Going Walkabout: Roger with Lotus Leaf sunhat, Mary River, Top End NT Janine Duffy
Estimated reading time: 11 minutes
What does ‘Going Walkabout’ really mean? I’ll find out on 6th Feb when I hang up my guiding hat and leave the travel industry after 34 years. Before I leave let me share the story of how Echidna Walkabout got its name.
To discover who will take over my job (yes Echidna Walkabout will continue), jump to the end of this story. You’ll also discover what’s in store for me….spoiler alert….it’s with Australian Geographic!
Echidnas Going Walkabout: how it all began
In the early days various ‘business advisors’ suggested that the name ‘Echidna Walkabout’ was confusing and we should consider changing it to something that had ‘Australia’ or ‘wildlife’ in it but we stuck to our guns. We believed that the unusual name would stand out from other names — and it did.
In the Spring of 1992 Janine Duffy and I investigated options for a nature tour business. We wanted to make it different from other tours plus it had to take people to see WILDLIFE IN THE WILD. That was our signature phrase.
Our research focussed on the You Yangs Range and the Brisbane Ranges, both about an hour west of Melbourne. As we honed down our touring ideas we also searched for a business name that reflected our philosophy. Echidnas gave us the answer.
Everywhere we went we saw Echidnas until one day we came across an old vehicle trail called Echidna Track. In full exploration mode we walked along it and suddenly popped out of the bush to a magical sweeping view of the Western Plains from the top of the Brisbane Ranges escarpment.
Everything was pointing at a name with Echidna in it — but we had an important ‘initiation’ to go through before we could nail the name down
Going Walkabout with a man named AB
Out of respect to First Nations people we took our tour ideas to a special meeting of The Elders of the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-Op in Geelong.
They grilled us from all angles, eventually deciding to ask their Cultural Officer to join us on a few dummy tours to check out our activities on Wathaurong land. That man — who I will call AB because he has since passed away — was a tall, dignified fellow with a set of eyebrows that could knock you over if he frowned.
AB had a big task, he had to satisfy The Elders we would treat their Country with respect. After many pinched eyebrows, serious conversations and storytelling AB announced solemnly that: “You two have got black hearts” which was a shock until the full meaning of that compliment struck us (think about it!)
A huge grin came over his face and from that point on he became a dear friend, as did many people, including Elders, in the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-Op.
AB – a man worth remembering
AB and I became very close, covering lots of Country whilst sharing cultures and ideas. His ability to help others appreciate and understand his Culture was remarkable. He often joined our tours providing Cultural Interpretation. On a few occasions I watched, astounded, as he turned overt racists into friends using gentle, patient discussion.
His background heritage came from the ‘blackbirding’ era when Pacific Islanders were lured from their islands and used to provide cheap (slave?) labour in the sugar cane plantations of Queensland. AB’s mother was Islander and his father was Aboriginal, a mixing of Cultures that became common in Queensland and north-eastern NSW. I was fortunate to meet members of AB’s family on his father’s Bundjalung Country at Fingal Head near the mouth of the Jabuhbari/Tweed River.
On that trip we also took a pilgrimage to the tiny Queensland town of Harlin where AB hoped to see his childhood home, a railway house that was provided as part of his father’s job working on the railways. I’ll never forget the look on his face when he saw that not only had his family home gone, so had the railway line. We sat beside the nearby Brisbane River while he told me stories from his childhood that do not bear repeating for their sadness and abusiveness.
But somehow AB always managed to rise above his rotten past and raise others above their worries with a smile and a friendly word.
AB made many people’s lives better simply be being alive. His untimely death rocked the Geelong and Fingal Heads communities. I lost a dear friend and confidant when he passed.
Going Walkabout is a Sacred Duty to Country
So the name was decided: Echidna Walkabout.
Echidnas are unique creatures found right across Australia and able to cope with pretty much anything, which we thought was a good principal to start with. As it turned out we ended up running tours all over Australia!
Walkabout has deep connotations. Often incorrectly interpreted by white people as shirking work, ‘going walkabout’ has enormous significance to First Nation’s people: the phrase is an English simplification of a sacred duty to Country few non-Indigenous people fully comprehend.
Returning to one’s homeland — regularly — to care for Country, and for spiritual sustenance, is a fundamental responsibility of First Nation’s existence. When Country calls, you must go, to ignore the call is sacrilege.
To Indigenous Australians ‘going walkabout’ provides strength. That’s why we used it in the name….and the reason The Elders approved it.
Yes, people spell or pronounce Echidna Walkabout incorrectly but they never forget it! Eventually the name Echidna Walkabout became known in travel circles all over the world.
We are proud of its Indigenous roots.
Janine Goes Walkabout with Koala Clancy
Since then lots has happened, much of it described in Echidna Walkabout’s travel blogs. Janine Duffy wrote most of them.
