Burri Burri Whale Tour
Walk the Bondi coastline with a Traditional Custodian as the humpbacks make their northern migration. Sacred stories, songlines and the whale spirit, shared on Country.
Every winter, humpback whales travel up the east coast of Australia on a journey their ancestors have made for thousands of generations. For the Aboriginal peoples of Sydney, the whales are not just visitors. They are Burri Burri, a powerful ancestral spirit that connects sky, sea and Country.
This is a chance to walk the Bondi coastline with a Traditional Custodian, watch for breaching humpbacks from the cliffs, and hear the cultural stories most visitors to Sydney never get to hear.
What you’ll do over two hours
Welcome & Acknowledgement
Meet at Bondi Pavilion to be welcomed onto Bidjigal Country. Your guide will share who they are, the people they descend from, and the protocols of walking respectfully on Country.
Walking the Coastline
Follow the cliff path along the Bondi headland. Stops along the way reveal native plants, sandstone shelters, and the marks of a culture that has cared for this place for tens of thousands of years.
Burri Burri, the Whale Spirit
At the lookouts, your guide will share the story of Burri Burri and the whale’s place in the cultural lore of the Eora coast. Watch the horizon for spouts, breaches and tail slaps as the migration passes by.
Songlines & Sacred Sites
Learn how songlines connect this coastline to inland Country and to communities right along the eastern seaboard. The whales are part of a much bigger map, and the cliffs are part of that story.
Closing on Country
The walk closes with a quiet moment of reflection and a chance to ask questions. You leave with a deeper sense of place, and a connection to a culture that is living, present and welcoming you in.
Tour details
Knowledge holders walking with you
Eric is a Traditional Custodian with ancestral connections to the Eora, Bidgigal, Dharawal and Gundungarra peoples. He holds a rare NSW National Parks authorisation to interpret sacred Aboriginal rock engravings, and leads cultural tours across Sydney that share story, language and lore directly from Country.
Drew Longbottom is a Dharrawal and Wandi Wandian man, Knowledge Holder and Cultural Educator based in the Shoalhaven. Through guided walks and on-Country storytelling, he shares South Coast cultural history, language and living traditions, helping guests connect more deeply with Country, community and culture.
