From Darwin airport you will be transferred by private vehicle to your waterfront hotel. Here your Alquemie Host will meet you. Your Host will accompany you for the duration of the trip. You’ll have some time to settle in and relax before the evening’s activities.

In late afternoon as the sun begins to lower over the Timor Sea, you’ll be taken to a beautiful sunset location to celebrate the beginning of your incredible Australian journey. The celebration begins with an ancient custom of great significance to many Indigenous people, a private Welcome to the Country & Smoking Ceremony conducted by Aboriginal elders, whose connection to Australia goes back tens of thousands of years.

Afterwards, enjoy a very special Welcome Dinner at Alquemie’s exclusive beachside pop-up restaurant featuring a three-course menu showcasing indigenous ingredients. Although the menu will take shape just days before based on the local produce available, you can expect to sample dishes like cured crocodile and green-ant cheesecake. Zach Green, a Gunditjmara and Palawa man and renowned chef, is the mastermind behind this concept. He will take some time to discuss his culture and story with you.

Stay: Vibe Hotel Waterfront Darwin – Deluxe View Room

Before taking to the air, your remote Top End adventure begins with a two-night 4×4 safari into Kakadu National Park and Arnhem Land. Your guides, Sab and Dean, are regional experts and with them leading the charge you’ll access some of the most culturally historic sites in Australia’s Northern Territory and stunning off-the-beaten-track locations.

Along the way to Kakadu you will stop at one of the most important feeding and roosting sites for a wide variety of both water birds and other animals. You’ll also head out on an air-boat safari where you might get your first glimpse of Australia’s fiercest predator – the saltwater crocodile.

Upon entering Kakadu, your 4×4 journey will take you on a short detour to the beautiful Leaning Tree Lagoon. This billabong is often covered in water lilies and will delight keen photographers. The last stop is at Cooinda where you will experience a Kakadu highlight – a Yellow Water sunset cruise. This 10-square kilometre pristine environment supports a truly wonderful variety of Top End flora and fauna. The wildlife here is too numerous to mention, but you may see saltwater crocodiles, a Jacana bird walking on water, the magnificent sea eagle, or any one the 280 species that call this billabong home. Witness at close hand the wealth of wildlife in this tranquil habitat while enjoying one of the Top End’s great sunsets.

This evening you’ll watch skilled cooks prepare a hearty three-course meal over the campfire as you sip on fine wine or a cold beer.

Stay: Lords Safaris Tented Camp (note: no en-suite bathrooms at this comfortable bush camp)

Wake to the sights and sounds of the bush. Today you’ll visit the restricted Aboriginal Lands (Arnhem Land), north of Kakadu. Visitors need special permission from its traditional custodians to enter this wild and untamed region. It is primarily occupied by Aboriginal communities who have lived in the area continuously for up to 60,000 years. Due to the region’s isolation there are strong cultural traditions and art of its Indigenous inhabitants.

As you leave Kakadu you’ll experience the excitement of true 4×4 action as you forge the East Alligator River at Cahill’s Crossing to enter Arnhem Land. After the crossing, a scenic drive to the Gunbalanya Aboriginal community provides some of the best views in the Top End with floodplains, billabongs, and the Arnhem Land escarpment.

You will meet and watch traditional local artists in action at the Injalak Arts and Crafts Centre. Injalak artists produce authentic art inspired by ancient dreamtime stories, images from nearby rock art galleries, and an unbroken link between the present generation of Kunwinjku people and their ancestors. This creates an intimate setting to get to know the artists and see first-hand how artworks are created.

Next you’ll head up to a rocky sandstone plateau rising 200 metres above the plains where an Aboriginal guide will show you excellent examples of rock art on Injalak Hill (Long Tom Dreaming / Kurrkabal). You will experience breath-taking galleries with facets of Pre-Estuarine, Estuarine, and Contact periods between 100 and 8,000 years old.

Stay: Lords Safaris Tented Camp (note: no en-suite bathrooms at this comfortable bush camp)

This morning you’ll head to the southern end of Kakadu for a short walk through a sub-monsoon rainforest that leads to the base of a beautiful plunge pool. This is a scenic and tranquil place perfect for a refreshing swim in a series of small waterholes. The water is crystal clear. After a picnic lunch your 4×4 safari ends at Jabiru Airport signalling the start of your ultimate air safari.

After take off you’ll get a bird’s eye view of the vastness of the country where seasonal rivers and creeks spread across the land like blood vessels and arteries. Apart from the occasional settlement or road, signs of human habitation are few.

