This is the story of Guurrbi Tours… which started as a dream of Willie’s in the 1990s, and was brought to reality with the help of Judy – a PhD student, who later became a partner in the business. The deal was we’d work together to launch Guurrbi, look at what worked along the way, then share our findings so others could learn from our experiences.

Here are some of the highlights - and friends we met along the way.

CELEBRATING GUURRBI’S 10TH BIRTHDAY

Guurrbi Tours, Cooktownwww.guurrbitours.com

2001 – I’VE GOT AN IDEA!Willie (4th from left) sharing his country & his tour idea with Judy (right) & visitors

2002 – LISTENING, LEARNING, TALKING, PLANNINGWe worked together for a year before launching Guurrbi Tours.

2002 – FIRST TRIP TO THE ROCK ARTWillie guiding Judy & Alberta from the Hope Vale Art Centre to

see the rock art sites at Wangaar-Wuri for the first time.

2002 – THE WONDERFUL BIRTH SITEWillie & Alberta at the Birth Site. What a beautiful place! We

didn’t want to leave.

2002 – FILMING ‘AUSTRALIAN STORY’“I’m on cloud ten!” Sharing his country with strangers – and their

amazing reaction to the experience – gave Willie the confidence to continue with his plans.

2001 – TAKING ‘THAT PHOTO’The wonderful Kerry Trapnell taking the photo of Willie we still use today.

2002 – KERRY’S PHOTO

2002 – SHARING THE STORIESWillie & two of his grand- children at Wangaar-Wuri.

2002 – THE LONG WALKIt used to be a looong walk to the rock art sites…

2003 – CLEARING THE NEW ROAD…then Willie came to an agreement with the lovely Bredlake

family who let him drive through their land.

2003 – BEING A TOURISTWith Mason’s Tours, learning how others do it.

2003 – ‘GUINEA PIG’ TOURSThe lovely Sandick & Nutt family from the USA were our first

guinea pigs & gave feedback on the tour

2003 – CREATING THE GUURRBI LOGOJust look at the size of Judy’s old computer!

2003 – STARTING ON A SHOE-STRINGScott from Pam’s Place in Cooktown agreed to be Guurrbi’s

booking agent…

2003 – STARTING ON A SHOE-STRING…and Roscoe, Cooktown Travel, provided the transport.

2003 – WILLIE WITH MIKE HINTZThe wonderful Mike Hintz from Oz Tours booked a group series with Willie before the business had even launched.

23 MAY 2003 – GUURRBI LAUNCH, NATURE’S POWERHOUSEWe were told to expect only a handful of people at our official

launch, but more than 120 turned up!

2003 – SELLING OUR WARESJudy & Willie (right) at an early trade show in Sydney.

2003 – FIRST TOURSIn the Rainbow Serpent Cave

2004 – OZ TOURS’ POSTERWe were SO proud to see Willie on the Oz Tours’ poster!

2004 – ABORIGINAL TOURISM SYMPOSIUMJudy’s University, La Trobe, flew us down to Melbourne and held a symposium for us to present our research findings.

2004 – OUR FIRST BUSWe LOVED our first bus, even though it needed all Willie’s ingenuity and expertise to keep it in working order.

2004 – OUR FIRST LOOWillie’s brother, Bertie, with his beautifully designed emergency loo.

2005 – FIRST RADIO INTERVIEWThe ABC’s Country Hour celebrated their 60th Birthday in

Cooktown.

2005 – FIRST FILMING FOR TVWillie being wired for sound before filming with Troy Cassar-

Daley & Ernie Dingo for Queensland Weekender.

2005 – FIRST CELEBRITIESTroy, Willie and Ernie in the Food Cave.

2005 – FIRST (and only) PRIME MINISTERWillie with PM John Howard in the Great Emu Cave.

2006 – CYCLONE MONICAWillie is with his customer in the field on the left, by-passing

the mess caused by Cyclone Monica.

2006 – THERE’S ALWAYS A SOLUTIONThe Cyclone closed the road, but the tours carried on!

2006 – OUR FIRST BAMA WAY MAPAn Aboriginal Journey from Cairns to north of Cooktown, showing some of the special story places along the way.

2006 – OUTBACK CAFEWillie with Mark (Black) Olive filming for Outback Café. His mud crabs were un-for-gett-able…

2006 – RECONCILIATION AWARDSWillie & Judy (now a partner in the business) all scrubbed up in Brisbane for the Premier’s Reconciliation in Business Awards.

2007 – LAUNCHING THE BAMA WAY PACKAGESAboriginal Journeys with Guurrbi, Walker Family Tours, Kuku Yalanji Cultural Habitat Tours & Adventure North Australia.

2007 – WE’RE PUBLISHED!Our co-authored book chapter which summarises Judy’s PhD thesis.

2007 – WILLIE’S FIRST BOOKSharing the rock art stories in print.

2007 – GNUNKAI AWARDWillie wins the national Gnunkai Tour Guide Award.

2007 – A GREAT HIDDEN EXPERIENCEAustralian Traveller magazine names Willie’s Rainbow Serpent

Tour as ‘One of Australia’s Great Hidden Experiences’.

