Cathedral Fig Tree

Make your own way to the Cathedral Fig on Boar Pocket Road to meet up with your Cultural Guide at the scheduled time.

Before taking a 100m rainforest walk to the fig, your guide will welcome you to the Traditional Homelands of the Yidinji people, using maps to explain the cultural borders and boundaries of neighbouring clans and tribes.

Estimated to be over 500 years old, this majestic strangler fig rises like a great natural amphitheatre.

Beneath its canopy, you will learn about the important roles fig trees played in rainforest traditions, and its place in recent local history.

As you return to the carpark, interact with a cultural display where you will learn about traditional rainforest foods, seasonal calendars, kinship systems and the responsibilities Yidinji clans hold in caring for Country. This is an opportunity for meaningful dialogue and questions, not just observation.

Your guide will also show you how to use a woomera (traditional spear thrower) which was often used for hunting in the open fields before getting back into your car and following your guide to Lake Barrine, just a short 15-minute drive down the highway.

Lake Barrine

We continue to the tranquil waters of Lake Barrine, a 12,000-year-old volcanic crater lake formed by explosive geological forces and held within the Dulguburra-Yidinji Clan lands.

By the lakeside you will hear the Yidinji creation story that explains the lake’s origins and its cultural importance. We then stroll to the towering Twin Kauri Pines, where conversations turn to the timber industry, colonial history and the lasting impacts on Yidinji families and land management practices.

Your tour will end here, leaving you with a greater understanding of the Aboriginal history and culture of the region, and the enduring connection that Yidinji people have with their traditional homelands.