Blue Mountains Tour from Sydney with an Aboriginal Experience

Book this fantastic experience!

This was a day to top all days from the moment we arrived we had a truly personalized experience. Can’t recommend this enough. Aboriginal experience amazing

Blue mountains aboriginal experience

Had an amazing experience at the Blue Mountains Aboriginal tour experience! Menashe was very accommodative of our dietary needs, going out of his way to assist with them. He was also a fountain of knowledge with regards to Australian culture and history. Booking with him was a seamless experience as well and we thoroughly enjoyed the trip from start to finish. The aboriginal experience with Yamandirra was spectacular as well as we learnt a lot about the different plants, Aboriginal customs and traditions. Would definitely recommend this trip for those looking for an immersive cultural and natural experience

Perfect

I feel blessed having this time with the Arborigen guide Yamandirra. I learned all about love and wisdom of this beautiful Country. Will be forever connected to the spirit of the water spring of Blue Mountain. With love VAYA

Highly Recommended Tour

I was glad I booked the tour with the Aboriginal Experience instead of one of the usual ones that use the cable car one. While you have to be somewhat fit to participate in this one (lots of stairs up and down) it gives a lot more insight. Our amazing Aboriginal guide gave great information on his culture, the relationship with nature and other things. He showed us some edible plants and educated us on their usage in healing. We saw waterfalls, amazing rock formations and animals you would not see when using the cable car excursion. After the Blue Mountains and lunch, which was included in the price, we went to a nature center where we could see kangaroos, koalas, penguins and other native animals up close and even pet some. Our driver/guide also gave great information and made sure we were all well taken care of.

Beautiful Views, AMAZING INSIGHTS

There are dozens of companies who will drive you to the visitor center and walk the path with you - this experience is not that. Yamandirra took us through not just the landscape, but also the biology, the history, and the rich cultural chronicle of this area. We did more than learn the names of the plants and animals. We got an understanding of the people who lived here for (at least) 50,000 years before everything we consider "history" happened. We got a glimpse into how those people lived with those plants and animals, how they worked the very geology into their lore and then used that lore to guide the daily lives, including the ones still living there today. It's not possible to put into a few sentences of an internet review how deeply thoughtful, educational, and inspiring this experience was. You didn't just leave thinking about the land, and its people. You left thinking about your own ways and your own priorities. Menashe, thank you for your hospitality, warmth, humor, and care for our group. But thank you especially for introducing us to Yamandirra.

One of the best days I've had in Australia

Such a great experience. I learned so much, saw so many beautiful sights and gained a new respect and understanding of the culture and nature. Thank you to both Yamandirrra and Menashe for an unforgettable day.

Brilliant Blue mountains day with amazing Aboriginal experience

Myself and my daughter experienced this amazing day together. First time for both of us seeing the blue mountains. First of all I would like to compliment Maneshe our driver and tour guide for his knowledge and history of Sydney, the aborigine people and the blue mountains, he made the whole experience both informative and fun. The food stops were really good, fresh scones and coffee in a gorgeous homely cafe and proper pies and sides for lunch. Thank you Maneshe. Yamandirrra our Aboriginal guide for the Aboriginal experience was quite simply phenomenal: Interesting, honest, insightful, fun, unique. His knowledge about the land and vegetation was so interesting and he was so generous to share this with us. It certainly made me think about the land and the world around us and how if we worked together and respected this world much more what a better place it would be. Thank you Yamandirrra for opening our eyes about your culture in just a small way today, I'm sure we could have learned so much more from you if we had more time but what we have learned we will never forget. The animal park on the way back was lovely and I had my first experience of seeing koalas, kangaroos, wallaby's and ostriches. Such beautiful creatures all of them. I would recommend this tour to anyone of any age and if you want an authentic Aboriginal experience this is definitely the tour for you.

Beautiful Blue Mountains!

Our guide went above and beyond! I injured my hip and he picked us up - out of the way, He modified our tour so I could participate. Plus he was a great guide. Menashe was knowledgeable and helpful. The Featherdale park was great, too! Thank you!

