16 DAY "HELL WEST AND CROOKED" ADVENTURE

Emphasis: Canoeing, wilderness, Aboriginal art, land and culture.

Hell west and crooked was how legendary drover, bushman and crocodile shooter Tom Cole described the raw frontier land of the Top End of the Northern Territory. Sinuous rivers, sandstone escarpments, monsoonal vine forests and vast wetland plains are just some of the diverse environments he experienced. In this tour we have captured some of the adventurous elements that Tom Cole experienced but with one major difference - we visit some of the best features the Top End has to offer in a mode of comfort that makes it a seemless experience.

This journey provides you with a rare opportunity to view the dynamic frontier landscape of the Top End including the brilliant Katherine, Flora and Daly River systems, the World Heritage Listed Kakadu National Park and its mysterious neighbour Arnhem Land. You experience indigenous lifestyle, culture and art while visiting the Land of the Lightning Brothers and an Aboriginal Homeland on an Island off the Arnhem Land coast. Your journey finishes at a remote safari camp located in one of the richest natural and cultural settings in Australia. The network of billabongs (lagoons), creek systems, flood plains, sandstone rock outliers and palm and monsoonal rainforest teeming with wildlife and fish provided one of the prime habitats for thousands of years of Aboriginal occupation. The catacomb like tunnels carved by the ancient sea millions of years ago into the outliers and the many rock shelters contain one of the most extensive repositories of Aboriginal art to be found anywhere in Australia.

"What a fabulous trip you organised for us, everyone was over the moon about every aspect. It is difficult to work out the highlights as there were so many. However, the canoeing at the start was an ideal way to throw the group together. Although we all knew each other we certainly had not lived so close as was required on the river. After a very short time we were paddling as experienced canoeists. Our guide was just so patient and positive with his group of geriatrics!

I think it is important when contemplating the type of trip we undertook to realise that time is needed to come to grips with the whole environment, not only the physical features but also the aboriginal culture. This part of Australia cannot be appreciated in a rush trip of only a week!" Ian Curlewis

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To enquire about this experience or have it included in a tailor made itinerary - Just ask!