Tungatt Mirring, Stone Country Half Day Tour - Budj Bim

Jacobi was an excellent guide. We all enjoyed the tour and found the guide interesting and knowledgeable. The eel tasting at the conclusion of the tour was superb.

Great experience. Learnt so much. Couldn't wait to share with others. Knowledgeable guide who was happy to answer our many questions.

A fascinating insight into the long history of the area. It helped us understand the landscape we saw subsequently as well. We were glad we ordered the tasting plate so we could find out afterwards what the eel was like.

Great experience. Very fortunate with a fine day but not too hot. We learned a lot. Enjoyed having Joey as our guide. He didn’t have to use his umbrella to deal with swooping birds or his snake-bite kit, but his first aid kit and skills were very helpful after Ivan had a bit of a trip. While Joey spoke about pre and post-colonisation he was more generous than he might have been, given the shocking massacres that had occurred in the immediate and wider area. 😢

A superb and intriguing and important tour backed up by a great lunch. My understanding of Indigenous heritages and perspectives widened a great deal as we walked and talked. The guide was easy to engage in dialogue and well informed about archaeology, history and politics. The local council should improve the access road.

We loved this tour of the eel traps, ancient stone house remnants and the beautiful National Park. We learnt so much from our tour guide Reuben and had a beautiful platter when we returned to the cultural centre.

We enjoyed and much appreciated the tour thanks to Reuben our bus driver and guide who was most informative over a range of topics to do with the Budj Bim cultural area and Gunditjmara peoples and the impact of colonial history. It was so good to hear and see things being reclaimed and passed on to a wider audience through modern facilities like the visual display and cafe building (where we enjoyed an eel platter and some good coffee).

A wonderful experience including amazing first peoples knowledge- led by our guide who shared his knowledge and personal stories. Great hospitality - scones were yum Recommended

Have wanted to visit this amazing cultural site and it didn’t disappoint. Our guide was so knowledgeable and inspiring

Reuben was a knowledgeable and interesting guide on our half-day look at the landscape of a people he had obvious respect for, and the tour highlighted visual insights into a culture which had a real affinity and respect for country. A most worthwhile visit, and an important and necessary story for all Australians.

We found this half-day tour of the World Heritage Site at Budj Bim to be really interesting and informative. The Gunditjmara guide was passionate and extremely knowledgeable, which made the tour of the eel traps, holding ponds, smoking tree, and remains of ancient stone houses so fascinating. We felt privileged to be welcomed and shown around this site and learnt so much. I would thoroughly recommend this tour to others and will consider doing the full-day tour in the future.

What an amazing tour. Our guide was knowledgeable and informative. We enjoyed a share platter and tried the eel which was delicious. To be able to walk in the footsteps of the Gunditjmara people and see where and how they lived was educational and insightful. Thank you.

This tour was brilliant. Jaydn was relaxed, friendly and knowledgeable. I have read a great deal about native title etc but hearing it from Jaydn made it seem much more real.

Very informative guide I hope things can continue to improve for the local people. It would be great to see the return of the smoaked eal trade. It is a shame it has taken this long for Europeans to listen to First Nations but a centre like this helps get the process started.

Great possibility to get understanding more about first people lives and attitudes. This trip was very interesting and informative. Although we joined with 2hours group, so could pay less, because we got same trip.

Me and my partner done this tour recently and it was amazing! Such an interesting experience learning about the Gunditjmara country and how th indigenous people lived. We had Ruben as our cultural guide who was excellent, very knowledgeable, friendly and passionate. Thank you so much for welcoming us and sharing your stories! Highly recommend.

This is a unique place in the world. A chance to see on country aboriginal culture fist hand, understand deeply the techniques and technology used and learn about the culture and it's struggles and resurgence. Wonderful set up, great lunch (closes at 2pm check the times in advance) We did the half day tour and walked ourselves around the volcano in the morning, but a full day tour would be great. Not cheap, but worth every cent

We had been looking forward to a tour of the Budj Bim World Heritage Area for years (our 2020 booking was cancelled because of Covid). Although this tour was slightly different from the earlier schedule, we thoroughly enjoyed our morning. Reuben, our guide, was engaging and knowledgeable and the boardwalk loop took in some fascinating sites, from stone eel traps, ponds ('refrigerators'), a 'smoking tree' and a physical depiction of the Gunditjmara's seasonal calendar. We also enjoyed a short visit to the Tae Rak aquaculture centre and its excellent cafe. (We will do the afternoon tour another time.) Thanks to the Traditional Owners & to Reuben for sharing your culture & insights into the world.

