Bamurru Plains

Positives: Good food, friendly competent staff, good accommodation. The land “safaris” and airboat trips were enjoyable. (Two full days is enough though as they start to repeat). Plenty of Buffaloes (it’s a Buffalo farm), birds, wallabies right in front of the accommodation. Good place to identify birds and if your inclined, tick the book they supply. We did see a few crocs. Negatives: All the guides we had were young and non-indigenous and most were on temporary visas. As none had been working there more than a few months, they could only provide limited knowledge of the animal life, the geology or the history. This is a frustration, if bird identification isn’t your focus (Note: The guides did try and there was one guide with a background in environmental science and a particular enthusiasm we appreciated). Future: There has been a recent change of ownership. It will be interesting to see if there is a focus on providing guides with greater knowledge of the land, the animals, the history/culture, the issues and the stories.

We stayed 3 nights at Bamurru Plains and whilst the location, accomodation, and service was absolutely amazing there were a few things that disappointed us. The first was the clear absence of relations between this organisation and the local Indigenous peoples, whose lands we were on. It surprised me that there were no Indigenous guides, nor any visible attempts to collaborate or respect the knowledge and connection they hold with the land. Not only did we find this culturally disrespectful, but this also led to our second disappointment: the lack of knowledge of Country, of animals/land/people, and of the rich 60,000+ year history. The tours offered a very shallow and repetitive understanding of the area, and were instead focused upon comfort and indulgence rather than knowledge. I do not place any blame on individual staff members for these inadequacies as they were genuinely lovely , however this clearly shows organisational structural choices of Bamurru Plains that have not prioritised cultural respect, understanding, and collaboration, which I would have assumed would be necessary when situated right next to the the heart of Arnhem land.

Bamurru Plains Point Stuart Beautiful place but too expensive! 1065828057 We have travelled previously in Australia with Wild Bush Luxury and had excellent experiences. So we thought we'd complete our 2-week travel in the Top End with a 3-night stay with Wild Bush Luxury at Bamurru Plains. On arrival, however, we discovered that Bamurru Plains has changed hands. We were met by Peter and Sophie on the first day - they were perfect as front-of-house staff throughout our stay, both attentive and helpful. Also, we thought the food was perfect on the 2 days that Adam was in charge in the kitchen. Wine was freely available, so we did not think it was necessary for the 3-course dinners to be accompanied by matching wines. The Lodge was where breakfast, lunch and dinner were served. There was a free-flowing bar plus a lounge area that was often in use as wifi was only available at The Lodge. The deck area was also frequently used, looking out to the floodplains dotted by wildlife - water buffaloes, wallabies, magpie geese, cockatoos etc. Our ensuite bungalow was wonderful. The mesh walls allowed the free flow of air plus proximity to nature. It was very peaceful at night, hearing the water buffaloes lowing and the barking owls hooting, and to be woken in the morning by the calls of magpie geese and cockatoos. Our young overseas guides took us out in open-sided 4x4 vehicles for 3 wildlife safaris around the property. And we enjoyed 2 airboat safaris in the wetlands, including one with Annie who had met us at the airport when we arrived - she got back to us with answers to our questions before dinner on our last night, which we appreciated. We thought 3 airboat safaris was one too many. This was necessary as the Mary River trip to see the crocodiles did not eventuate. Some guests had gone the day before, but we were told the engine had broken down. We thought there would be a backup boat or engine but were told this was not the case. We also saw The Hide on the property, but no one told us whether it could be used. In fact, we were told to keep close to the property - we guess for fear of crocodiles? snakes? Overall, it was a restful experience, however, in terms of value for money, it was a very expensive 3 nights!