One of the Best Tours-- Aboriginal Experience

One of the best tours I have been on. Very informative about Aboriginal people and the history of the Blue Mountains. Driver and native guide were both excellent, responsive to all questions. ON morning drive, we stopped at Dolly's Donuts for an excellent snack. Would highly recommend this tour to all people visiting Sydney

Blue mountain excellent adventure

Excellent guides highly recommend the aborigini experience very educational and moving. Well worth the early morning pickup stop at DOLLY'S donuts for snack

Awesome Aboriginal Experience.

We enjoyed learning about the culture and history of the area from Manosh, the van driver and owner of the company. We had a small group of five in a very comfortable van. Being with an indigenous gentleman on a walk through the rain forest was amazing. The culture intriging.

Blue Mountains with fresh eyes

A trip never to be missed, Menache creates a from-the-heart tour experience. He creates a sense of wonder and deep respect and sensitivity for the indigenous people and their culture with his "brother-from-another-mother." It builds curiosity and a yearning to learn more. My husband and I are so happy to make this trip. Yum food plans too!

One of the most informative and important tours we have every been on

My wife and 2 daughters had an amazing experience. Our tour guide was very informative, professional, and just a great guy. We did not want to do the typical "ride the ride's at the park" tour most people do when they go to Blue Mountains. We wanted to learn the history of aboriginals in Australia and boy, did we ever. Our aboriginal guide was amazing! After spending about 15 minutes with him, he felt like family and gave us a history of the aboriginal people that was amazing. He showed us so many things about nature, culture, and the story of Australia. It was truly a once in a lifetime tour and I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants an authentic aboriginal and Australia experience.

The Best Blue Mountain Experience

The Aboriginal experience with Yamandirra was absolutely incredible. He was informative, friendly, and provided us with a lot of stories about the indigenous people of the Blue mountains as well as the rest of Australia. I learned so much about the 7 Sisters and species of plants and animals native to the area. I didn’t want the tour to end! Our driver and tour guide, Menashe, was also top notch. He made us comfortable, answered our questions, and personalized the tour. It was fantastic! I highly recommend this tour of the Blue Mountains

Loved This!

Menashe was wonderful, kind, and informative. He knows his stuff! We missed our pickup and he made sure that we were able to connect up with him so that we could go on the tour. I can’t tell you how much we appreciated him for doing that!!! Yamandeera (not sure I spelled that correctly) was an amazing aboriginal guide. His passion for his people, culture, and way of life is contagious. We learned so much from him (7 sisters not 3)!!

Viator excellence just like always

We had the two nicest, most knowledgeable and accomodating guides. Everything was well planned. We were given plenty of time and it seemed everything was just for us.

Aboriginal experience was very special, and the whole day was wonderful

Thanks to this tour, our experience of the Blue Mountains involved walking into the rainforest, seeing waterfalls up close, and seeing the Three Sisters from many vantage points. Our aboriginal guide showed us that the three sisters are actually Seven Sisters. He gave us a deep insight into aboriginal rules of life and how these rules are taught through stories and physical representations like the Seven Sisters. He showed us edible plants which we sampled straight from the bush, such as sweet sasparilla. He pointed out Lyre birds. We enjoyed expansive views as we climbed through the diverse landscapes at different elevations of the mountain trail. The experience was so different, and so much fuller in our opinion, than a Scenic World ride would have been. The rest of the day was also really enjoyable. At Featherdale Wildlife Park, we paid for our photo with a koala. There were many koalas and kangaroos. We only had an hour at Featherdale but it was the perfect amount of time because we were mainly interested in seeing Australian animals. The breakfast and lunch were delicious and we enjoyed talking to the other people on the tour. The van was comfortable and the guide's narration during the drive was very informative. We are so glad we picked this tour as our aboriginal experience in Australia. It seemed warm, natural, and authentic.

Fantastic experience

We had such a great time on this tour. The host is so knowledge about the area and loves sharing what he knows. The aboriginal experience was fantastic as well. The host for that part is so passionate about his culture and sharing it that it is contagious. I highly recommend this tour to anybody who asks.

Our guide was amazing!!!...

Our guide was amazing!!! Amy made every moment a Fantastic Adventure!!! She was very personable and was absolutely amazing in every way!!

Absolute best part of our trip to Australia!

