Stories, Sea Creatures and Songlines
- Uncle Ken
- Mar 11
- 2 min read

If you listen carefully, Boandik Country speaks. That’s the message Boandik Elder Uncle Ken Jones brings to every Bush Adventures tour he runs along the Limestone Coast. With his finely tuned senses, deep cultural knowledge, and love for land and sea, Uncle Ken offers a unique experience that goes far beyond sightseeing.
As a child, Uncle Ken grew up fishing, foraging, and learning from his family. That early training honed an ability to observe, to hear the rustle of a swamp skink, smell the crabs on the breeze, or read the sand for seasonal clues. Today, he shares this way of seeing through Bush Adventures, his eco-cultural tourism business that welcomes families, school groups, and international guests onto Country.
One of the most popular experiences is the Coastal Day Trip, a guided walk and bush tucker tour that often includes cooking damper on the fire and storytelling beneath the trees.
Depending on the season, guests might taste wild peaches, sea spray-covered pig face, or pungent native pepper that “tastes a little like wasabi.” Then there are the muntries, a native fruit unique to South Australia. Uncle Ken describes how they change colour and flavour throughout the day, from zingy in the morning to sweeter after hours of sun.
As guests gather around the coals, Uncle Ken often shares personal memories. One such story recalls a powerful moment from 55 years ago when the local community came together to rescue a giant leatherback sea turtle tangled in rope. “It felt like yesterday,” he says. “It was such an emotional moment, one of those unique experiences.” These stories, passed down through generations, form part of the greater cultural tapestry he shares on every tour.
No two tours are ever the same. Uncle Ken tailors each one to the season, the tide, and the people present. If a curious child notices a moth on a tree, Ken turns it into a teaching moment. “That’s the challenge,” he explains. “You match the intense curiosity.”
Tours often include visits to significant Boandik sites like a traditional fish trap, if conditions allow and sometimes even song and dance. In the Traditional Net Fishing and Cook tour, guests help drag a net through the shallows under Uncle Ken’s guidance (with special permission) to catch what’s needed and no more. Along the way, they may encounter Southern Ocean treasures like leafy sea dragons and Bango fiddler rays.
For Uncle Ken, every outing is an invitation to slow down, look deeper, and experience the land and sea not just as beautiful places, but as living relatives. As the sun sets on the coast and the air cools, he smiles and calls it the “best air-conditioner in the world.”
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