This was boring, over rated, and expensive. Our guide on Saturday morning carried chips the size of the crater on either shoulder, and was eager to spray his vitriol from his opening address. We had heard nothing but good reports from budj bim, so were very disappointed to have wasted half a day listening to a bitter guide, driving a further divide between our cultures. Spent more time making unsubstantiated criticisms of local farmers than explaining or showing us the waterway and it’s ecosystems. Wouldn’t recommend.

What a fantastic experience ... to see and hear about our country through the eyes and ears of a local was moving ... thank you Reuben for a truly eye-opening experience

Wow, what an incredible day. I can't recommend it highly enough. Reuben was a wonderful guide, entertaining, funny and highly knowledgeable. Such an informative tour covering the incredible farming ingenuity and engineering methods of the Gunditjmara people, the brutality and injustice of colonisation and fun facts about eels! Who would have thought they were such fascinating creatures? We had a tasting plate after the tour which I'd highly recommend followed by a delicious lunch. A real gem of an experience. Everyone should go, it was worth every cent.

I have been meaning to come and do this tour for a while now. Myself and my friend where completely blown away by all aspects of the tour, it is incredibly well organised and ran extremely smoothly. We found both of our lovely guides to be funny, very very knowledgeable and so friendly. We really loved learning more about Gunditjimara country and after we left made sure to tell our friends who we know would really appreciate something like this as well. The lunch at the end of the day was also incredible - Make sure to get the Eel tasting plate if you can. We are planning to come back soon and do the full day.

The tour was very well organised and informative and how lucky are we that this community shares their cultural knowledge with us. Thank you to out guides and we are very happy we took the time to do this. Everyone should do this.

We live in the area and took friends from Melbourne with us to do the tour. We started with the story of the eels, which was fascinating, and then proceeded to the eel traps and stone houses. Our guide, Luke, was outstanding. He told us some hard truths but in a very friendly and non-judgemental way. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and will return to see the area in another season.

We did a half day tour, Luke was a fantastic guide. I didn't fully appreciate this incredible history previously. So proud of First Nations culture. A must for those who read Dark Emu. We also had the smoked eel tapas which we loved and thought was way better than smoked salmon or trout. We also really like the tomatoe relish. Definitely go and then tell all your friends and family to go.

The tour was very informative. Our guide Luke was great, and gave us some insight into the indigenous culture, as well as the whole eel trap process.

We heard about the UNESCO World Heritage Listing and put Budj Bim on our lists of places to visit. We’re pretty lucky to have something of this significance and age, right on our doorstep! The investment into the beautiful facilities and cultural wisdom that went into designing the tours celebrate these extraordinary feats of engineering by our First Nations peoples. I only wish we had done the full day tour, but my primary school age kids were flagging in the heat, despite best efforts by Joseph to answer their questions and engage them throughout the tour.

As we approached Tae Rak, the water filled lake with masses of bird life was a sight to see. We were very impressed by the quality built aquaculture centre, where our tour began & where we enjoyed a tasting plate afterwards. Our tour guide Luke, was very informative about the life cycle of local eels, the history of the Budj Bim landscape & the Gunditjmara culture. We are planning to visit again in the winter or ‘wet season’!

We very much enjoyed our half day tour. Bush Bim is stunningly breathtaking country and we appreciated being able to experience it. Thank you to everyone involved and especially Reuben our tour leader whose commentary has given us much to think about. Don’t forget to have the eel share platter at the end of the tour. So delicious!

The tour was highly recommended by a friend, so I was expecting good things. But not that it would be a complete revelation. I'm a school teacher, familiar with the current Australian curriculum which does endeavor to educate our children more truthfully about indigenous life and history. We've had elders come and speak to our classes. But Budj Bim was life-changing. It was a powerful experience to stand on country and hear cultural and historical stories directly from descendants of our ancient people. Ruben taught us more about these things in 4 hours than I have learned teaching children from books and the internet for 20 years. And the land itself is stunning. Everyone should book a tour at Budj Bim.

Wonderful and informative tour of an ingenious ancient system, built and still maintained by an uninterrupted lineage if owners. Wonderful!