We were in Sydney for a week and decided to escape the city for a day. We chose this tour specifically because of the aboriginal experience aspect and we were absolutely THRILLED with it. Menashe is a great tour operator and keeps everything running on time while truly wanting to ensure each person is having a great time. But it's the time in the Blue Mountains with Yamandirra that really stand out as the highlight of our entire trip to the region. Yamandirra is so knowledgeable about all the plants, animals and traditions and really makes you think about the differences between the aboriginal view of life vs. society's obsession with consumption of material and natural resources. He even had our normally not engaged teenager painting her face and LOVING the information he was giving. TRULY a great trip and WELL WORTH the money.

Fantastic Day.

The trip was fantastic from start to finish. The owner/driver picked us up and headed out of town shortly after picking up the last group. He provided us with a great narration as we drove. If we were stopping for food, he would take our orders ahead of time so when we made the stop, food was ready. We stopped for hot, freshly made doughnuts with something to drink, about an hour into the trip. The next stop was with a wonderful gentleman who shared his culture with us. He began with a welcoming ceremony and then we were off on a walk to learn more about aboriginal ways, foods, and so much more. The tour guide even moved lunch a half hour later so we wouldn’t be rushed. A nice stop for lunch and then we were off to a wildlife park filled with Australian animals. For me, the stop there was not long enough. And then, we were headed home after a quick snack of popcicles. On the way back, he passed out, little koala bears. Although, the trip was a bit more expensive than the others, it was the only one with a cultural component and well worth it. I highly recommend the trip to anyone because it was awesome.

Great day in Sydney

Great guide, enjoyed the tour and great explanation of what we saw and where we went by our guide. Worth every penny.

Wonderful tour !!!

We would like to sincerely thank Menashe for an amazing tour to the Blue Mountains, and indigenous walk with Yumandirra, so full of cultural knowledge and delivered with such enthusiasm, we had a wonderful day and highly recommend this tour for all to experience. Once aging many thanks Menashe, who was so professional and personable and not to mention knowledge warm regards Leanne & Mario

Highly recommended!

Great day trip from Sydney. Clear communication from the owner. The trip to the mountains with our aboriginal guide was priceless. His wisdom and charisma were amazing!

One of a kind experience!

This was one of a kind experience that I was looking for, during my short stay in Sydney. Menashe and Yamandirra were both very knowledgeable and great in creating a content rich and memorable experience. I highly recommend this tour to anybody who is looking for beautiful Blue Mountain scenery and learning about the Australia's Aboriginal Culture.

Incredible day seeing the blue mountains!

This entire experience was incredible. Fun, full of information shared in a thoroughly enjoyable way, very authentic and clearly developed to provide a genuine look at aboriginal life. Menashe and Yamandirra really made for a fantastic adventure. This is the experience you’re looking for!

Phenomenal

Yamindirra was a great tour guide and the experience of the Aboriginal culture was just what we were looking for. Everyone should experience this tour that is rich in culture. Thank you!!!!

An experience not to be missed!

We did the Blue Mountains Tour with Aboriginal Experience. This was a wonderful tour with Menashe and Yamandirra. Menashe was very thorough in providing information along our way, answering questions and accommodating to any requests we had. It was pleasant to learn from Yamandirra about his culture and the beauty of the Blue Mountains. It was such a refreshing experience. My son kept speaking about all the great facts he learned on future tours that we went on, sharing the knowledge he gained from Yamandirra and Menashe. We went on this tour at the beginning of our vacation and it really started us off right to experience Australia. Would definitely recommend to anyone who is looking for a Blue Mountain tour and aboriginal experience! Thank you!

Blue mountains, Aborigine experience

This was one of the most interesting and informative tours I’ve ever taken! I learned so much about the history of Australia, the people, economics, indigenous people, wildlife, weather, commerce - Manush/ tour guide was an encyclopedia of knowledge. Our indigenous guide Yammadirra was absolutely fascinating. His knowledge of the indigenous Aborigine people, their ways and customs, their reverence for the land, language etc was amazing. I could have listened for much longer - his guidance while hiking through the Blue Mountain rain rainforest was incredible. It was a good pace for pretty much anyone who walks regularly. We had lunch at the Yellow Deli - a unique and extremely tasty restaurant. The grand finale was Featherdale animal reserve where we petted kangaroos, wallabies, koalas. One of my favourite tours! Highly highly recommend!

