Tjakupai Cultural Center

I arrived in Cairns Tuesday morning and after a bit of trouble finding my hostel (it doesn't actually have a storefront on the street where its address is!), I settled in. Almost every hostel has a tour desk where they help you book your activities, so I went straight there. I planned Cairns as my last stop because I thought it would be a good place to relax - kind of like a beach vacation within my overall vacation.

Cairns was not in the mood to cooperate however. It has been "unseasonably" rainy, windy, and overcast since I've been here. It's set to be this way until at least Saturday, so I won't have the chance to wait it out. However, I decided not to let it deter me - if the boats were going to the reef, then so was I!

In the end, I booked a trip to the reef for Wednesday, a trip into the mountains to see a town called Kuranda for today, and left tomorrow open, potentially for another trip to the reef. That left the rest of the day Tuesday, so I decided to go to an Aborigine cultural center to learn more about them.

It was very similar to the Maori cultural center. It started with a bit of a show inside. Several Aborigines taught a crowd of tourists the beginning of a fire ceremony and then they actually lit a fire in the traditional way - similar to how the Native Americans do it with rubbing sticks together.

Then we went in to the buffet. While we were there, they did another show on a little stage. One man played the didgeridoo while the others did a few traditional dances and a little skit. It was really interesting and also quite entertaining. The Aborigines have the oldest continuous culture on the planet, which I think is pretty fascinating.

Anyway, here's a picture of me with one of the main performers after the show (in what else - the gift shop)!