The landscape was beautiful. Our guide Ruben was extremely knowledgeable, engaging and very informative. It was a privilege to have the history of indigenous peoples and their way of life in that area explained in such detail. Their ingenuity in developing means of survival, preservation and respect for country is/was incredible. We came away much richer for the experience.

What a fabulous tour. Even though the weather was not the best we all enjoyed our introduction to the Gunditjmara country, culture and history ..... for one of our party (an English visitor) it is still the favourite experience of our 23 day road trip around south east Australia. The food at the aquaculture centre was lovely, another English visitor tried his first taste of kangaroo and gave it the thumbs-up.

A great tour where we learnt a lot about the area and the culture surrounding! Will be recommending to friends and family to go!

Thanks to the passion and interpretive skills of our guide Joey and the extraordinary landscape of Budj Bim I feel a deep connection to this place. I was really moved and recommend it to everyone.

I done the half day tour and I could not have been happier with our tour guide he was so knowledgeable I really learnt a lot obout the culture and the land aswell as the history of the whole region there, I will definitely be back in the future to do the whole day tour. The kangaroo souvlaki was absolutely delicious but my favourite was the smoked eel thanks again see you soon. Ian

Great tour. Recommend to anyone wanting to learn more about the indigenous culture in this area. I hope to do another one next time I visit the area.

Reuben our cultural guide at Budj Bim turned something mildly interesting into an extraordinary experience. The life cycle of Eels, which til then did not figure hugely in my life became a hot topic. The story telling of thousands of years of culture around this humble, yet rockstar animal, the EEL, jumped off the page into a theatrical education and thoroughly enjoyable experience. Take the time you won't be disappointed...AND the coffee is top notch!

This tour was amazing. Located in the World Heritage listed Budj Bim National Park, I saw the cultural landscape through the stories told by our tour guide. I learnt about the cultural heritage of Gunditjmara Proples and experienced first hand the importance of being on Country. Saw the traditional rock fish traps and noted native plants on our walk. This tour will remain a treasured experience. Lunch back at Tak Rae Aquaculture Centre at Lake Condah was delicious.

It was a such an inspiring and humbling experience, hearing some of the incredible knowledge of our Gunditjmara Guide, who gave us wonderful insights into the phenomenal ingenuity and resourcefulness of his people.

A very interesting tour explaining the way of life of the local indigenous people. Our guide was very knowledgeable, giving us comprehensive information. The stone eel channels and house foundations were fascinating. The eel tasting platter we had was excellent too.

Thank you to our fabulous guides for a very enlightening and interesting cultural tour on beautiful country. It was a privilege to be there on what felt like very cared for country.

An excellently set up indigenous centre and tour. Our half day tour guide provided local indigenous history and the current situation. We saw how the landscape had been manipulation to create eel traps, and the skill in establishing a permanent and sustainable food source. The significance of the entire area to the local indigenous people's dreamtime story was shared. We have much to learn from them in caring for land

It is fascinating to see the infrastructure of eel cultivation, in such beautiful country and wondrous to know that the connections are over 6,000 years old.

We will absolutely be going back to do the full day Tour. The stories and experiences that our guide Ruben shared were emotionally powerful, going far deeper than I ever expected. Absolutely blew my mind. I highly recommend the food and service at the cafe. You won't regret going out of your way to visit. An unforgettable experience.

Brayden was knowledgeable, helpful and very respectful. He made the tour entertaining and inclusive for all ages. The sites are an incredible environmental site and important for us to understand how we can work with nature.

This is the second time we have been on a tour from Tae Rak. Our tour guide was fantastic. I particularly enjoyed some of his family stories about life in the past. We learnt about animals, eels, plants ,culture and language. We were impressed with the second visit that there was so much to learn. Would highly recommend these tours and the food!

Learning about the aquaculture and local indigenous mobs. Our guide Ruben was informative and entertaining. He managed the group well. We had actually booked in for the two hour trip as we were travelling through the area that day. a week before we got a phone call saying that our guide was unfortunately not able to work that day and we were offered a different day or upgrade to the full day tour. Amji was very accommodating and we ended up doing a half day tour which worked for both us and the company. Great flexibility and customer service.

Seeing the ancient aquaculture system with its eel traps, holding ponds and smoking trees was truly extraordinary. Jayden was a terrific guide - a great story teller. And the stone huts will blow your mind!