Mark Koolmatrie of Kool Tours: Wild Apples, Coorong Mullet and the Meaning of Place

A roadside stop for wild apples, a word worth taking home, and the places on the Coorong and the Lakes that Ngarrindjeri Elder Mark Koolmatrie loves most.

Ask Mark Koolmatrie of Kool Tours about a food memory and you won’t get a restaurant. You’ll get a roadside on the way to Meningie, a little boy of four or five, and his mum and dad pulling the car over to pick muntheries, which Mark describes as a little wild apple. “It was the first time I’d seen joy when our people see and can eat bush foods,” he told us. “I knew then what culture meant.”

We’re cooks, so food memories are always our way in, and that’s one of the best we’ve ever heard. It’s where this story starts.

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waters where we cook across the Fleurieu Peninsula, and we pay our respects to their Elders past and present. Every ingredient on our bench comes from Country that was cared for long before our kitchens arrived.

Who is Mark Koolmatrie?

Mark is a Ngarrindjeri Elder, and he’s clear about why that title matters: “Eldership is about cultural knowledge and wisdom.” He grew up in and around Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert, his homelands of the Lower Lakes, and he has a strong affiliation with the Coorong. Ngarrindjeri, he explains, is made up of connections to waterways: the Coorong, the lower lakes, the swamps and the lower River Murray. His family belongs to all of them.

Water runs through his working life too. Alongside his tours, Mark is a Cultural Authority, a water researcher, a River Fellow MDCA and a CAG member MDBA. So when he talks about these waters, it’s family, home and work all at once.

How Kool Tours began

Mark started telling story “officially” in 2013, when a school asked him to run an experience for its students. The stories themselves were nothing new to him. They’re part of who he is, going back tens of thousands of years. What surprised him was that visitors wanted to hear them. Jock Veenstra of Spirit of the Coorong had wanted to share these ancient places of significance with the world for decades, and once Mark saw the interest for himself, he went for it. After years of working with schools and businesses, he started Kool Tours in 2019, in his words “to bring The Fleurieu culturally alive.”

The tourism world noticed. Kool Tours lists SA Tourism Awards wins in 2022, 2023 and 2024 in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander category, and Mark was inducted into the SA Tourism Hall of Fame in 2024, as his SA Business Chamber mentor profile notes. Not bad for a man who didn’t realise anyone would be interested.

Ruwi, Miwi and Place with a capital P

If you take one new word home from the Fleurieu, make it Ruwi. It’s the term Mark’s people prefer for Country or Place, and it’s at the heart of what he hopes you’ll understand after a day with him: “The meaning of Place with a capital ‘P’.” Places of significance for his people, he says, have the same meaning as places do for all people. Think of the beach you holidayed at as a kid, or the kitchen table you grew up around, and you’re getting close.

As Mark puts it, “Spending a day with me allows visitors to see Ruwi through my eyes and feel it through their Miwi or inner self.” That beats a fridge magnet as a souvenir.

A menu straight from the Coorong

Back to food, because we can’t help ourselves. Muntries top Mark’s list, thanks to that roadside memory. Mark calls them muntheries, and you’ll also hear them called apple berries, but whatever the name, we’re with him. They’re one of our favourite things to cook with, and we fold them into chutneys and friands and pile them onto our native cheese board. He also loves Coorong mullet and cockles. Muntries, mullet and cockles: honestly, that’s a lunch we’d happily drive a long way for.

The places Mark loves

We asked Mark which places on the Fleurieu, the Coorong and the Lakes mean the most to him. There’s Panka, because it was easier to travel across to get to the sea. Raukkan, for its access to life and the waters. Meningie, where families would gather at the old caravan park, now Lions Park, to appreciate Lake Albert. And Goolwa, for its access to the meeting of the waters. Next time you’re in Goolwa watching the river head for the sea, you’ll know why it made his list.

How to spend a day with Mark Koolmatrie and Kool Tours

Kool Tours runs private, personalised cultural tours across southern South Australia, including walks at Yundi, Middleton and Granite Island (Kaike), and the Spirit of the Coorong tour with Spirit Australia Cruises from Goolwa. The stories, the language and the meaning of each place are Mark’s to share, so we won’t spoil any of it here. Hear it from him, in person, on Ruwi. Book through the Kool Tours booking page, and plan ahead, because these are private tours.

A few good manners go a long way. Use the names people use for themselves, spelt the way they spell them. Let your guide set the pace and decide what’s shared. Ask before you lift your phone for a photo. And if a story moves you, send your friends to Mark rather than retelling it yourself.

Thank you, Mark, for your generous answers and for the photo. We’ll be thinking about muntheries every time we drive through Meningie. Book your tour with Mark through the Kool Tours booking page, then come back to the coast hungry. A seat at our bench will be waiting.