Why this Indigenous food truck is drawing big crowds

Kangaroo burger!" a man's voice calls from the window of a colourfully decorated trailer on the grass beside Broken Head Holiday Park. A bronzed young man with shoulder-length blonde hair leaves his surfboard leaning on a nearby Norfolk Island pine and walks up to collect his meal. "Cheers mate, have a great day," he's told as it's handed over.

With a patty infused with lemon myrtle and alpine pepper, mixed with bush tomato sauce, the burger is indicative of how the dishes are fused with native ingredients on the menu at Aunties Cafe in northern NSW's Broken Head. Toasted fruit loaf, served for breakfast, which comes with a choice of finger lime marmalade or Davidson plum jam; fish and chips topped with lemon myrtle seasoning; and prawn rolls sprinkled with warrigal greens are a few other examples.

The Indigenous food truck was the brainchild of the four late Aunties who fought to claim native title for the Arakwal People of the Byron Bay and Broken Head region. The idea was born after the land on which the holiday park lies was handed back to its Traditional Owners in 2009 and, after a lengthy planning process, the cafe finally opened in 2022.

Inspired by the natural surroundings, Arakwal-Bundjalung artist Kaitlyn Clark was called on to beautify it. Three dotted circles represent the Three Sisters rock formation that can be seen from the nearby beach, which is a favourite of Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth, who built a mega-mansion just down the road.

A dotted wavy line with people depicts a family or mob gathering. The scene is not too different to the one that can be observed here on sunny weekends, with families spread out on picnic blankets and kids playing among the twisting vines and roots of nearby trees, just as you can imagine the Arakwal People have done for thousands of years before them.

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