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No trip to Australia is complete without an understanding of the Aboriginal Culture

Aboriginal (or Aborigine) means Indigenous to Australia. They were the sole inhabiters of Australia before it was occupied by the British and other Europeans

There were over 300,000 Aboriginals in Australia before the settlers arrived. With them, they brought Old World Diseases which simply wiped out thousands of Aboriginals. As well as this, they were not given any rights to the land which pushed them out.

Nowadays, Aborigines account for just 3% of the Australian population and many suffer from alcohol and poor health problems. But there are pockets within Australia where you can still see their old values and traditions which are very interesting indeed. There are certain places, such as Ayers Rock, that are very sacred to the Aboriginal community. These are key places to learn more about Aboriginal culture and beliefs.[I:http://phila-airport-parking.com/blog/wp-content/uploads//2009/10/JenniferSchellington0.jpg]

Music and art are two key elements of the Aboriginal culture. The didgeridoo is one of the most well known instruments but is in fact only really used by those from the East of Australia. The clapping sticks are in fact more well known.

Rock Art is the oldest of the Aboriginal Arts and can be found in places such as Ayers Rock and Kakadu National Parks as these are sacred Aboriginal lands. It is the dot paintings that are particularly popular with tourists and these are generally easy to find throughout Australia.

Where To Experience Aboriginal Australia

There are lots of places you can go to learn about the Aboriginal Culture. There is not room in this article to explore them all. Arnhem Land which is near Darwin in the top end of Australia is in my opinion the best place to go. Numbers are restricted to this sacred area so you can guarantee a less touristy approach. You really do get to appreciate the real culture and see real Aboriginals dot painting and making crafts. You can easily incorporate a day trip here as part of your trip to Darwin or Kakadu National Park and I highly recommend it. Remember that this area has defined seasons so only come here between May and October.[I:http://phila-airport-parking.com/blog/wp-content/uploads//2009/10/JenniferSchellington1.jpg]

If Darwin is not on your to do list then consider an Aboriginal experience in one of the more visited areas such as Sydney. Two of the best experiences are The Blue Mountains Walkabout Tour or The Rocks Half Day Dreaming Tour. The second is taken by an Aboriginal Elder called Margaret Campbell and the tour is authentic and very interesting.

As the Aboriginals would say, lets go Walkabout. Discover Aboriginal Australia and see Australia in a whole new light.

The Blue Mountains is a famous Australian mountainous range west of Sydney in Australia.Sydneys metro sprawl pushes up to the base of the famous mountain range at penrith and the hawkesbury areas.

The mountains officially start about 60 kilometres to the west of Sydney.The famous Blue Mountains National park starts near the western side of the Nepean River and all the way in the west to the trout laden Coxs River.

The mostly sandstone plateaus and deep gorges can descend to over 700 metres can also rise at its highest points to over 1,000 metres above sea level.Most of the Blue Mountains is listed in the Greater Blue Mountains Area World Heritage Site which consists of a conservation area a well as seven national parks.

The Blue Mountains area also includes local government areas of the City of Hawkesbury, the City of Blue Mountains, the City of Oberon and with its most westerly city being Lithgow.

Of course the koori tribe were inhabiting the Blue Mountains areas prior to the “discovery” by white settlerrs from the united kingdom.One famous example of ancient aboriginal hand stencil art is Red Hands Cave, near Glenbrook.Nearby are axe sharpening grooves as well.

It is now known that the koori inhabitants used two main paths to move around through the mountain areas.The bilpin ridge was the most often used followed by the Cox`s river.The river paths were easier and lead to the farming area called the kanimbla valley.

Early settlers believed the rugged mountains were not passable due to the rugged terrain as well as the dense foliage they encountered.The governor at the time encouraged the population to think the mountains could not be passed to discourage escape attempts.This mindset worked for several years.

A former convict, John Wilson, is believed by some historians to have been the first man known to history to have crossed the Blue Mountains.He lived with the aboriginals and returned to Sydney in 1797 and claimed to have moved over 100 miles in a circuit round Sydney.

Wilsons descriptions of the areas were later proven to be fairly accurate but he may not have been recognised as the first one due to the authorities of the time seeking to confuse convicts on the possible escape routes they could use.He was killed by aboriginals after abducting one of their women.