One of the big winners from next Monday’s cruise ship visit to the Illawarra will be the Gumaraa Aboriginal Experience.
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The organisation – who run Indigenous walking tours in the southern Illawarra as well as an Indigenous art gallery at Killalea State Park – will give a traditional welcome to the thousands of passengers who disembark from the Explorer of the Seas.
Dancers will perform traditional First Nations dances after a Welcome to Country in the Arts Precinct around 9:30am.
“For us it’s about our culture and giving people an understanding,” co-founder Jodi Edwards said.
Ms Edwards created the group with Richard Campbell last year, with tours around Killalea and Minnamurra from November.
“The main focus for years is going there to surf and people have missed the significance of the Aboriginal culture,” she said.
“A lot of times people do cultural awareness training and sit in rooms and they don't really understand the significance of our culture so this is like a hand-on experience.”
The Explorer of the Seas is the seventh cruise liner to visit the Illawarra since 2016, and is expected to deliver more than $500,000 in regional economic benefits. It will dock at 7am before leaving around 5pm.
The Gumaraa will be accompanied in the Arts Precinct with an artisan makers market, live entertainment from the Con Artists and Blessie Pica, plus volunteer ambassadors who will greet newcomers and share information about Wollongong.
