Stories Along The Edge: The Caretaker

When you explore The South West Edge road trip, you’ll meet all sorts of local characters who will give you a glimpse into their world. Immerse yourself in their stories along the edge.

The Aboriginal people were the first inhabitants of the land along The Edge. Meet local Indigenous tour operator Josh Whiteland of Koomal Dreaming, otherwise known as The Caretaker.

Generosity is such a significant aspect of Josh Whiteland’s connection to Country. Josh is one of the cultural custodians of the Wadandi people; the peoples that have occupied the landscape ex-tending from Cape to Cape and throughout the Warren Blackwood region for some 50,000 years. The connection Josh offers to others via his own relationship to forest and salt water is depth-less.

“I was very lucky to spend a bit of time with the older people in the family who are no longer with us.” Josh is humble and straightforward in his explanation of what it was to grow up surrounded by family who weren’t part of the mission system. “The family remained on Country and continued the practices of foraging, and hunting and sharing culture.”

“Wadandi Country is a very diverse and unique area in the South West where there is an abundance of food and water. The best way to connect is to heighten the senses to the touch and the smell and the seeing. You have to allow yourself to be immersed in Country.” - Josh Whiteland of Koomal Dreaming.

Being handed the torch of caretaker is no little thing. Josh is profound in his ability to relate Dream-time story and impart information on how Aboriginal people work with the landscape: his fishing and foraging tours render granite rock and coastal scrub animate. But Josh is also viscerally human. His sense of humour is wicked, and the caretaker cloak doesn’t rest heavily on his shoulders. It’s this unique combination that makes his sharing of wisdom such a gift.

Josh’s grounded nature means he offers everyone an entrance.

“I think everyone has the opportunity to connect and learn from Country.” Josh is matter of fact. “Wadandi Country is a very diverse and unique area in the South West where there is an abundance of food and water. The best way to connect is to heighten the senses to the touch and the smell and the seeing. You have to allow yourself to be immersed in Country.”

The reward for that immersion is a tangible sense of peace, an aspect Josh says many of his visitors comment upon.

“One of the things the visitors all say is, ‘we expect to see houses all the way along the coast’, but the landscape, it’s very raw, it’s very unique. All the old land formations are still there.”

And even for Josh, at times, that distinction between how things were, and how things are, can become blurred in the beauty of Yallingup and its surrounds.

“The other day I was canoeing on the river, and it was just incredible. There were the big karri trees and the black water and the big plants,” Josh’s voice is quiet and deep. “It just reminded me of how it would have looked thousands of years ago.”