Guided Tours

2-Hour Guided Cultural Walking Tour of Tae Rak

Name: 2-Hour Guided Cultural Walking Tour of Tae Rak
Start: 2024-12-29T14:00:00
End: 2024-12-29T16:00:00
Location: Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre

Guided cultural walk through Melbourne's Tae Rak wetlands with indigenous guide.

Tae Rak Cultural Walk guide explaining indigenous history in Melbourne wetland.

Guided cultural walk through Tae Rak wetlands in Melbourne, showcasing indigenous heritage and natural landscapes.

Guided cultural walk through lush wetlands in Melbourne, highlighting indigenous heritage and natural landscapes.

Embark on a 2-hour walking tour around Tae Rak, exploring ancient Aboriginal aquaculture systems, eel life cycles, and more with a local guide.

Highlights

Discover the marvels of ancient Aboriginal people on this guided walking tour around the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tae Rak.
Get up close with the Kooyang (eels), understanding their life cycle at the holding tank.
Marvel at the 6,600-year-old aquaculture sites, weirs, and fish traps, a profound testament to early sustainable engineering practices.
Did you know? The eels here undertake an epic 2,000 km migration just to spawn.

Inclusions

2-hour walking tour
Gunditjmara cultural guide

Cancellation policy

You can cancel these tickets up to 24 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.

Your Experience

Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre and Ancient Structures

Immerse yourself in a 2-hour guided exploration of Tae Rak (Lake Condah), a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is celebrated exclusively for its Aboriginal cultural importance. The journey begins at the Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre & Café, where you will encounter kooyang, or eels, an invaluable resource for the Gunditjmara people. Understand the remarkable life cycle of these long-distance migrators. As you stroll down the picturesque boardwalk, discover Gunditjmara stone aquaculture sites and dams, which date back over 6600 years, revealing Gunditjmara's sophisticated understanding of sustainable farming and water management.

Budj Bim Cultural Landscape & Ingenious Gunditjmara Techniques

Continue your journey along the lake's edge, unveiling the remnants of kooyang traps, primordial Aboriginal stone dwellings, and remnants of lava flows. These physical testaments to a harmonious coexistence of human creativity and nature are part of Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, a site renowned for one of the world's oldest and most comprehensive aquaculture systems. Witness the ingenious methods the Gunditjmara employed, using the volcanic terrain to create an elaborate network of channels, weirs, and dams for the capture, storage, and harvest of Kooyang. This masterpiece of human innovation surpasses even the Pyramids or Stonehenge in age, standing as an enduring testament to human resourcefulness.

Know Before You Go

Important Information

Facilities: Wheelchair Accessibility.
It's recommended to wear long pants (winter) and good socks for walking along with sturdy walking shoes or hiking boots.
Bring along your sunscreen, hat, water bottle, umbrella, and jacket.
Note that the following is allowed on this tour: registered assistance dogs.

My tickets

Your voucher will be emailed to you instantly.
Display the voucher on your mobile phone with a valid photo ID at the meeting point.
Please arrive at the meeting point 15 minutes before the scheduled time of your visit to avoid any delays.

Meeting Point

Meet your guide at Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre.
Address: Vaughans Rd, Breakaway Creek VIC 3303, Australia.

Get Directions to the Meeting Point

Getting There

By Car

If you're driving to the meeting point, drive directly to Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre.
It is located on the shores of Lake Condah, in south western Victoria, approximately 45 minutes drive from Portland or Port Fairy, and an hour and 10 minutes from Warrnambool.