What an amazing day to laugh and learn.

We absolutely loved this tour. Manesh was a perfect tour host, driver, and expert on the area. The time to stop for a coffee and excellent donuts at Dolly Donuts and the lunch he pre-arranged was a wonderful extra experience and a chance to get to know the other parties in our group. We learned and laughed so much with Manesh as our guide. We also had an unbelievable Aboriginal guide through the Blue Mountains walk with Yamendira (forgive my spelling). He was amazingly informative of his culture and the simple things the leaves around us to eat and make medicines. I want to learn so much more because of him. I cannot recommend this tour highly enough!

Well worth the time and money, gorgeous views and a ton of interesting information

Loved the Aboriginal hike and the lecture and demonstration of Aboriginal culture and philosophy. Menashe of Zanza tours was great, easy to understand and full of information

Excellent Tour by Zanza Tours with the Aboriginal Experience

This was an excellent tour that was worth every dollar we paid. Our guides were very knowledgable and we had a great time. The hot drinks, doughnuts, and the food we had for lunch was all fantastic. Thank you Menashe and Yamandirra! Here's how our day went: Menashe (pronounced Men-osh) picked us up early in the morning just a block from our hotel. We went over the Anzac memorial bridge and had a great view of Sydney in the morning. We stopped by the Olympic center before leaving Sydney and then took the highway to the Blue Mountains. On the way, Menashe gave us a lot of information about the Blue Mountains, wildlife, the Aboriginal people, and really any other question we had, including questions about Sydney and Australia in general. We stopped at a place called Dolly's Doughnuts where we had hot drinks and doughnuts before eventually being dropped off with Yamandirra (pronounced Yam-an-dear-a), an Aboriginal man and our tour guide through the Blue Mountains for the hike. We sat for about an hour learning about Aboriginal culture, including looking at artifacts, and participated in a traditional energy cleansing ceremony before hiking. Yamandirra is incredibly knowledgeable about not only Aboriginal culture, but about the wildlife and the flora/fauna we passed along the way. You will learn so much from him. On the hike we stopped in several places to look at the Katoomba Falls and the Three Sisters (which there is much more to the story and the meaning in Aboriginal culture). We eventually met up with the rest of the group after a two hour informative walk (those who did not sign up for the Aboriginal experience went on the cable car and other scenic places). We then went to the main overlook and then to lunch at a restaurant in Katoomba (if you're American, Katoomba looks a bit like a Rocky Mountain town) called The Yellow Deli, where the food is fantastic (Menashe took our orders ahead of time before both stops so that we did very little waiting). We then took an hour drive to the Featherdale Wildlife Park, where we saw all the well-known animals of Australia. We even got to pet a Koala (can't pick them up in New South Wales) and the Kangaroos! We then took another 45 minute drive back to Sydney where Menashe again was very knowledgeable about about anything you can think of Australia. That was the end of the tour! We had a great day and believe you will as well!

BLUE MOUNTAIN and Aboriginal extension with Zanza lead by Menashe

Excellent use of time, organized , unique experience . Included a fantastic robust hike with an aboriginal who shared a huge array of information on aboriginal philosophy and bush medicine…… not to be missed. A visit to Featherdale and it’s critters topped off a long day well spent. The guides English was clear and well projected.

Highly Recommend

TAKE THIS TRIP!! Maneshe was the best tour guide! This was a wonderful trip to go see and experience the blue mountains. If you’re looking for a smaller group tour I would highly recommend this one. Maneshe will take care of you the whole time he was so nice and caring and looked out for everyone, he took us to some cool spots that weren’t on the itinerary, and he took us to a breakfast and lunch spot that was amazing and yummy! We also got to have a little aboriginal experience at the beginning which was really humbling. Yamandirra really opened my eyes about the aboriginal peoples and I would highly recommend looking at doing the full aboriginal experience with Yamandirra while you’re here too.

Excellent Tour

Excellent small group tour. Driver/Guide very informative & Aboriginal walk in the Blue Mountains was amazing. This tour is highly recommended for anyone who has only one day to visit the Blue Mountains.

