Do you have any animals?
Yes! We do have a few animals in the park; you can sit by the lake or stand on the bridge and feed the native freshwater turtles, wild ducks and huge eels (snake-like creature).

Do you do pick ups?
Yes! Our shuttle bus picks up from most hotels, motels, backpacker accommodation and caravans parks.

Do you sell didgeridoos?
Yes! Our fine art gallery and retail shop has a wide range of Didgeridoos and artifacts on sale.

Does the train depart from here?
No. Trains and planes do not depart from Tjapukai.

Can you buy tickets for Skyrail and train here?
Yes! You can purchase tickets for both attractions at Tjapukai.

How long does it take to get to Tjapukai from Port Douglas?
Approx 45 minutes to 1 hour (south) depending on how much lead you have in your foot.

How do I get there from the city?
Head north along Sheridan Street, which then converts into the Captain Cook Highway. Once you have passed through the 3rd roundabout you should be able to see a sign that will direct you to Tjapukai. Once you get to the fourth roundabout you take a left turn and you will see the entrance to Tjapukai.

What discounts do you have? Are YHA discounts accepted?
Yes! 10% discounts for YHA members and students (student identification must be shown).

Is it true that women are not allowed to play the didgeridoo or even touch it?
In the Tjapukai customs and beliefs the Didgeridoo is representative of a phallic symbol. It is believed that when a man makes a didgeridoo he places a curse on the Didgeridoo to indicate it is his. If another man plays it he will get sick, if a women is to play she would get pregnant.

Is the business government owned or private?
Privately owned and is also majority owned by Aboriginal people.

What is the nature of the business?
Education and entertainment within Tourism.

What do you sell?
An experience that is educational and entertaining.

What is Tjapukai's Mission and Vision?
Our Vision is to continue to be the world's leading Aboriginal Cultural Park. Our Mission is to entertain and educate our visitor's profitability.

Does the business have any benefits to indigenous culture?
Yes.

• Greater benefits for being a role model for Aboriginal enterprise throughout the country.
• Re-birth of the language.
• Provides direct employment and financial benefits to a great many Aboriginal families.
• Gaining skills in a sympathetic workplace that will encourage next generation Aboriginals gained full time employment.

How effective is the business to the point of meeting the needs of indigenous people?
It is a long continuing process that requires the effort and energy of Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff at Tjapukai.

Do the staff have a knowledge of aboriginal culture?
Working at Tjapukai is a multi cultural experience where non-Indigenous have the opportunity to learn a great deal from the Indigenous and vice versa.

Do you try and educate the customers?
Everything at Tjapukai has been designed to raise awareness and educate the customer.

Do you train your employees?
We have on the job training and there are many training opportunities available at Tjapukai to enhance skills and abilities such as teaching numeracy, literacy, budgeting, lecture training which gives confidence and ability to present their culture.

DJIRRI NYURRA - Welcome to our place.

Tourism is a powerful force for change. It can shape opinions and break barriers. Tjapukai is more than just Australia's most awarded cultural attraction; it is reconciliation in practice. There are so many things we want to tell you about us, but here are a few points that you might find of interest to pass onto your group.

It was not until the 1967 Referendum that the Aboriginal people were classified as Australian Citizens and could vote, have a bank account, make their own marriage arrangements, buy land, obtain a passport and were included in the Census. These people themselves are still trying to come to terms with the 21st century.

Customer Expectations

Aboriginal people make up less than 2% of Australia's population of 20,000,000. There were once more than 200 tribes and more than 750 dialects spoken, most of which are now lost. The unemployment rate for Aboriginal people is 17.5% (compared to 7.3% for non-Aboriginal Australians) and the life expectancy for Aboriginal people is 56 years for males and 62 years for females (compared to 76 years and 82 years respectively for non-Aboriginal Australians). These are the facts.

Much of the imagery presented about Aboriginals is romanticized and misleads customers to expect an experience that is far different to the actual reality of the lifestyle of an Aboriginal person in today's society. Images in brochures present a stereotypical Aboriginal person standing on one leg holding a spear with the sun setting on Uluru behind him.

