How to experience Aboriginal cultures when staying at a Luxury Lodge of Australia
From the Northern Territory to Tasmania, Australia has its fair share of opulent lodges – places that are far from cookie-cutter, and that embrace the destination and culture of the communities that they call home.
Part of the Signature Experiences of Australia suite of offerings, Luxury Lodges of Australia unites these exceptional properties as a collective – all are located in an extraordinary region of Australia, all come with the niceties you’d expect of five-star accommodations. But Luxury Lodges of Australia are much more than just a place to stay – their real point of difference is connecting you to place, and in many cases, that means connection with Indigenous heritage. Here’s how you can check into beautiful accommodation, and then take a deep dive into Aboriginal cultures and traditions.
Silky Oaks
This eco-lodge sits pretty in the World Heritage-listed wilderness of the Daintree Rainforest in Tropical North Queensland, overlooking the serene Mossman River.
Silky Oaks collaborates with many groups to offer insights into local Kuku Yalanji Aboriginal culture. Sign up to join Juan Walker on one of his Walkabout Cultural Adventures, exploring Cooya Beach (his ancestral home), visiting Mossman Gorge, hunting for mud crabs in mangroves and tasting bush tucker.
You can also opt to visit the Mossman Gorge Cultural Centre on a Ngadiku Dreamtime Walk, combining a smoking ceremony to ward off bad spirits with a guided rainforest journey steeped in ancient culture.
Brian ‘Binna’ Swindley operates Janbal Gallery in the area, the space dedicated to Aboriginal art. Silky Oaks can organise a visit that sees you get hands-on in a creative workshop decoding Kuku Yalanji symbols and painting techniques.
And if you want a sky-high adventure, jump in a helicopter to an exclusive Cape York location to unravel the ancient stories of a 20,000-year-old outback museum with Jarramali Rock Art Tours.
El Questro
Set on more than 400,000 hectares in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, El Questro is as remote as it is ravishing. Choose from various accommodation options, including the luxe Homestead.
The Traditional Owners of the land that El Questro sits on are the Ngarinyin people, and their stories are revealed on the property’s Injiid Marlabu Calls Us tour. With an Aboriginal guide, be Welcomed to Country, learn Ngarinyin language and wander through a vast landscape discovering bush tucker and medicines as well as ancient, and spiritual, sites.
Bamurru Plains
Bamurru unites style and sustainability in equal measure, providing a luxurious for exploring the wild coastal floodplains of the Mary River delta on the edge of Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory.
When you stay at Bamurru Plains, you’re surrounded by rich Aboriginal history dating back more than 65,000 years. Join Kakadu Cultural Tours on a Guluyambi Cultural Cruise along Kakadu’s spectacular East Alligator River, taking in this World Heritage-listed landscape at a leisurely pace while learning about its Dreaming stories and abundant food chain from an Aboriginal guide.
