Six Season Walk – Bunuru

Although hot, with the waterways shrinking it is also a time of abundance. Marri trees and Jarrah trees are heavy with white blossoms, fish, crabs and mussels are readily available to the Noongar people staying near the coastal. 

Preston led the group from the low grey coastal vegetation adjacent to the sand dunes of Trigg Beach, into the swales of Trigg Bushland. Standing on the crest of a sand dune, in Trigg Bushland,  we could see across to Wadjemup (Rottnest Island) and down along the coast to Walyalup. We heard about the importance of Maamang (whales) to the Noongar people and why Noongar people conduct ceremony when the whales beach themselves.    

We learned about how the Noongar people paid attention to the plants and animals. We learned about the importance of the “djiriji” or Zamia Plam. Other Noongar names for it include “baian”, “koondagoor”, and “quinning”. The orange/red fruit is very attractive but poisonous, and the pods would be soaked in running water to leach out toxins before the outside flesh was eaten or crushed to make a porridge-like-meal and then formed in to cakes. 

The Quandong tree has played a part in each of the walks. During the Bunuru walk Preston showed us the blossoms and talked about how the Noongar people would take mental note of flowering stands of the plant, knowing they could probably expect to harvest fruit in Kambarang and early Birak.  

Participants enjoyed the Bunuru Six Season Walk hosted by the City of Stirling and Perth NRM and we look forward to posting the event details for a Djeran in mid-May at www.perthnrm.com/events

If you would like to know more about the Six Season Walks please contact Ingrid Sieler, Stakeholder Engagement Manager at [email protected]