2007 - WE START PRIVATE TOURSThe demand begins for Private Tours.

2008 – THE NOTE THAT JUDY SPOTTEDThis note on the back of a Visitor Satisfaction Questionnaire prompted

Judy to put Willie’s name forward for an Australia Day Award.

2008 - COOK SHIRE CITIZEN OF THE YEAR AWARDWillie very nearly didn’t attend the ceremony as he’d been planning to go fishing!

2008 – AUSTRALIA DAYA teary-eyed Willie making his moving acceptance speech.

2008 – A NEW ROADNo more mud! A beautiful new road to the

Guurrbi Meeting Point.

2008 – A NEW LOOThe tardis has landed...

2008 – A NEW CITIZENJudy with Cook Shire Mayor, Peter Scott, on the day she

became an Australian.

2008 – LAUNCHING THE COOKTOWN DISCOVERY FESTIVALWillie entertaining everyone – including the politicians –

during his Welcome to Country.

2008 – A MOST ELEGANT CUSTOMERWillie with Quentin Bryce, then Governor of Queensland.

2008 – WHAT A LOVELY LADY!A quiet moment with Quentin Bryce, now Australia’s

Governor General.

2008 – OUR FIRST TRIPADVISOR REVIEWWe were THRILLED to get our first review on TripAdvisor – and

with 5 stars!

2009 – COOKTOWN HOSTS AUSTRALIA DAY LAUNCHThe National Australia Day Council & guests on tour with

Willie, before the press arrived.

2009 – A QUIET CHAT WITH ADAM GILCHRISTThis might look like a quiet get-together in the Great Emu

Cave, but…

2009 – PRESS SCRAMBLE…this is what was happening outside.

2009 – DAWN EVENT IN THE RAINWillie’s message of Reconciliation was televised to around

2.5 million people.

2009 – WHAT A PICTURE!Publicity shot of Willie with Adam Gilchrist & Lee Kernaghan

on Cooktown Wharf as dawn broke.

2009 – AND YES, IT WAS STILL RAINING

2009 – WILLIE IN TO BATBatsman Willie, Adam Gilchrist wicket, and Lee Kernaghan

fielding. (Willie scored a duck.)

2009 – QUEENSLAND’S TOP TEN MUST-DOSGuurrbi makes No. 7 in RACQ’s Queensland 150 Must Dos.

2009 – A TOP 20 AUSTRALIAN TOUROur Rainbow Serpent Tour was named “One of Australia’s 20

Top Tours” in Australian Traveller magazine.

2009 – WEBSITE AWARDOur website wins the very first Indigenous Tourism

Biodiversity Website (Jury) Award.

2009 – GUURRBI & WAITOCWe host Indigenous Tourism operators from all over Australia

to share what we’ve learnt.

2009 – AUSTRALIAN OF THE YEAR NOMINATIONWhat an honour to be nominated for Australian of the Year.

2009 – WILLIE IN JAPANESEOver the years we have had an enormous amount of media coverage, both at home and overseas, but the cover of this Japanese Living in Cairns magazineis a particular favourite.

2010 – ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF OZGuurrbi is shown alongside Uluru as one of 13 Australian

highlights in Stefan Loose’s Australien Der Osten Travel Guide.

2011 – RIVERDANCE WITH BEN SOUTHALLWillie with best-job-in-the-world winner, Ben Southall, showing that two people striking the classic one-legged Aboriginal stance look a little bit Irish…

2011 - WE'RE PART OF THE CURRICULUM!We love working with Dr Sharon Harwood of James Cook University, who brings her post-grads each year for a tour and a Q&A session with us. Judy's thesis is on the course's reading list.

2012 – JUST FOR KIDSOver 100 people on the Just For Kids Charity Trail came on tour with us over several days. They were SO well organised until…

2012 – THIS GLAMOROUS LIFE…there was a slight delay whilst Willie fished out some car keys

from the bottom of the portaloo...

2012 – OUR SECOND BOOKWillie’s second book “My Family & Other Stories”

2012 – RECOMMENDED BY TRIPADVISORWe earn a Recommended by TripAdvisor sticker! A big ‘thank you’

to all our customers who take the time to write such lovely reviews.

2013 – VOTED TOP TRAVEL BLOGWe feel very honoured to be in the same company as some of

the world’s great travel bloggers.

2013 – BUT BEST OF ALL ……is hearing from our customers. Here’s a “Hello Willie

Gordon” from the Janssen Family at Machu Picchu.

2013 –BEST OF ALL…Troy Cassar-Daley continues to carry the memory stone Willie gave him all those years ago – and it’s been all over the world. Here’s a photo he tweeted to us recently.

2013 – CHILDREN’S CAVE AT WANGAAR-WURIHundreds of other little stones, painted over the years by kids (of all

ages), are left in special cave – now an attraction in its own right.

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2013 – WHAT A BIRTHDAY PRESENT!This arrived by email on the morning of our 10th birthday.

An amazing end to a wonderful ten years.