An album celebrating the 10th Birthday of Guurrbi Tours in Cooktown, Far North Queensland.

1. 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, Cooktown
www.guurrbitours.com

2. 2001 – I’VE GOT AN IDEA!
Willie (4th from left) sharing
his country & his tour idea
with Judy (right) & visitors

3. 2002 – LISTENING, LEARNING, TALKING, PLANNING
We worked together for a year before launching Guurrbi Tours.

4. 2002 – FIRST TRIP TO THE ROCK ART
Willie guiding Judy & Alberta from the Hope Vale Art Centre to
see the rock art sites at Wangaar-Wuri for the first time.

5. 2002 – THE WONDERFUL BIRTH SITE
Willie & Alberta at the Birth Site. What a beautiful place! We
didn’t want to leave.

6. 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.

7. 2001 – TAKING ‘THAT PHOTO’
The wonderful Kerry Trapnell
taking the photo of Willie we
still use today.

8. 2002 – KERRY’S PHOTO

9. 2002 – SHARING THE STORIES
Willie & two of his grand-
children at Wangaar-Wuri.

10. 2002 – THE LONG WALK
It used to be a looong walk to the rock art sites…

11. 2003 – CLEARING THE NEW ROAD
…then Willie came to an agreement with the lovely Bredlake
family who let him drive through their land.

12. 2003 – BEING A TOURIST
With Mason’s Tours, learning how others do it.

13. 2003 – ‘GUINEA PIG’ TOURS
The lovely Sandick & Nutt family from the USA were our first
guinea pigs & gave feedback on the tour

14. 2003 – CREATING THE GUURRBI LOGO
Just look at the size of Judy’s old computer!

15. 2003 – STARTING ON A SHOE-STRING
Scott from Pam’s Place in Cooktown agreed to be Guurrbi’s
booking agent…

16. 2003 – STARTING ON A SHOE-STRING
…and Roscoe, Cooktown Travel, provided the transport.

17. 2003 – WILLIE WITH MIKE HINTZ
The wonderful Mike Hintz from Oz Tours booked a group
series with Willie before the business had even launched.

18. 23 MAY 2003 – GUURRBI LAUNCH, NATURE’S POWERHOUSE
We were told to expect only a handful of people at our official
launch, but more than 120 turned up!

19. 2003 – SELLING OUR WARES
Judy & Willie (right) at an early trade show in Sydney.

20. 2003 – FIRST TOURS
In the Rainbow Serpent Cave

21. 2004 – OZ TOURS’ POSTER
We were SO proud to see
Willie on the Oz Tours’
poster!

22. 2004 – ABORIGINAL
TOURISM SYMPOSIUM
Judy’s University, La Trobe,
flew us down to Melbourne
and held a symposium for
us to present our research
findings.

23. 2004 – OUR FIRST BUS
We LOVED our first bus,
even though it needed all
Willie’s ingenuity and
expertise to keep it in
working order.

24. 2004 – OUR FIRST LOO
Willie’s brother, Bertie, with
his beautifully designed
emergency loo.

25. 2005 – FIRST RADIO INTERVIEW
The ABC’s Country Hour celebrated their 60th Birthday in
Cooktown.

26. 2005 – FIRST FILMING FOR TV
Willie being wired for sound before filming with Troy Cassar-
Daley & Ernie Dingo for Queensland Weekender.

27. 2005 – FIRST CELEBRITIES
Troy, Willie and Ernie in the Food Cave.

28. 2005 – FIRST (and only) PRIME MINISTER
Willie with PM John Howard in the Great Emu Cave.

29. 2006 – CYCLONE MONICA
Willie is with his customer in the field on the left, by-passing
the mess caused by Cyclone Monica.

30. 2006 – THERE’S ALWAYS A SOLUTION
The Cyclone closed the road, but the tours carried on!

31. 2006 – OUR FIRST
BAMA WAY MAP
An Aboriginal Journey from
Cairns to north of Cooktown,
showing some of the special
story places along the way.

32. 2006 – OUTBACK CAFE
Willie with Mark (Black)
Olive filming for Outback
Café. His mud crabs were
un-for-gett-able…

33. 2006 – RECONCILIATION AWARDS
Willie & Judy (now a partner in the business) all scrubbed up in
Brisbane for the Premier’s Reconciliation in Business Awards.

34. 2007 – LAUNCHING THE BAMA WAY PACKAGES
Aboriginal Journeys with Guurrbi, Walker Family Tours, Kuku
Yalanji Cultural Habitat Tours & Adventure North Australia.

35. 2007 – WE’RE PUBLISHED!
Our co-authored book chapter which summarises Judy’s PhD thesis.

36. 2007 – WILLIE’S FIRST BOOK
Sharing the rock art stories in print.

37. 2007 – GNUNKAI AWARD
Willie wins the national
Gnunkai Tour Guide Award.