Great

Excellent service really looked after us all day would recommend this 100% lunch was great and coffee and scones on the way great touch

Beautiful

Such a beautiful trip! Menashe really knows the Blue Mountains and have such special and deep connection with the place. One day trip was amazing but just gave the taste to do it again!

Amazing

It was just so cool and interesting. The guide could tell us so much about anything and he took us to places where almost nobody else was. Definitely recommend it!!

A great Aussie Blue Mtn Day

This was a first class day. I would have thought it was a great value at twice the cost. Blue Mountain & Animal Park & River/Harbor boat ride back to Sydney.

Life Changing? Maybe

What to expect - They picked me up from my hotel at 6:30am, which was pretty early, so I'm very glad we stopped at a coffee shop after an hour. Maybe I should have taken a takeaway cup. We tried to see Olympic park, but it was mostly closed for a special event; I didn't care. Once we got up to the park for our destination, our group split into those who went up a gondola and those who went with the aboriginal guide. Yamandirra was my aboriginal guide, and he's one of the most amazing people I've ever met. It was a cloudy/foggy day up in the mountains. We stopped to look at a waterfall and the rock formations known as the Three Sisters, which he showed us as seven sisters. He told their story, and how other stories branch off from that story, and the fundamental values they teach. He stopped to scratch some stones to reveal the pigments they use to paint their skin, and gives each of us a stripe on the cheek. We hiked then, and he showed us various important plants, and we smelled and tasted several of them. There was a stop at a particularly reverent place that affected me strongly. We climbed back up the path and had a view back. It was stunning. The trail is very steep, with a few steps being high steps, but it's not especially challenging or long. We then got back in the van and drove into town for a short stop at what was clearly a tourist photo op (just so we didn't miss the critical stop), and then into town for a surprisingly good lunch at a funky, charming restaurant. We then drove back and got dropped off at the ferry terminal near the Olympic stadium, and they made sure we had ferry tickets back to the right places. The ferry was a nice ride I hadn't already done, and it was good enough that I used it for another excursion the next day. Anyone with the slightest woo should absolutely do this tour, with an Aboriginal guide.

Save money and plan the tour yourself.

