get to aboriginal culture, their stories, the way they treat and respect the land and each other. Dwayne and his team are brilliant. Walking Gulaga and the 'creation tour' part is beyond words, you must experience it, words can't do it justice. I cannot recommend this tour highly enough. We are a family that travel overseas and do lots of different activities and my 14 year old really loved it, as did my ten and seven year old.

The Ngaran Ngaran cultural awareness experience / Gulaga creation program is such an amazing and invaluable experience!! I have learned so much about myself and also Aboriginal culture. I have been twice already and cannot wait for my next visit to Gulaga!! Dwayne and Uncle Max and their family are absolutely amazing!

I had such a magical experience walking up Gulaga Mountain and experiencing her hidden treasures. Dwayne and his family were so welcoming and generous with sharing their culture with me, it was a real honour. Uncle Max Dulumunmun Harrison also visited and I was so mesmerised to watch him perform a smoking ceremony with his grandchildren. I was also entralled on the last day when we were invited to attend and participate in a ceremony to awaken the fish traps at Mystery Bay. What a weekend! Thank you so much.

I have been on the Ngaran Ngaran cultural awareness experience once and will be going again this year! From the start of the trip we were very much accepted into Dwayne and Max's family for the weekend. They made sure we were well fed and ready for our cultural experience. We were there at a time when whales were migrating and it was just breathtaking with the ceremonies. For the walk up Mt Gulaga you do need to have a reasonable level of fitness but it is an incredible journey and everyone has a very different experience. You are always able to travel up the mountain in the car if unable to walk up. It is difficult to describe the positive experience and understanding I gained from this trip. I learnt more about myself in a weekend than I had throughout most of university. I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone who would like to learn more about Aboriginal culture and spirit, or if you want to gain a greater understanding and respect for our incredible country, or if you just need a weekend away because everything is a bit crazy in your life.

This wasn't just a tour, where sacred sites were pointed out, but we had the privilege to be welcomed into the ceremonies and experiences first hand. For example, when we passed the Creation Rock, a tour guide would have said "this is where Aboriginals will send healing to ancestors", but we sat together and in ceremony entered the sacred space which allowed us the opportunity (the closest I can explain is a guided meditation) to consider our own ancestors and any healing of ours/theirs that was needed. Very powerful.

I had never experienced anything like this tour before. Over the course of a weekend, the Ngaran Ngaran team introduce you to stories of Aboriginal history, lore and sprituality. Many aspects of Aboriginal culture rely (often solely) on oral methods and the impact of this is a pretty powerful thing to experience first hand. These stories of the Dreamtime and reverence for culture and country are being told to you exactly as they have been across generations for thousands of years. One part of the tour involves a hike up Gulga mountain and this requires a reasonable level of fitness - there's no rock climbing or anything like that, but you'll be trekking through rainforest, across rocks, creeks and whatnot. The temperature at the top of the mountain is quite cold and windy so make sure you pack a windcheater and some layers in your daypack, even if it's a warm day. You'll want a bit of salt on hand as well - it's a rainforest so there are leeches about. All up, the hike takes around 4-5 hours including frequent stops around the top of the mountain to experience sacred sites. I'd thoroughly recommend the tour, for locals and travellers alike. Tilba Tilba, Narooma and Gulaga Mountain are incredible places to visit and if you take the Ngaran Ngaran tour, you'll experience it from a perspective that not many people have the chance to see.

My walk up Gulaga and through the sacred sites has continued to open my mind, heart and spirit in many many ways. The lads from Ngaran Ngaran really know how to guide everyone through this sacred experience and i have come away a much more humble man.i loved the story about uncle max taking the Dalai Lama up there and him meditating at the creation rock for 3 hours.Uncle Max has surely passed down his wisdom and knowledge to his son Max and his grandsons Dwayne and Max. they are truly accessible men with so much passion for their ways and culture.i am looking forward to the next experience.

I have been a few times now. First invited by a good friend and I was so impressed I returned with my whole family......my wife and kids loved it too. Since then I have been back with other friends. It is a great weekend of cultural learning at a special place, conducted by special people. Dwayne, Uncle Max and their family and friends who help guide you through the tour are amongst the most welcomimg, frendliest and compassionate people I have met and the tour has opened my eyes to veiwing plants, animals and people in a more meaningful and spirit filled way. I am looking forward to going again soon.

This tour gave me more than I could have imagined. Since my two tours of the mountain my own connection to Country and spiritual journey through life have greatly improved. The sacred knowlede shared by the Ngaran Ngaran Cultural Awareness guides gave me invaluable life perspective, and was a true privalige to receive. I believe anyone would benefit from this extrodinary experience.

An experience not to be missed. We have been on the pilgrimage a couple of times up Gulaga mountain and it is one of the most sacred places in Australia. Uncle Max shares his wisdom and knowledge of this area superbly and has trained his family to be experts in leading and guiding these tours with him. From the welcome & smoking ceremony, to the whale ceremony on the beach, the whole program was an absolute delight and really well organized. We will definitely come back again and bring groups to share this enlightening experience with the original people of this country. Judy O'Donnell, Sacred Site Travel

What a fantastic experience! We attended a two-day cultural experience with Ngaran Ngaran Cultural Awareness and are so glad we did. From the outset we were given a traditional welcome to the experience, then a group ceremony the next morning to greet the sun, followed by a walk up Gulaga to learn about the part it played in initiation of the Yuin people for thousands of years, then the second morning we participated in a traditional ceremony to give the whales luck on their northward travels before saying farewell to the group. We were part of a smallish group (we were two couples that went and in total there were a dozen people attending) and we were always made to feel included. We were made to feel part of their extended family, even dare I say it honorary Yuin for the day, and experienced true immersion in the Yuin culture. I certainly took away new knowledge about the Aboriginal way of life and ancient teachings; I will be mulling it over for quite a while. This has given me a new appreciation for the culture that was in Australia for thousands of years before 1788 and still exists in such beautiful places as South Coast NSW, and made me hungry to learn more.The walk up Gulaga (Mount Dromedary) is not too strenuous - you only need a moderate level of fitness as the climb is not too steep and takes only around two hours to walk up - and heavy walking boots are not a requirement although we opted for hiking boots to give us the extra ankle support, as some of the path has you clambering over some rocky places. We needed a rain coat on the particular day we went up and actually made use of our dry things to change into when we got back, as it rained quite a bit that day, but in summer the region has such good weather you could get by with shorts and a t-shirt (and of course sun-screen though). The entire group stayed all in the one cabin, and when not involved in learning we had a great time socialising (at meal times, walks along the beach, or just chilling out) with the others in the tour as well as the tour leaders who were staying next door. After the walk one of the group leaders even showed off his ability to play the guitar and sing and kept us entertained to a late hour. This weekend was an amazing experience, and I recommend it to anyone wanting to explore another culture that is right on our doorstep, in a beautiful part of Australia, with a great bunch of people.The only issue I have is that the address for Ngaran Ngaran is given as Callala Bay but the weekend was in the vicinity of Narooma, a few hours further south, can TripAdvisor change the address?