Visitors then expect to find this in Australia and are often let down and disappointed by what they do find. The Australian Aboriginal is unlikely to be seen in towns and villages in a lap lap and body paint. The variety of Aboriginal experiences in Australia is still very limited. Customer service and tourism itself are very new concepts in a country that still has little Aboriginal representation in many fields. There are still no Aboriginal doctors and very, very few Aboriginal people in business. So, in fact, the greatest difficulty Aboriginal tourism in Australia faces today, is getting customers to understand what to expect.

What is our visitor REALLY looking for? An encounter or experience that is natural, authentic, personally delivered, not 'commercialised' and one that represents the Aboriginal people as they were. They are also expecting all Aboriginal people to look like the one they saw in the brochure!

Then, they arrive at Tjapukai and have to re-evaluate and determine what the Tjapukai experience is worth on their own assessment scale.

The Myths

Myth #1:

The Aboriginal people at Tjapukai are not real Aboriginals.

In Europe, the Greek people look nothing like the Swedish people, so why would the Aboriginal person from the Central Desert look like someone from the Rainforest of Kuranda? The Central Desert is very hot and sun baked, an environment that means striding long distances in search for water. People would be black from the sun and long legged. Rainforest Aborigines lived for many centuries under a dense rainforest canopy with little exposure to sun and lots of water and therefore are smaller in stature and not as dark. Is one more Aboriginal than the other? Of course not, and visitors understand this once it is explained to them. It is also important to realize that for generations Australia's Aboriginal people were subject to a policy that was designed to assimilate half and quarter caste children back into 'white' society by a government-backed breeding out program and this is another reason for lighter skinned Aboriginal people.

Myth #2:	Tjapukai is not a natural experience.
Let's be honest - you're not going to wander into the bush in Australia and run into a tribe of people who just happen to be conducting a corroboree just for you! Tjapukai re-creates - authentically - what might happen if you could.

Myth #3:

Tjapukai is too commercial.

The reality is that as soon as there are more than two people having an experience that occurs at the same time every day and uses paid presenters, it's commercial. Anyway, why shouldn't the Aboriginal people profit by presenting their culture? There are so few things that can provide them with any sustainable income and which allow them to escape from the drip feed of government subsidy. Commerciality is not measured by the size of a building or the regularity of presentations - it is determined by the core of the operation and Tjapukai's core is pure. On the surface, Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park may appear commercial - just another tourist attraction - but scratch that surface and you will discover not only reconciliation in action, but also a people proud of their culture and enthusiastic to share this culture and their achievements with the world. As an insider, you become a part of sharing this process.

Myth #4:

Tjapukai is not authentic.

There is nothing more authentic in Aboriginal tourism today than Tjapukai. Everything that visitors experience has been co-created, co-designed, co-operated and co-ordinated with the approval and input of elders and tribal members of the owners - the Yirrgandyji and Djabugay Tribal Corporations. Did you see those lovely turtle tiles in the bathrooms? They're designed by a Tjapukai artist and produced locally in Kuranda. The same also applies with the beautiful artworks in the Boomerang Restaurant and in the Magic Space (which also features authentic, ancient Tjapukai tribal artefacts that were previously housed in the State museum!). We make our own music and sell it in the Gallery. We write our own scripts from our own tribal legends. We make our own bread here! Seriously, what could be more authentic?

The Facts

The presentations in Tjapukai's theatres are faithful and true to the Tjapukai people's own story. The history of the Tjapukai people is shown in the History Theatre, and this film was factually researched for one year before the scripts were developed. The Creation Theatre shows the true Creation myth as told by the tribal elders. All of the art on site is typical of Tjapukai and Tjapukai alone. It is all painted by Tjapukai people - right down to those bathroom tiles!