I would like to start of saying Tony our company/primary tour guide and Yamandirra (Aboriginal tour guide) were very knowledgeable, funny and professional. My review will focus on the content/layout of the tour itself and in no way reflects anything on Tony or Yamandirra. Tour Title: Full-day tour to Blue Mountains with river cruise, from Sydney with Aboriginal experience Pick up was at the pre-determined time of 6:30AM.; after another pick up we began our tour at 7:00AM. The tour was mostly driving in city and surrounding small town areas. There was very little to no countryside views during the drive. This review is referring to the main guide (Tony), who is driving the van and providing local information about the towns and area, and the Aboriginal guide, who we spent 2 hours with. Yamandirra (Aboriginal guide was very knowledgeable, professional and funny. Do not expect a painted face and skin clothing, he looks like a typical Australian. The Aboriginal part of the tour: The tour guide (Tony) picked up the Aboriginal guide (Yamandirra) after making our way into the Blue Mountains where we stopped in a local park and he welcomed us to the land. There was supposed to be a “smoking ceremony”, but due to fire bans he was unable to do the smoking ceremony. The smoking ceremony is where they burn some plants to cleanse your “spirit”. So don’t worry you will not smoking anything (pipe, cigar, etc.). Due to the burn ban, our Aboriginal guide picked some native plants and patted the plants over our body while ‘chanting’ in his language. After this we went to the Blue Mountains scenic look our area which is a public park area with all kinds of facilities including a souvenir shop. Our group split at this point. Our group took the Aboriginal experience tour and the other took the gondola ride and a small trail walk. On this specific tour you will do either the Aboriginal experience or the gondola ride and walk, not both. Our guide took us on the Blue Mountains nature trail, which is accessible to everyone, and shared stories about his heritage. This is a hike and you walk (many stairs) to the bottom of the hill area and then walk back up (many stairs). He talked to us about the native plants and shared about how the Aboriginal people used the plants for various healing and other various uses. He picked certain vegetation for us to taste. He was very knowledgeable. I wish we could have spent more time with him learning about the Aboriginal culture, their customs, family/group dynamics, history, art etc. Time spent with Yamndirra was more pleasurable than the rest of the tour (nothing against Tony, just the tour content). After finishing the hike, we met up with the other group and continued our with our tour Tony - Blue Mountains – This is a public park and I did not see any place to pay to enter. We stopped at two places to view opposing sides of the three sisters’ rock formation. It was nice to see but did not feel that it was as beautiful as everyone says it is. - Katoomba Falls– This is a public park and I did not see a place to pay to get into the park. We stopped here for about 15 minutes. It was pretty, but not really a vast amount of water fall pouring over. More like a small stream trickling over a cliff. - Norman Lindsay Gallery & Museum –I do not remember stopping at any gallery or museum - Featherdale Wildlife Park and “Visit Featherdale home to over 1,700 native animals”– This did require an admission fee, which was paid for by our guide. This park is like a small zoo which has many different native Australian animals. However, you are only given 1 hour here and you do not have time to listen to any animal talks, pet the animals, or do any activities. - Sydney Olympic Park - This is not a park (as in a place with grass/trees, picnic table, etc.). This is the area of town in which the Olympics were held in 2000. I would call it a town. There is nothing to do here on the tour; it’s just were you catch the ferry back to downtown Sydney. -Regarding pick and drop off: The description says two things about drop off. It says “Hotel pickup and drop-off” and “Sydney Olympic Park a ferry journey into Sydney Harbor. You do not have an option, which was not a problem for us. The return trip is by Sydney Harbor Ferry to either Circular Quay or Darling Harbor. You can take a cab, bus, uber or walk back to your hotel from the harbor. We were picked up from our hotel in a timely manner. -Morning Tea/ coffee, homemade scones”: we were driven to a little restaurant in a town and were given a scone (it is much like an American biscuit), jam and cream. It was tasty; just know it is not a full breakfast. -Lunch: Seven options “Fresh hot”, “2 course”: Lunch was at small restaurant in a cute, secluded area on the grounds of Norman Lindsay estate. Options are provided, you must pre-order. My wife had the Sourdough Chicken Sandwich and I had fish and chips. My wife said her sandwich was delicious and my fish and chips were good. A drink and dessert was included. We were told the dessert changes all the time. We had half of a large cream filled donut. In my opinion, Tony and Yamandirra were e great. Recommendation: If you want to save some money, look up and plan the trip on your own. You can take a bus or rental car and drive to the Blue Mountains Park and do the activities of your choice, ride the gondola, hike, or other things that may be available, all in your own time line. Another option is to take the ferry to Sydney Olympic Park either from Circular Quay or Darling Harbor ($9.40 Australian dollars) each way. I think you could also take a bus to the Featherdale Wildlife Park and have time to do the activities.

