Aboriginal tours in Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens

It is possible to do an Aboriginal tour in Melbourne at the Royal Botanic Gardens. The Aboriginal Heritage Walks have Indigenous guides and concentrate on traditional uses of plants.

It is a mistake to think of Aboriginal Australia as being solely about remote Indigenous communities. Sure, there are hugely important rock art galleries in Kakadu National Park, and dot-painting workshops at Uluru, but there are hundreds of different Aboriginal language groups across Australia.

More Aboriginal Australians live in urban areas than the outback. Traditional culture tends to be more closely adhered to outside the cities, but it does exist in the likes of Sydney, Perth and Adelaide.

This also means Indigenous cultural experiences are available in cities too. It is possible, for example, to do an Aboriginal tour in Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens.

14 fantastic experiences that make the most of your free time in Melbourne

Get the very best views – on a hot air balloon flight over the city.
See the changing colours of the river – on a sunset kayaking tour – with dinner. (Highly recommended ✅)
Feast and see the sights at the same time – on a four course dinner cruise along the Yarra River.
A genuinely excellent street art tour, led by prominent street artists. (Highly recommended ✅)
The also superb Aboriginal heritage, plants and bush food tour in the Botanic Gardens. (💲 Great value 💲)
Best of Melbourne bike tour – you can see more on two wheels than walking.
Hidden laneways bar crawl OR foodie discovery tour OR chocolate and dessert tour.
Combo ticket for Australian Sports Museum and MCG tour.
Hassle-dodging advance tickets for the Melbourne Skydeck, Melbourne Zoo, the Ice Bar (with cocktails) and Sea Life Aquarium.

Botanic Gardens Aboriginal tour in Melbourne

The Aboriginal Heritage Walk is led by an Indigenous guide, who starts with an Acknowledgement of Country. He then explains various aspects of Australian history and local Aboriginal culture. Given that this is taking place in a botanic gardens, however, there’s a fairly logical focus on native Australian plants. More specifically, the guide concentrates on the traditional uses for those plants.

This may involve crushing up lemon myrtle leaves and drinking them as part of an iced tea. It may involve using eucalypt leaves in a smoking ceremony – some Aboriginal groups believe that getting the smoke on their bodies will see them looked after by the spirits of the land.

Smoking ceremony on Aboriginal tour in Melbourne's Botanic Gardens — Smoking ceremonies form a part of the Aboriginal tour in Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens. Photo by David Whitley/ Australia Travel Questions

Aboriginal uses for plants in Melbourne Botanic Gardens

The tour is absorbingly educational. The spiny-headed mat rush, for example, was something of a miracle plant. It’s incredibly strong if you pull it, so it would often be used as a bandage. But it was also used for weaving mats and baskets as well as making eel traps. And on hot days, it could be used to stop mouths drying out – chew it and it gets you salivating again.

Then there’s the foam bark tree, which would be used for fishing – but perhaps not in the way you’d expect. The bark would be placed in the water, and it would react by frothing up and deoxygenating the stream or lake. Fish would come up to the surface for oxygen, making them an easier catch.

👇 7 great day trips while you’re in Melbourne 👇

Great Ocean Road tour – with koalas 🐨.
Brighton Beach, Moonlit Sanctuary and Phillip Island tour – with penguins 🐧.
Yarra Valley wine tour – with gin, cider and cheese 🍷.
Grampians National Park tour – with bushwalks and LOADS of kangaroos 🦘.
Mornington Peninsula tour – with hot springs bathing 🛀.
Wilsons Promontory tour – with all manner of native wildlife 🦘🐨.
Dandenong Ranges steam train ride – plus wildlife at Healesville Sanctuary and chocolate-tasting in the Yarra Valley.

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Melbourne Aboriginal tour: Dreamtime stories

The walk goes on to take in Dreamtime stories and the uses of boomerangs. Not all of them come back – just the ones designed to get birds flying, thus making them an easier target for non-returning, heavier boomerangs.

The tours start at the Melbourne Gardens Visitor Centre, require advance booking and last around 90 minutes. Adult tickets for this Aboriginal tour in Melbourne cost $40. It is one of the best outdoor activities in Melbourne, and one of Melbourne’s best walking tours.

Other Melbourne tours include the Spirit of Melbourne dinner cruise and kayaking trips along the Yarra River.