I’m in a location on the travel wish list of landscape photographers the world over. The sandstone cliffs above Number 16 Beach, in Rye on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, overlook a rock formation that resembles a dragon’s head emerging from the sea. This rugged coastline is scenic even by Australian standards. But I’m not here hoping for the right light to capture its beauty. I’m trying to find the secluded spot where I’ll have yidaki, an Aboriginal healing technique involving mind-body-spirit therapy unlike anything else.
The yidaki (the proper name for what many know as the ‘didgeridoo’), is an ancient wind instrument carved out of wood that originated in Australia’s Northern Territory, possibly as early as 40,000 years ago. I can hear the hypnotic, rhythmic drone reverberate through the air as I make my way along winding sand paths on foot.
Finally I spot the player, sitting among rocks and greenery, with butterflies fluttering around him. Lionel Lauch is a Gunditjmara Kirrae Wurrung-Bundjalung man and a nephew of Archie Roach, the late singer-songwriter and Aboriginal activist who toured the globe with stars including Bob Dylan, Billy Bragg and Tracy Chapman.
Playing the iconic instrument is a way for Lionel to honour his cultural heritage, which he also does as an educator through his company Living Culture. “When I taught myself to play the yidaki I didn’t know anything about vibrational healing,” he tells me, “but when I started using it in meditation sessions, the feedback I got was incredible.”
Aboriginal healing involving sound waves
The theory is that the powerful sound vibrations help the body release trapped energy, bringing it back into alignment. “This one is keyed in F, so it’s for your heart chakra,” he explains.
As I lie down on a mat in front of him, Lionel asks me to acknowledge where I am – on Bunurong/Boonwurrung Country, the traditional land of the local Aboriginal people. We pay our respects to the spirits that have walked this land before us, as well as Grandfather Sun, Mother Earth, and the wind. He encourages me to take a few deep breaths, and explains: “As I start playing, you’re going to breathe in positive energy and breathe out any negative energy, pain or trauma – let it all out.” The sound he produces is so all-encompassing, the vibrations so tangible in my body, that it’s impossible to be distracted by anything else. I am perfectly present in the moment, letting the music flow through me.
It’s a beautiful, energising experience that stays with me as I delve deeper into indigenous wellness traditions in the neighbouring state of New South Wales. A ninety-minute drive north of Sydney, the bushland of Bouddi National Park on the Bouddi Peninsula is the setting for one of Australia’s most secluded luxury lodges. Named Pretty Beach House due to its location on a cliff escarpment above Pretty Beach, it has panoramic ocean views and only four suites, appealing to those in search of peace and privacy.
The peninsula is the ancestral land of the Darkinjung people, and while ‘Bouddi’ has various meanings in different Aboriginal languages, it is most commonly translated as ‘heart’.
I’m welcomed with a traditional smoking ceremony led by cultural educator Tim Selwyn of Girri Girra Aboriginal Experiences. Although he hails from a slightly different region and has Wongaibon ancestry, he knows this neck of the woods intimately.
These traditional rituals are thought to promote spiritual wellbeing and physical health. Having lit a fire in a piece of bark placed on the drive, Tim burns a small pile of eucalyptus leaves the way he was taught by his Elders. While the aromatic smoke gathers strength, he explains the significance of the ritual and the words he sings. Essentially we are paying our respects to the land and previous generations that have cared for it. “We have done everything the right way,” Tim says. I am moved by the experience, and the reverence for age-old knowledge.
Aboriginal healing with a slice of luxury
The next day Tim and his partner Arwen Molyneux Davis take me on a walk through the surrounding woods, showing me Aboriginal rock carvings dating back 12,000 years. A fish, stingray and ceremonial shields are among the symbols providing clues into the way local communities once lived. Aware of my interest in medicinal plants, Tim points them out along the way, and also tells me about the antiseptic eucalyptus resin.
“This is women’s land,” he says, revealing that some of the gum trees towering over the lodge were shaped into their distinct forms by women during the sapling stage centuries ago. Arwen explains that the pond on the property, where we can hear frogs quacking, is where female members of the community would traditionally gather for all kinds of ‘women’s business’, caring for each other, their children, and sacred sites.
Next it’s my turn to be cared for – in the lodge’s bijou spa, where the products used are from the Australian botanical iKOU range. I am treated to the Indigenous Clay Earth and Ocean Dreaming Ritual, a two-hour pampering session starting with a scrub made from Australian blue cypress and wattle seed, similar to a coffee bean and high in nutrients. I nearly fall asleep during a scalp massage while the rest of me is cocooned in detoxifying sea kelp and native clay.
A couple of days later I return for a massage inspired by traditional Aboriginal techniques to bring the body back into balance. The rhythmic movements trigger waves of emotion – perhaps the compound effect of the various rituals I’ve experienced on this trip. Afterwards the lovely therapist, whose skill is clearly intuitive, advises me to spend some time sitting in stillness under a tree.
We step outside, into the dappled sunshine, and gaze at the red gums reaching for the sky. “Maybe that one, with the kookaburra perched on a branch,” she suggests. “Just hang out with it for a bit.” Supported by the trunk of an ancient angophora, I sit barefoot in the grass letting my impressions of Australia sink in. I reflect on the warmth and wisdom of the people I’ve been privileged to meet, and the healing power of nature. My heart is full.
BOOK ABORIGINAL HEALING IN AUSTRALIA
• Pretty Beach House, from AUD2,250 per night, all-inclusive for two adults;
• Ceremonies and guided walks by Girri Girra Aboriginal Experiences, P.O.A
• Yidaki healing with Lionel Lauch, from AUD400
• To plan your trip, go to australia.com