Could Skip This Tour

First, let me say that the company tour guide and the Aboriginal tour guide were both very nice. My (seemingly negative) review has nothing to do with them. Here is my take on the tour, organized by the description titles of the tour: 1. “Full-day tour to Blue Mountains with river cruise, from Sydney”: We were picked up at our hotel at 6:30am and departed for the tour, after other pick-ups, at about 7am. This tour is mostly driving in city and small-town areas. There was very little to no countryside views during the drive. I would say that other than walking the Blue Mountains trail, this tour mostly covered city/town area. • “2 guides, incl local Aboriginal guide” and “Aboriginal smoking ceremony” – This description is referring to the main guide, who is driving the van, and the Aboriginal guide, who we spent 2 hours with. Please note that the Aboriginal Tour does not have anything to do with a museum, art, artifacts, cultural ceremonies, history, food, etc. The tour takes place outside on walking path, not in any cultural buildings. The Aboriginal guide was very nice and funny and speaks English; he looks like a typical Australian, so do not expect a painted face and animal skin clothing. I want to share what to expect in terms of the Aboriginal part of the tour. The tour guide picked up the Aboriginal guide after making our way toward the Blue Mountains. We stopped at a local park and the Aboriginal guide welcomed us to the land. This was supposed to be done via a “smoking ceremony”, but due to fire bans he was not able to do the smoking ceremony. We learned that the smoking ceremony is where they burn some native plants to cleanse our “spirit”. It has nothing to do with smoking anything (pipe, cigar, etc.). Because of the burn ban, our Aboriginal guide picked some native plants and patted the plants over our body (from head to toe) while ‘chanting’ something in his language, not sure what he was saying, but most likely he was welcoming us. After this we went to the Blue Mountains scenic look out area, which is a public park with all kinds of facilities including a souvenir shop. This is where we had the Aboriginal part of the tour. Our guide took us on the Blue Mountains nature trail, which is accessible to everyone, and shared some stories about his heritage. Please note that this is a hike and you walk to the bottom of the hill area and then walk back up. He talked to us about the native plants and shared about how the Aboriginal people used the plants for various health benefits. He picked stuff for us to taste or smell and shared the health benefits of these plants. He was very knowledgeable. After finishing the hike, we continued with the remained of the tour with the main tour guide. We were not able to visit any of the Blue Mountain facilities (Gondola ride, souvenir shop, etc.) we had to continue in the van to our next destination. • “Entry/Admission - Blue Mountains” – This is a public park and I did not see a place to pay to get into the park. We stopped at two places to view basically the same thing, the Three Sisters. The Three Sisters are three tall standing rock formations. Sadly, I did not feel that it was as beautiful as everyone says it is. Also note that this public area has some things to do that you cannot do while on this tour, such as riding the gondola that goes from one side to another side of the hills. The gondola actually rode over us on our Aboriginal walking tour. • “Entry/Admission - Katoomba Falls” – This is a public park and I did not see a place to pay to get into the park. We stopped here for about 15 minutes. It was pretty, but not really a water fall. More like a small stream trickling over a cliff. • “Entry/Admission - Norman Lindsay Gallery & Museum” – If we stopped here, I do not remember. I do not remember stopping at any gallery or museum. • “Entry/Admission - Featherdale Wildlife Park” and “Visit Featherdale home to over 1,700 native animals”– This did require an admission fee, which was paid for by our guide. This park is like a small zoo which has many different native Australian animals. However, you are only given 1 hour here and you do not have time to listen to any animal talks, pet the animals, or do any activities. • Entry/Admission - Sydney Olympic Park - This is not a park (as in a place with grass/trees, picnic tables, etc.). This is the area of town in which the Olympics were held many years ago. I would call it a town. There is nothing to do here on the tour, it’s just were you catch the ferry back to downtown Sydney. 2. The description says two things about drop off. It says “Hotel pickup and drop-off” and “Sydney Olympic Park a ferry journey into Sydney Harbou” (exact spelling – no ‘r’ in description). You do not have an option, which was not a problem for us. The return trip is by Sydney Harbor Ferry to either Circular Quay or Darling Harbor. We were picked up from our hotel in a timely manner. 3. “Morning Tea/ coffee, Homemade scones”: we were driven to a little restaurant in a town and were given a scone (more like an American biscuit) and some jam and whipped cream. It was tasty, just know it is not a full breakfast. 4. “Lunch, 7 choices Fresh hot 2 course”: Lunch was at small restaurant in a cute, secluded area. I think it was the part that had to do with Norman Lindsay. You do have some options, that you must pre-order. I had the Sourdough Chicken Sandwich and my husband had fish and chips. The sandwich was delicious but my husband said the fish and chips were good but not the best he has had. You get also get a drink and dessert. We were told the dessert changes all the time. Our dessert was half of a fairly large cream filled donut. MY OPINION: I was shocked to see so many glowing reviews about this tour. While the tour guides were great, the tour just lacked in scenery and intrigue. My recommendation would be to take a bus or drive to the Blue Mountains park and do the activities of your choice, ride the gondola, hike, or other things that may be available (we don’t know all of what was available as we didn’t get to look around), all in your own time line. You can also take the ferry to and from Sydney Olympic Park either from Circular Quay or Darling Harbor for about $9.40 (Australian dollars) each way. I think you could also take a bus to the Featherdale Wildlife Park and have time to do the activities. I do recommend taking another tour, “Walking with Wombats”, as it takes you out of town to see several country views and to see Kangaroos and Wombats in their natural setting (in Kangaroo Valley). The Walking with Wombats tour also includes a stop for a beautiful view of the Blue Mountains in Leura, south of Katoomba.

