Just off Brisbane, Yura Tours turns Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) into a living classroom where dunes, tea-tree lakes and headlands become story prompts. Led by founder-guide Elisha Kissick, a proud Quandamooka woman, these small tours prioritise clear logistics, strong narrative, and meaningful time on Country with a local custodian. “Yura” means hello in Jandai—a simple opener that sets the tone for an experience grounded in language, land and continuity.
Tours range from a full-day trip from Brisbane to North Stradbroke Island (Meanjin to Minjerribah Cultural Day Trip) to an exclusive three-hour driving tour (Ultimate Minjerribah Cultural experience) with pick-up/drop-off at your accommodation on Stradbroke island or the ferry, led by a Quandamooka guide.
There is also a 90-minute cultural walking tour (Sand Beneath My Feet tour) including a Welcome to Country, a cultural talk, and a walk exploring Quandamooka Aboriginal uses of plants and trees from the bush to the ocean. The experience continues with an easy beach walk to Adder Rock to hear the South Passage Dreaming story overlooking the Coral Sea, with views across to Mulgumpin (Moreton Island). Depending on what the bush offers that day, there may also be some bush tucker to taste. In winter, a yallingbilla (whale) cultural walk tracks migrating humpbacks from the North Gorge boardwalk—often with turtles and kangaroos in the mix.
What makes Yura stand out is how Elisha Kissick connects landscape with personal history. At Terra Bulla Leumeah conservation reserve—the area of the Myora Mission—she weaves family memory into the wider story of Quandamooka resilience, offering a respectful, first-person account that lifts the visit beyond a checklist of lookouts. It’s the kind of on-Country briefing that helps guests read the island differently for the rest of their stay.
There’s also a pragmatic innovation streak. Since launching, Elisha has grown the offer to four core formats (two walks, two vehicle-based) and shaped the business around consistent wildlife encounters—koalas are regularly sighted on certain routes—without over-promising on nature. Her aim is to train and employ more local young women as guides, building a pipeline of talent that keeps benefits in community. For trade, that translates to dependable delivery, genuine hosts and real capacity on peak days. Recognition has followed: Yura earned bronze in the Queensland Tourism Awards (Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Tourism) and continues to attract national coverage for its storytelling-led model. Recent profiles underline a founder who balances operations with community outcomes—a useful signal for partners seeking experiences that are both bookable and responsible.
· Where it operates & access: Tours run on Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island). Easiest access is via ferry from Cleveland (40min Drive from Brisbane CBD or one hour train ride) to Dunwich; passenger and vehicle ferries operate daily, with option of Stradbroke Flyer Gold Cats or Sealink Water taxi.
· Yura Tours is a 100% First Nations owned and operated business
· Core formats: Small-group walking and driving cultural tours led by Quandamooka guides; private group options are available.
· Signature stops & content: Welcome to Country at Bummiera (Brown Lake); visits to Moongalba/Terra Bulla (the former mission site) and Capemba/Myora Springs; coastal storytelling along Home Beach to Adder Rock, featuring the South Passage creation story.
· Seasonal highlight: Land-based whale cultural walks in winter from the Point Lookout/North Gorge headlands (peak migration June–November).
· Wildlife expectations: Regular chances to spot koalas on certain routes; marine life (turtles, dolphins) is common around the Gorge.
· Typical durations: Walking experiences run about 3–4 hours; a full-day Meanjin-to-Minjerribah cultural day trip is also offered (ex-Brisbane).
· Example inclusions: Welcome to Country, cultural interpretation of bush foods/plant uses, Dreaming stories, and on some departures a beach seafood picnic.
· Group & family notes: Small-group by default; groups of more than six by arrangement. For vehicle-based tours, children under seven require a car seat.
· Fitness & terrain: Easy-grade walks on beach/boardwalk sections with short stops rather than long hikes; driving options reduce walking where needed.
Tropic Tours’ Cassowary Coast Waterfall Culture Tour is a full-day loop south of Cairns that blends clear logistics with strong storytelling. In exclusive partnership with Goondoi Culture Tours, the day opens with a Welcome to Country and the Cassowary Dreaming, then moves into practical learning—basic weaving, language, and how wetlands, trees and birds mesh into a single living system. Hotel pick-up keeps timing predictable; a simple run-sheet means agents can drop it into an itinerary without friction.
The route doubles as a primer on Tropical North Queensland. After a commentary drive past Walsh’s Pyramid and cane country, a short, graded rainforest track leads to Josephine Falls at the foot of Chooreechillum (Bartle Frere). Guides brief the group on fast-changing creek conditions—useful context in waterfall terrain—before the tour swings through Innisfail’s art-deco grid and out to Goondoi’s wetlands. Here, Traditional Custodians of Dyirribarra and Bagirbarra share bush foods and the role of the southern cassowary as a keystone species, stitched together with hands-on activities and a relaxed lunch.
The afternoon is the clincher. At Etty Bay, rainforest meets sand and cassowaries sometimes stride the tideline; guides set respectful distances, frame behaviour and habitat, and turn a chance sighting into an informed encounter. A final swim at Babinda Boulders closes the loop with the story of Oolana and Dyga, layered with local context so the site reads as more than a photogenic stop.
Rainforest to Bush is exactly what its name promises: a guided bridge from the dense rainforests of Yidinji Country to the open savannah of Mbabaram Country, told by the family whose homelands span both. This First Nations–owned outfit operates on the Atherton Tablelands west of Cairns, offering private, paced personalised tours across traditional homelands, providing a unique insights intro the traditional and contemporary lifestyles of the Yidinji and Mbabaram people.
The format is deliberately small and flexible. The half-day “Private Cultural Discovery Tour” runs around five hours and moves through classic Tablelands landscapes - from Cathedral Fig Tree (Danbulla National Park) to Herberton via Lake Barrine, Atherton and Watsonville Culture Park - with a guide who threads language, ecology and living culture into each stop. The emphasis is on practical learning over passive viewing—how plants are used, why certain trees signal water, where volcanic country shapes movement and food. The tour is perfect for couples or small families seeking to discover the Aboriginal cultural significance of the Atherton Tablelands, from the ancient rainforest to the rugged mining frontiers of the western bushlands.
What sets Rainforest to Bush apart is the hands-on component anchored in Herberton. At the tour centre, guests handle artefacts and historic photographs that ground stories in family lineage, then step outside to try a woomera (spear-thrower). Guides also explain how didgeridoos are made from trees naturally hollowed by termites—an elegant lesson in reading Country’s cues.
By bringing together rainforest heritage (Yidinji) and bush heritage (Mbabaram) in one family-run program, the tour maps how neighbouring cultures overlap and diverge across the plateau’s crater lakes, basalt flows and gallery forests. It’s not a staged performance; it’s day-to-day knowledge shared at a human tempo, from people who live on the country they interpret.