She was also the creator of the Make a Home for Clancy project — aimed at protecting koalas in the You Yangs — which eventually morphed into the successful not-for-profit Koala Clancy Foundation. You can help protect koalas by either joining or donating to KCF (or both).
Janine’s remarkable transition from saving the Echidna to saving Koalas
Without Janine, Echidna Walkabout may not have continued past 2003 after a major supplier crashed leaving the Echidna in serious trouble. She travelled the world gaining back support, doing a job she’d never done, and brought the Echidna back to life! Many in the industry fell in love with her style…including Tourism Australia.
She was a natural entrepreneur and became our Marketing Director but never forgot her roots with wildlife, especially koalas.
Under her other hat Janine was our Research Director, building an Australia-first concept of conservation in travel embodied in the phrase she invented: ‘Help Nature While You Enjoy’.
This term preceded her everywhere she went and lives on today through my Conservation Travel work at Australian Geographic Travel (AGT).
In 2014 she travelled to London to accept a global award for Echidna Walkabout for Best in Conservation in Travel. This award changed Echidna Walkabout forever; the business burgeoned and won many other awards.
During Covid, Janine decided to focus on the Koala Clancy Foundation then in late 2023 we sold Echidna Walkabout to our friends at Australian Geographic Trave (more below). I stayed on as General Manager.
Keep Going Walkabout with the Echidna Team
My core team at Echidna Walkabout will continue the great job they’ve been doing so please keep in contact with them. I could not have asked more from Alison, Amy, Martin and Scott. I cannot thank them enough for their perseverance and belief over many years.
Caz has been part of the our team from the beginning and has helped hold the business together through both tough and good times. She will be retiring at the same time as me.
Many wonderful people have worked for Echidna Walkabout but there is one special person who, near the beginning, was incredible. Her name is Belinda Pearce who guided tour after tour, sometimes in extremely difficult circumstances, but always with a smile on her face. Belinda moved on to other work in 2007 but she is remembered fondly.
Bryan Arnicar – Your New General Manager
As I write this I’m finalising my handover to Bryan Arnicar, General Manager of Australian Geographic Travel, a man I have huge respect for. He and I have worked closely together for the past 2 years and I can’t say enough good things about him.
Bryan will take over my role with my deepest blessing — his long experience in many facets of the travel industry combined with his commitment to keep supporting Echidna Walkabout’s conservation and wildlife philosophy make him the best choice to handle your enquiries in the future. He has the full support of my team.
You can contact Bryan here: bryan@ausgeotravel.com
Travel for Nature with Australian Geographic Travel
I’d like to thank the Directors of Australian Geographic Travel, especially Birgit Bourne, whose foresight was behind Echidna Walkabout joining AGT. Birgit offered me the role of Director of Conservation Travel which allowed me to carry Echidna Walkabout’s wildlife conservation legacy forward (read more here). In the two years since then I have proudly designed, built and implemented our Conservation Travel framework — that I believe is unique in Australia — upon which AGT is creating future tours. Our Travel for Nature policy now guides the entire team.
David Haslingden (owner of Australian Geographic) was pivotal in our decision to join AGT. When I asked what he thought was the most important consideration in the acquisition of our dear Echidna his simple answer was ‘Trust’. We shook hands on that. We have all stuck to that strong foundation for the past 2 years.
Next Steps – I’m going Walkabout with Australian Geographic
After a few months break I’ll be returning to work at Australian Geographic in a part time role to advise on citizen science and sustainability matters related to the wider Australian Geographic community. Some of this work will, of course, filter into to the Travel section of the organisation.
I’m also excited to report that I will continue to write the Treading Lightly column in the Australian Geographic Journal. If you need to contact me please email: roger@ausgeotravel.com
Travel for Nature
Details of the Transition – very little will change
How to make a booking
Please continue to book your tour with Echidna Walkabout OR through Australian Geographic Travel. Note all enquiries and bookings will be directed to AGT’s central reservations staff
Echidna Walkabout contact information:
Website: Echidna Walkabout Nature Tours
email: enquiries@echidnawalkabout.com.au
Tel: +61 3 9646 8249
Australian Geographic Travel contact information:
Website: Australian Geographic Travel
email: travel@ausgeotravel.com
Tel: 1300 241 141
More related stories…..
Help unleash the power of Conservation Travel
Step into the future of travel. Join one of our Conservation Travel tours. An increasing number of these tours include an important Citizen Science project.
➡️Echidna Walkabout is a Founding Member of Australian Wildlife Journeys.
➡️We create, guide and operate tours for Australian Geographic Travel
➡️$10 from every person on tour goes to Koala Clancy Foundation
➡️Donate to Koala Clancy here
