Arnhem Land

If by Arnhem land you mean nhulumbuy you'll need the appropriate travel permits which can be hard to obtain from the local Aboriginal authority.

They do have one open day at the Garma festival at nhulumbuy which is for locals, we attended it this year, there was confusion as to if tourists were allowed and we couldn't get an answer so we tried our luck and they let us in.

You'll need permits for most of the camping areas, the popular ones book out fast so be quick, and some may be closed. Locals also turn up at the camping areas so even a booking does not guarantee you'll get a site. I would suggest you book a few days at nhulumbuy as a base and use that to explore where you want to camp. If attending at festival time you'll need to book well in advance as it is very popular time and accommodation can be scarce. Most camping areas are accessed by narrow tracks, a couple of places we would have liked to have camped we decided against as it would have been very tight getting our Vista in. One camping area had just had a make over and access was very good with good amenities and well laid out camping areas. Other camp grounds are fairly basic with some laid out areas and some bush camps.

Some of the beach areas have very dry powdery sand, we had trouble getting out of one area with just the Prado, talking to locals it is not unusual to get stuck where we did. Another camper told us it took him a day to get out of where we got bogged down, he was worried for his pregnant wife so called the local police who sent a car out to help, he managed to get out eventually and helped recover the police 4x4 on the way out that also got stuck!

We also found it was not possible to obtain permits to travel roads apart from the main road in and out of nhulumbuy, we would have liked to have done that as we were expecting to see lots of wet lands bird life etc which did not eventuate on the trip in. If we did that area again we would book a trip with one of the tour mobs who have access to those areas.

The road in as expected and hard going, we came across one camper that did not make it and another at nhulumbuy that required extensive repairs to get it out. I also discovered the lower bushes on the Vistas shocks had collapsed after the road into Smith point and then to nhulumbuy so was no great surprise.

I can't remember the name of the river off hand but when you reach the new bridge your there, there is a nice camp site on the river where the old river crossing is, you can access it via a road off to the right before you reach the new bridge but beware the crocs though as someone had left a note pinned to a tree indicating a big croc had been seen in the area, we didn't see any though.

Hi Scout

If you are refering to the Nhulunbuy area, give yourself lots of time.

Keep an eye out here on the Blog section, as I am in the final stages of putting up a new blog just on the Central Arnhem Highway., which is a gret drive in itself.

The area is pushing hard for tourists to get there, as since the closure of the refinery and the processing plant, 2500 people lost their jobs overnight, so tourism is now the main focus to kept the town going ahead, and no you do not have to go with organised tours, as Fiona and I did it by ourselves, with our Ultimate in tow and our 2 boys...Rusty the Kelpie and Oscar the Red Heeler.

The Northern Lands Council are dead easy to deal with, and if you walk into their Katherine office, you will be on your way within 10 minutes with your free permit in hand.

Then there is the big but........

You must prove that you have approved accomodation when you get to Nhulunbuy and it will pay to book ahead at the Walkabout Lodge, as they only have 12 powered sites behind the motel complex.

All other areas require one of 2 permits from the Dimhurru Aboriginal corporation.

The general permit will give you access to most camping and tourist attractions around Nhulunguy, while the special permit will give to privilege to visit and camp at more remote places, with numbers strictly monitored.

The only area that was out to everyone last August, was Scout Camp where there was a very big crocodile causing a few problems and they shut the area to everyone to stop the croc having a free feed on tourists.

Like I said, keep an eye for my new blog that should be up by the end of the week.


Happy Planning and you will not be dissapointed.



Cheers



Stephen

We have been in Nulunbuy during May/June 2016. We enjoyed the trip very much, only a few travellers on the road and few people during our one week stay at Cape Arnhem. There was only a very small amount of litter on the beaches. It was very hot and humid and sometimes heavy but short rain falls.

Obtaining the permit from NLC at Katherine was very quick and their office very responsive to email. We were disappointed not to obtain a permit to travel directly to Maningrida. On the other hand we managed to get a permit to visit the art gallery and the community travelling through Oenpelli.

Andreas