38. 2007 – A GREAT HIDDEN EXPERIENCE
Australian Traveller magazine names Willie’s Rainbow Serpent
Tour as ‘One of Australia’s Great Hidden Experiences’.

39. 2007 - WE START PRIVATE TOURS
The demand begins for Private Tours.

40. 2008 – THE NOTE THAT JUDY SPOTTED
This note on the back of a Visitor Satisfaction Questionnaire prompted
Judy to put Willie’s name forward for an Australia Day Award.

41. 2008 - COOK SHIRE CITIZEN OF
THE YEAR AWARD
Willie very nearly didn’t attend
the ceremony as he’d been
planning to go fishing!

42. 2008 – AUSTRALIA DAY
A teary-eyed Willie making his
moving acceptance speech.

43. 2008 – A NEW ROAD
No more mud! A beautiful new road to the
Guurrbi Meeting Point.

44. 2008 – A NEW LOO
The tardis has landed...

45. 2008 – A NEW CITIZEN
Judy with Cook Shire Mayor, Peter Scott, on the day she
became an Australian.

46. 2008 – LAUNCHING THE COOKTOWN DISCOVERY FESTIVAL
Willie entertaining everyone – including the politicians –
during his Welcome to Country.

47. 2008 – A MOST ELEGANT CUSTOMER
Willie with Quentin Bryce, then Governor of Queensland.

48. 2008 – WHAT A LOVELY LADY!
A quiet moment with Quentin Bryce, now Australia’s
Governor General.

49. 2008 – OUR FIRST TRIPADVISOR REVIEW
We were THRILLED to get our first review on TripAdvisor – and
with 5 stars!

50. 2009 – COOKTOWN HOSTS AUSTRALIA DAY LAUNCH
The National Australia Day Council & guests on tour with
Willie, before the press arrived.

51. 2009 – A QUIET CHAT WITH ADAM GILCHRIST
This might look like a quiet get-together in the Great Emu
Cave, but…

52. 2009 – PRESS SCRAMBLE
…this is what was happening outside.

53. 2009 – DAWN EVENT IN THE RAIN
Willie’s message of Reconciliation was televised to around
2.5 million people.

54. 2009 – WHAT A PICTURE!
Publicity shot of Willie with Adam Gilchrist & Lee Kernaghan
on Cooktown Wharf as dawn broke.

55. 2009 – AND YES, IT WAS STILL RAINING

56. 2009 – WILLIE IN TO BAT
Batsman Willie, Adam Gilchrist wicket, and Lee Kernaghan
fielding. (Willie scored a duck.)

57. 2009 – QUEENSLAND’S TOP TEN MUST-DOS
Guurrbi makes No. 7 in RACQ’s Queensland 150 Must Dos.

58. 2009 – A TOP 20 AUSTRALIAN TOUR
Our Rainbow Serpent Tour was named “One of Australia’s 20
Top Tours” in Australian Traveller magazine.

59. 2009 – WEBSITE AWARD
Our website wins the very first Indigenous Tourism
Biodiversity Website (Jury) Award.

60. 2009 – GUURRBI & WAITOC
We host Indigenous Tourism operators from all over Australia
to share what we’ve learnt.

61. 2009 – AUSTRALIAN OF THE
YEAR NOMINATION
What an honour to be
nominated for Australian of
the Year.

62. 2009 – WILLIE IN JAPANESE
Over 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 magazine
is a particular favourite.

63. 2010 – ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF OZ
Guurrbi is shown alongside Uluru as one of 13 Australian
highlights in Stefan Loose’s Australien Der Osten Travel Guide.

64. 2011 – RIVERDANCE WITH
BEN SOUTHALL
Willie 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…

65. 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.

66. 2012 – JUST FOR KIDS
Over 100 people on the Just For Kids Charity Trail came on tour
with us over several days. They were SO well organised until…

67. 2012 – THIS GLAMOROUS LIFE
…there was a slight delay whilst Willie fished out some car keys
from the bottom of the portaloo...

68. 2012 – OUR SECOND BOOK
Willie’s second book “My Family & Other Stories”

69. 2012 – RECOMMENDED BY TRIPADVISOR
We earn a Recommended by TripAdvisor sticker! A big ‘thank you’
to all our customers who take the time to write such lovely reviews.

70. 2013 – VOTED TOP TRAVEL BLOG
We feel very honoured to be in the same company as some of
the world’s great travel bloggers.

71. 2013 – BUT BEST OF ALL …
…is hearing from our customers. Here’s a “Hello Willie
Gordon” from the Janssen Family at Machu Picchu.

72. 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.

73. 2013 – CHILDREN’S CAVE AT WANGAAR-WURI
Hundreds 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.

74. ][p
2013 – WHAT A BIRTHDAY PRESENT!
This arrived by email on the morning of our 10th birthday.
An amazing end to a wonderful ten years.