Soon you’ll arrive at Bullo River Station, a 500,000-acre working cattle station. Encircled by the coffee coloured waters of the Victoria River and rugged hills inscribed with Aboriginal rock art, this vast property home to around 4,000 Brahman-cross cattle and a stunning variety of local fauna species including wallabies, dingoes, wild buffalo, a myriad of native and migratory birds, fish, and the omnipresent crocodiles.

The pristine landscape, carved with gorges and decorated with waterfalls, makes Bullo River Station one of the most breathtakingly beautiful cattle stations in Australia. Here you’ll enjoy true outback hospitality and adventure with a touch of ‘Bullo’ luxury. You will arrive in time for the sunset and then dinner under the stars in the light of a campfire.

Stay: Bullo River Station Twin Share – King Room Garden View

Today is a ‘no fly’ day, which gives you the chance to relax and enjoy the wide range of complimentary excursions at Bullo River Station. Choose a day filled with dust, sweat, and the exhilaration of station life. Or spend the day exploring stunning landscapes, waterfalls, swimming in remote waterholes, barramundi fishing, and discovering Aboriginal rock art and wildlife. All activities can be customised to your interests and passions so just let your host know.

Inclusions at Bullo River Station: all cattle station related activities, including bore checks, lick runs, feeding poddy calves, and other activities detailed upon arrival. Fishing, including guide, gear, and boat. Horse riding, including guide and gear. Guided tour of rock art, gorges, and water holes. 4WD activities. Customised enthusiast trips including bird watching, hiking, art, and photography locations.

Upgrade: HELICOPTER EXPEDITIONS (additional cost)

Stay: Bullo River Station Twin Share – King Room Garden View

Today’s highlight is the UNESCO World Heritage-listed beehive striped domes of the Bungle Bungle Range. It was only ‘discovered’ in the mid-1980’s although Aboriginal occupancy in the region dates back tens of thousands of years.

Walk among the eroded towers and black-and-orange banded structures. Your guide will take you into spectacular Cathedral Gorge to enjoy lunch where towering cliffs open to form a space with awe-inspiring natural acoustics. Meander along the bed of Piccaninny Creek, which flows only in the monsoon waterfall season.

After lunch a helicopter will take you on a scenic journey to view the Bungle Bungles and the spectacular maze of gorges from above.

Your accommodation for the next two nights is El Questro Homestead, a pocket of luxurious exclusivity where you’re encouraged to make yourself at home. Each day at the Homestead is likely to start with birdsong and end with a locally sourced three-course dinner, and matched wines, under a blanket of stars.

Stay: El Questro – Gorge View room

Another ‘no fly’ day. Choice is yours. With almost 700,000 acres to explore, the homestead’s surrounding landscape is dramatic and expansive.

From your luxurious base you’re invited to choose how to best explore El Questro – by foot, 4×4, boat, or horseback. Whichever way you prefer, an El Questro personal guide is always on hand to ensure nothing is missed.

After a day spent swimming under waterfalls, lounging in private thermal springs, or flying over ancient vistas and geological landmarks, return to the homestead for a delicious dinner.

If you’d like to do something particularly unique or special such as a helicopter experience to a remote location or sunset spots, ask your host for their recommendations.

UPGRADE: HELICOPTER EXPEDITIONS (additional cost)

Stay: El Questro – Gorge View room

After a sumptuous breakfast, you will fly to a little outback runway that is Mitchell Plateau airstrip to be taken by helicopter to the top of Mitchell Falls. Photos do not do this place justice. Accessible only by heli (or a six-hour return walk and a few days’ drive), the area is alive with diverse flora and fauna and abundant rock art. Atop the falls you’ll enjoy a gourmet picnic lunch and have plenty of time to relax, swim in the cool flowing waters, and explore.

After lunch you will be collected from the top of the falls where you will have the opportunity to capture fantastic aerial photographs of Big Merten and Mitchell Falls before a scenic flight over the Mitchell Plateau and Admiralty Gulf to the spectacular Kimberley Coastal Camp.

The comfortably beachside rustic Kimberley Coastal Camp is the most exclusive retreat in the Top End and is accessible only by helicopter, boat or seaplane. Here you can enjoy fabulous scenery, gourmet food, unique beachfront accommodation, spectacular fishing, and ancient rock art – all combined with unparalleled hospitality in a remote wilderness location.

Stay: Kimberley Coastal Camp – Beachfront Bungalow (Note: no ensuite bathrooms)

Spend today as you please. Whether you wish to relax and take in the beauty of your surroundings or fill your day with activities, you’ll be spoilt for choice.

