A Memorable Adventure
The Northern Territory’s Top End has long been a favourite destination for travellers escaping the winter chills each year in southern parts of the country.
When heading up here, most visitors make their way to well-known regions such as Litchfield, Mataranka, Katherine, Darwin and Kakadu. Looking at a map however, that huge tract of land away to the east referred to as Arnhem Land, an area of 91,000 sq km, pretty much remains, for most folk, a vast, unknown, unexplored, mysterious and difficult to access region of Australia.
With a variety of permits required to enter different parts of Arnhem Land, and many areas totally off limits to normal travellers, as well as restrictions on the type of RV individual visitors can bring in (eg, no caravans of any type allowed along the Central Arnhem Road), recreational exploration of this ancient wilderness has always been extremely limited.
Commencing in 2016 however, experienced remote area tour company Outback Spirit is now operating exclusive tours through the region’s most appealing areas. The organising of this venture however, was not a quick or easy one for Outback Spirit and follows several years of effort including lengthy negotiations with a variety of interested parties including indigenous traditional owners, Northern Land Council, local private land holders and many others, as well as securing a network of exclusive, upmarket wilderness lodges through acquisition and new developments – all aimed to give visitors a memorable and exclusive Arnhem Land experience through regions mostly off limits to normal travellers.
Private travellers in fact, usually access Arnhem Land via the lengthy and quite demanding Central Arnhem Road, a mostly unsealed and quite rough 750 km trail from the Stuart Highway south of Katherine to the Gove Peninsula at Nhulunbuy. Once there, with further permits arranged, limited travel around the Peninsula can then be undertaken, but no access into the appealing northern regions is allowed. It is here that the valuable background work done by Outback Spirit and some millions of dollars spent on splendid high quality accommodation, wetland and deep sea fishing boats, open back safari vehicles for local exploration, as well as arranging for Aboriginal tour guides in most places visited, has all led to a unique never-to-be-forgotten adventure.