• For many people, Tjapukai is their first job.
• Tjapukai is a privately owned business. No government money is used to operate the park.
• The park is an equity partnership between the Yirrgandyji and Djabugay people (who have the majority holding) and various other shareholders.
• The Djabugay and Yirrganydji Tribal Aboriginal Councils own the park's 25 acres.
• The Tribal Councils and Elders of the community have overseen all content of the park to ensure its authenticity, and receive royalties as well as a share of the profits.
• In point of fact, Tjapukai is the only company authorized to portray the local Aboriginal cultural in this area.
• Tjapukai is the largest private employer of indigenous people in Australia. 85 % of the 100 staff at Tjapukai are Aboriginal.
• Tjapukai began as a partnership between black and white Australians. Don and Judy Freeman, David and Cindy Hudson and 6 young Tjapukai men started it in 1987. It was organic and grew from the seed of theatre and music. They had lots of passion and little money. From a simple basement theatre show, Tjapukai grew into what it is today.
• The children and grandchildren of some of the original performers are now employed at Tjapukai. The dream of jobs for the next generation has become a reality.
• The Tjapukai language - along with many other Aboriginal dialects throughout Australia - was almost lost. Only a few elders could speak the language until this generation. Coinciding with the development of the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park was the documentation of the Tjapukai language that is now spoken in the Creation Theatre and, increasingly, among the performers.

Awards

We are very proud Tjapukai is the most awarded attraction in Australia, with more than 25 major awards including:

• 7 National Tourism Awards, 10 State Tourism Awards
• The ATEC Award as Australia's Top Attraction
• The PATA Gold Award as the Best Presentation of Culture in the Asia- Pacific region
• Voted Most Popular Venue by the Institute of Australian Tour Guides.
• 2005: Winner of Queensland Tourism Award for Best Significant Tourist Attraction, The Queensland Premier's Award for Reconciliation and The Gnunkai Award for Outstanding Contribution to Aboriginal Tourism.

World Tour Performances

The Tjapukai dancers have performed hundreds of times in over 30 counties all over the world. Tjapukai has performed twice for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and a number of times at Australia's premier tourism showcase, the Australian Tourism Exchange.

• 1989: First International Tour, France & New Zealand
• 1990: World tour with Australian Tourist Commission, Qantas and Ansett. 58 shows in 60 days on four continents.
• 1990: World Expo in Japan
• 1990: Tour of United States
• 1992: Tour of Korea, Japan, Singapore
• 1993: Performs at Kennedy Centre, Washington DC and Expo '93 in Korea. Tours Austria, Canada and US.
• 1994: Commonwealth Games, Canada, with TV audience of 100 million and performs for the Queen.
• 1995: Tours Japan
• 1996: Performs at Eco-Challenge '96 in Canada, tours Canada and US
• 1996: Enters Guinness Book of Records as Australia's longest running show
• 1997: Tours New Zealand
• 1998: Tours Singapore and Guam
• 1999: Tours Japan and USA
• 2000: Tours Japan
• 2002: Performs at Tjapukai for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
• 2003: Tours Taiwan
• 2004: Tour of Singapore. Winner of the ATEC Award for Australia's Top Attraction.
• 2006: Performance at the opening ceremony and other shows during “G’day LA” - (Australia Week USA). Also toured Europe, Japan and Singapore.

Art And Design

• Gecko Courtyard Tiles: These tiles were all hand made in Kuranda. About 40 tiles were produced each day for 3 months to cover the courtyard and snack bar areas
• Furniture: The vibrant tabletops in the Boomerang Restaurant were screen-printed from eight original artworks specially commissioned by local Tjapukai artists.
• Murals: The huge entrance wall in the reception area of the park has a large wall painting based on cave paintings located in the Tjapukai tribal area. The rock art is the work of Lynette Snider, Sheila Brim, William Biri Jah Duffin and depicts kangaroos, yams and other symbols found in the original cave paintings.
• Aboriginal Art: Our retail gallery is dedicated to showcasing only Australian Aboriginal works. You can be sure that your group's purchases directly benefit the wider Aboriginal Community. You could tell them this if you think it would interest them!

Plants And Trees