Adventures include fishing in abundant waters (in one day it is possible to catch everything from barramundi to bluebone to bluefin tuna), mud crabbing, oyster gathering, bush or coastal walks, bird watching, and boating.

Wild dingoes, sea eagles, olive pythons, endangered quolls, and many other native animals share this country known to traditional owners as ‘Yalrundair’. The exquisite art forms that adorn caves and rock panels throughout Yalrundair are what make a visit to Kimberley Coastal Camp truly unique.

Stay: Kimberley Coastal Camp – Beachfront Bungalow (Note: no ensuite bathrooms)

Today you’ll fly over the incredible Kimberley coastline and the Buccaneer Archipelago, a bright blue sea dotted with islands, to Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm for an insight into the fascinating history of pearling.

At Cygnet Bay they cultivate some of the most sought-after and beautiful pearls in the world. Your guides will demonstrate a pearl harvest, giving a glimpse into a fully operational pearl farm. The experience concludes with an in-depth pearl appreciation session that will leave you feeling like a pearl expert.

Afterwards explore the pristine environment of the Kimberley coast and the immense tidal movements on a sea safari. Experience an abundance of islands that form the Buccaneer Archipelago combined with the world’s largest tropical tides, exposing the unique natural phenomenon of the Waterfall Reef.

You’ll then fly to Broome to spend the night at the award-winning Cable Beach Club Resort & Spa, the only resort overlooking Broome’s iconic Cable Beach. It is the perfect spot to take in Broome’s incredible sunsets. Enjoy dinner and a couple of drinks in one of the resort’s restaurants before spending the evening at leisure.

Stay: Cable Beach Club – Garden View Studio

This morning enjoy breakfast and spend time at leisure. If you are interested in something a little more adventurous we can book you on a two-hour Broome hovercraft experience (additional cost) where you’ll experience standing in 120 million-year old dinosaur trackways on a secluded beach that was once an ancient planar forest floor.

In the afternoon, discover Broome on a private half-day tour with a local guide. Begin with a delicious lunch at the most remote brewery in Australia. Afterwards you’ll learn about Broome’s fascinating history as you walk through Chinatown, visit Sun Pictures – the world’s longest running outdoor cinema built in 1913 – and the Paspaley Pearl Gallery. You’ll also see local sights such as Town Beach, the Japanese Cemetery, Gantheaume Point, and Cable Beach.

Stay: Cable Beach Club – Garden View Studio

This morning board your private air charter to Sal Salis, your home for three nights. En route view the beautiful Ningaloo Reef from above. The reef stretches 280 kilometres along Western Australia’s harsh and arid coast. Ningaloo Reef is an extraordinary yet strangely unknown jewel in Australia’s natural heritage.

Sal Salis Ningaloo Reef is a beachside safari camp nestled in the dunes of the Cape Range National Park. Each wilderness tent offers views of the surrounding bush and beach. Sal Salis is located in a designated Dark Sky area, where light pollution is at a minimum. At night the uninterrupted views of the Milky Way will astound you.

At night, fall asleep to the sound of the waves lapping against the beach, after a full day of activity, fine food, and camaraderie. At Sal Salis you will discover the magic of true eco-luxe camping.

Stay: Sal Salis – Wilderness Tent

Ningaloo Reef is home to over 500 species of colourful fish and 250 coral species. Just beyond the reef also swim the mighty celebrities of the ocean – whale sharks, manta rays, and dolphins. Today brings the unmatched experience of an up close encounter with some of these gentle giants.

Head out on a private charter boat with an experienced marine scientist guide for a private swimming adventure and the chance to snorkel and swim beside 12 – 18 metre long whale sharks in the warm, clear waters of the Indian Ocean.

(Note: These are wild animals and sightings cannot be guaranteed however between April and August each year, whale sharks journey to the Ningaloo Reef to feed on plankton attracted by the mass spawning of coral. A spotter plane above will help give the best chance of seeing these animals.)

Stay: Sal Salis – Wilderness Tent

Wake to the song of a butcherbird, the raucous squawks of a galah, or the thump of a wallaroo passing by.

It is time to do as little or as much as you like. While away the day on the beach or take advantage of the knowledgeable guides who love to show off their backyard with guided walks and snorkelling adventures.

The Cape Range National Park allows excellent wildlife and bird life viewing as you explore at a leisurely pace. Red kangaroos, wallaroos, rock wallabies, and Gould’s goannas are regularly sighted along with many of the 100 bird species that exist in this area. For seasoned birders, fairy wrens, zebra finches, honeyeaters, reef herons, and ospreys can all be found either in or close to the camp.

