Best B&Bs in the Northern Territory

Australian Traveller Australian Traveller
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Our guide to the best B&Bs in the Northern Territory

ALICE STATION

This modern, architecturally designed home was constructed from recycled Ghan railway sleepers. Nestled into a tranquil bush setting against a rocky escarpment just outside Alice Springs town centre, the house has four guest rooms, all of which feature sloping ceilings and timber beams.

SOMETHING SPECIAL

Alice Station is popular with overseas visitors, and one look at the backyard will tell you why – it can get absolutely crowded with mobs of visiting kangaroos. Red kangaroos, wallaroos and western and eastern greys all come to have a fossick in the grass. Pink and grey galahs are regular guests here too.

WHILE YOU’RE HERE

Visit Olive Pink Botanical Gardens (a short walk away); find out about the ancient habitats of the area at Alice Springs Desert Park; shop for art and crafts in Todd Mall; check out the Araluen Arts Centre.

 

CONTACT: Deborah Rock.

25 The Fairway, Alice Springs

(08) 8953 6600; www.alicestation.com

EDEN AT FOGG DAM

This is a B&B with a very big difference – the backyard is an extraordinary heritage-listed wildlife sanctuary, Fogg Dam in the Adelaide River wetlands region of the Northern Territory. While the accommodation and decor is basic, it’s clean and comfortable and, really, it’s what’s outside the door that will have the biggest impact.

SOMETHING SPECIAL

Eden at Fogg Dam won Best Hosted Accommodation at the 2010 Northern Territory Tourism Awards. Besides the welcoming, friendly service, there are 230 bird species at Fogg Dam. There are also melaleuca woodlands, lily and lotus-flower-covered flood plains, eucalypt forests, and wildlife including long-necked turtles, frogs,  wallabies and dingoes.

WHILE YOU’RE HERE

Go birdwatching; take the Jumping Crocodiles tour on the Adelaide River; visit Kakadu (88km from the B&B); swim in waterholes and under falls at Litchfield National Park.

 

CONTACT: Heather Boulden and Jeremy Hemphill

Off The Arnhem Highway between Darwin and Kakadu

(08) 8988 5599.

FEATHERS SANCTUARY

Just 10 minutes’ drive out of Darwin, Feathers Sanctuary is a B&B&B – it offers bed, breakfast and birds, and plenty of them. Accommodation comprises four cute private bungalows with massive barn-style doors, corrugated iron roofs and indoor-outdoor bathrooms – because it gets hot up here!

SOMETHING SPECIAL

With a name like Feathers, you would be expecting some local birdlife, but what you find here is just astonishing. There are two large aviaries, but take a walk around the two acres of grounds and you’re likely to see a mix of native and exotic birds roaming around with you, such as ducks, egrets, kingfishers, bustards and brolgas. The owners have also established a breeding program for the rarer species on site.

WHILE YOU’RE HERE

Visit Mindil Beach Markets; have dinner at the Wharf Precinct; explore Fannie Bay Gaol Museum and the nearby WWII bunkers; go in the Cage of Death at Crocosaurus Cove.

 

CONTACT: Suzanne and Peter McGrath.

49A Freshwater Road, Jingili, Darwin

(08) 89852 144; www.featherssanctuary.com

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3 wild corners of Australia that let you reconnect with nature (in comfort)

    Kassia Byrnes Kassia Byrnes
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    The country’s rawest places offer some of its most transformative, restorative experiences.

    Australia offers sublime opportunities to disappear into the ancient, untouched wilderness, worlds away from modern stress. Wild Bush Luxury offers a collection of experiences that are a portal into the continent’s wildest, most undiscovered landscapes, from wide floodplains to vast savannas, where the only distractions are birdsong, frog calls, curious wallabies and the daily drama of sunset. With a focus on conservation and Indigenous knowledge, these all-inclusive experiences allow guests to slow down and quiet their minds for intimate encounters with the natural world.

    1. Bamurru Plains

    safari tent at Bamurru Plains wild bush luxury
    Let nature take front row.

    In the remote Top End, just outside Kakadu National Park on the fringes of the spectacular Mary River floodplains, you’ll find Bamurru Plains , a peerless Australian safari camp. After a quick air transfer from Darwin to the camp’s private airstrip, you’ll be whisked away via 4WD to a vivid natural wonderland of shimmering floodplains, red earth, herds of peacefully grazing water buffalo and 236 bird species (Bamurru means magpie goose to the Gagadju people).