Highlight of our Australia stay

After 5 weeks of scuba diving around the South Pacific, we stopped in Sydney for four nights and picked this trip for our first day because it looked interesting. I was a little hesitant because it was the end of the trip and the description said that you needed to have moderately good physical fitness. We felt we would be ok, but being in our 70's, we were a little concerned. The trip began at 7 am and our primary tour guide (and owner of Dingo travel), Menashe, was incredibly informed about the area and dedicated to helping people understand and appreciate the aboriginal culture. When we got to the Blue Mountains we were introduced to Yamandirra, our aboriginal guide, and my husband and I found we were the only ones who had opted for the aboriginal tour, rather than the other blue mountain options. We immediately began a most informative and inspirational trek. Yes, it was strenuous, but Yamandirra made it so interesting that we wished the trek could have lasted longer. There is no way I can rate this highly enough! The rest of the tour was very good, and the food at all of the stops was delicious, but the Blue Mountains trek was one of the best travel experiences (outside of scuba diving) we have ever had!

Blue Mountain with Aboriginal Tour Experience

This tour was perfect! Highly recommended for those who wants to know more about the aboriginal culture and walk around the track with Yamandirrra! Have a blast time with him!!

beautiful

Beautiful views of blue mountains. Aboriginal guide was very knowledgeable but was with us for too short a time. Expected more of an "Aboriginal Experience"

A Must If Your Doing A Blue Mountain Tour

Don't think I could speak more highly of this tour. 4 of us joined the tour and we haven't stopped talking about it a month on. Really informative and engaging.

A must do

I took this tour with my parents in September. What can I say but what a lovely experience. Our tour guide Menashe picked us up and we were lucky that we were the only ones on the tour that day. Menashe was informative, friendly and fun. He answered all our questions and took us on a scenic route to the mountains. As the weather was rainy and cloudy that morning he went out of his way to show us another view point so we really could see the blue mountains. We then started the Aboriginal guided tour with Yamandirrra. This aspect of the tour was brilliant. Although I have lived in Australia for some time he taught me a lot about Aboriginal culture. His stories were so passionate and informative and really gave me a better perspective on Australian history. We also got a great walk in the blue mountains and seen the famous sites. Although there were so many aspects to the day the guides really made our tour so enjoyable. Would highly recommend.

Blue Mountains with Aboriginal Experience

Yamandirrra, our Aboriginal guide, took us on a mini hike at the mountains. He was very friendly and informative. He showed us the many different birds there as well as the plants and their usages during ancient times. He showed us the Seven Sisters (not just three!), the Young Man and most of all the Old Man. It was an eye-opener to be able to learn first hand information from Yamandirrra. He brought us to splendid, breathtakingly look-out points, usually not covered by other usual tours. A time very well spent!

Highly recommend! Would repeat & Will Refer!

Menashe is organized; he encouraged us in types of questions for Wurrumany before our nature walk, which gave us ample opportunity to come up with questions to ask while we listened. On the nature hike, Menashe and Wurrumany both pointed out features that gave good information to all, and Wurrumany "Blake" warmed up to our tour group and realized we were actually interested in the plants, trees, and birdlife, as well as the stories of the area. He was continually respectful in how he addressed the landscape and history of the people(s). He made it much more interesting to walk through the woods with a guide rather than by oneself. Overall, Menashe gave us plenty of time at each location so that we never felt at all rushed, and attempted to cater to the specific interests of our two family groups. Some were fascinated by the lorikeets and cockatoos flying around, others much more interested in legends and history. The wildlife sanctuary and the river ferry were very nice touches that added a fun relaxed element to the day. With this tour, everyone came away with something to remember for a lifetime.

Amazing Tour!

This was an incredible trip and the proof being that both our teenagers raved about this saying it was the best day of the holidays. Menash is so kind and fills the driving part with interesting facts - the day is calm and you feel far from the madding crowds of the huge tour buses - Yamandirra was incredible the knowledge we learnt in our two hour walk was above and beyond our expectations. I could not recommend this tour more.