Stay: Sal Salis – Wilderness Tent

Say goodbye to the turquoise waters of Ningaloo Reef as you depart for Western Australia’s capital city, Perth on a scheduled Qantas flight.

This evening enjoy a group farewell dinner at Post, one of Como The Treasury’s beautiful restaurants. Enjoy a three-course set menu in the private dining room. This is the perfect chance to look back over the last two weeks and the incredible journey you have been on, and say goodbye to the new friends you have made.

Stay: Como The Treasury – Heritage Room

Departure Transfers

SMALL GROUP TERMS & CONDITIONS FOR ALQUEMIE

Inclusions
Prices are per person based on Twin/Double Share, all Meals and Selected Alcoholic & non-Alcoholic Beverages are included, all touring & activities where mentioned, all transfers and charter flights where advised, Alquemie Host throughout

*Single supplement on request

Requirements
The maximum and minimum number of guests is 8 people

Booking your holiday
A booking is accepted only after we receive a request in writing and receive a deposit of 20% of the value of the travel arrangements within 7 days.

*Book by date: 31st January 2019

Final payment
The balance of payment due for your travel arrangements must be paid no later than 100 days before the travel date. For credit card payment, a handling fee applies of 2.9% for Visa, 2.5% for MasterCard, and 1.9% for American Express.

Cancellations
Cancellation of your travel arrangements must be notified to us in writing, and will take effect the day we receive it. The following penalties will apply:
• Within 30 days of confirmation – No cancellation fees apply and deposit will be refunded in full ( not applicable if booked within 100 days )
• After 30 days and more than 100 days prior to departure – 20% of the deposit will be forfeited
• Less than 100 days prior to departure – 100% cancellation fees will apply

Level of Fitness
Kakadu, Arnhemland and the Kimberley are rough and rugged country. In many of the places in the itinerary, there are cleared walking tracks, but not boardwalks or handrails. A reasonable level of fitness & stable footing is required to make the most of the experience.

Cultural Awareness
This itinerary includes highlights with local Aboriginal people. Please be aware that the Aboriginal hosts are traditional people with strong cultural obligations. If unforeseen cultural events occur that coincide with a planned activity, an Aboriginal host may not be available. In this situation we will work with your host to plan alternative activities and highlights.

Wildlife
Whale Sharks, whales and the other animals that inhabit the regions you will be travelling through are completely wild and can at times be unpredictable. Whilst your guides will do their utmost to ensure you are able to experience these animals this cannot be guaranteed.

Aircraft Specifications
Note that for the private air charter sectors this could be either a PC12 or a C208B depending on the airstrips and weather conditions.

Luggage Allowance
Due to the private charter aircraft payload requirements, luggage will be restricted to 10 kg’s per passenger. Should you have excess luggage please enquire with our team who can advise on alternative transportation or storage options at additional cost.

May is quite a hot time of year so the most important items to bring are: A small daypack, camera, good waterproof walking shoes, light cotton clothing, hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, bathers, small torch.

Passports and visas
You must ensure that your passport and travel documentation is in order and that you have obtained the necessary visa and all other requirements for your travel arrangements. We will not be held responsible for you travelling without the correct travel documents.

International and domestic air bookings
Should you require assistance with your international flights please enquire and we will be happy to assist.

If you are looking after your own travel arrangements it is your responsibility to keep us updated as to flight times and numbers of flights booked by you. Cancellation charges will be incurred by you in accordance with airline tariff regulations and will vary according to the type of airfare utilised

Travel insurance
It is a recommendation that you have adequate travel insurance for the full duration of your travel in respect of illness, injury, death, loss of baggage and personal items, cancellation and curtailment. The choice of insurer is at your sole discretion.

Responsibility
We act only as a coordinator for all passengers (including you) with respect to services provided by underlying suppliers, including hotels, lodges, restaurants, road transport providers, professional guides, air charter services, and other activities. We do not own, manage, control or operate any transportation vehicle, any hotel or any other supplier of services. All bookings with us are therefore subject to the limitations of liability imposed by the underlying suppliers involved in your travel arrangements. We assume no responsibility for any loss, damage to baggage or property or for injury, illness or death or for any damages or claims however so caused arising directly or indirectly from accidents, loss or damage to person or property, delays, transport failures, strikes, war, force majeure, acts of god etc. Or any other loss arising from or pursuant to your travel arrangements.