    Accommodations consist of 10 mesh-walled bungalows and two luxe stilted retreats where guests enjoy panoramic, up-close views that invite them into their rightful place in the landscape (and binoculars to see it even better). Being an off-grid experience designed to help guests disconnect, the only distractions are birdsongs, frog calls, curious wallabies, the occasional crocodile sighting and the daily drama of the spectacular golden sunset.

    It’s a place where nature’s vastness rises to the level of the spiritual, and Bamurru’s understated, stylish,  largely solar-powered lodgings are designed to minimise human impact and let nature take front row.  Guests relax in comfort with plush linens, an open bar, communal tables that allow for spontaneous connections and curated dining experiences from the in-house chef using local ingredients and bush-inspired cooking methods.

    Bamurru Plains airboat tour
    Zoom across the floodplains. (Image: Adam Gibson)

    It’s a restorative backdrop for days spent zooming across the mist-covered floodplains in an airboat, birding with expert guides, taking an open-sided safari drive or river cruise through croc country. Spend time at the Hide, a treehouse-like platform that’s perfect for wildlife spotting.

    In fact, nature is so powerful here that Bamurru Plains closes entirely during the peak monsoon season (October to April), when the floodplains reclaim the land and life teems unseen beneath the water. Yet Wild Bush Luxury’s ethos continues year-round through its other experiences around Australia – each designed to immerse travellers in a distinct Australian wilderness at its most alive and untouched.

    2. Maria Island Walk

    woman on a headland of Maria Island Walk
    Maria Island Walk offers sweeping coastal scenes.

    Off Tasmania’s rugged east coast, the iconic Maria Island Walk is an intimate four-day journey through one of the country’s most hauntingly beautiful and unpopulated national parks, encompassing pristine beaches, convict-era ruins, and wildlife sightings galore. Accessible only by a small ferry, Maria Island feels like a place reclaimed by nature, which is exactly what it is: a penal settlement later used for farms and industry that finally became a national park in 1972.

    These days, the island is known as ‘Tasmania’s Noah’s Ark’ and its only human inhabitants are park rangers. It’s a place where wombats amble through grassy meadows, wallabies graze beside empty beaches, dolphins splash in clear water just offshore and Tasmanian devils – successfully reintroduced in 2012 after near-extinction on the mainland – roam free and healthy.

    Each day unfolds in an unhurried rhythm: trails through coastal eucalyptus forests or along white-sand bays, plateaus with sweeping ocean views, quiet coves perfect for swimming. Midway through the journey, you’ll explore Darlington, a remarkably preserved 19th-century convict settlement whose ruins tell stories of human ambition at the edge of the known world.

    At night, sleep beneath a canopy of stars in eco-wilderness camps – after relaxing with Tasmanian wine and locally-sourced meals, and swapping stories with your fellow trekkers by candlelight.

    3. Arkaba

    two people standing next to a 4wd in Arkaba
    Explore Arkaba on foot or on four wheels.

    For a bush immersion with more of an outback flavour, Arkaba offers a completely different type of experience. A former sheep station and historic homestead in South Australia’s striking Flinders Ranges that has been reimagined as a 63,000-acre private wildlife conservancy. It’s now patrolled mainly by kangaroos and emus.

    Small-scale tourism (the homestead has just five ensuite guestrooms) helps support rewilding projects, and guests become an essential part of the conservation journey. Days begin with sunrise hikes through ancient sandstone ridges or guided drives into the ranges to spot yellow-footed rock-wallabies. And end with sundowners on a private ridgetop watching the Elder Range glow vibrant shades of gold, crimson and violet as the air cools and time stands still.

    Here, you can join conservation activities like tracking native species or learning about Arkaba’s pioneering feral-animal eradication projects, then unwind with chef-prepared dinners served alfresco on the veranda of the homestead, which is both rustic and refined. The highlight? Following Arkaba Walk, a thriving outback wilderness where emus wander and fields of wildflowers grow.

    It’s an unforgettable immersion in Australia’s vast inland beauty, a place where the land’s deep and complicated history – and astounding resilience – leave their quiet imprint long after you return home. In a world where genuine awe is rare, Wild Bush Luxury offers a return to what matters most in the untamed beauty of Australia’s wilderness.

    Disconnect from the grind and reconnect with nature when you book with at wildbushluxury.com