In East Arnhem Land, Bawaka Experience has been leading the way since 2014. Founded by Timmy Djawa Burarrwanga “to carry on my dad’s vision and dreams for our community”, the site sits on the ancestral land of the Gumatj clan, with ties to the Burarrwanga family, custodians of the country. Guests learn about moiety, called yirritja, and kinship, known as dhuwa, and how they connect Yolngu people to their land, as well as bush foods, weaving pandanus leaves, and hunting for crab along the tidal flats with spears. Visitors stay in simple beach cabins or two-person tents steps from the sand.
Building on a similar vision is Yolngu-owned Buymarr Getaways, founded by Nathan Djerrkura, who grew up on the land and wants to give visitors a slice of his upbringing. Aiming to open after this year’s wet season, it will welcome guests to stay in no-frills campgrounds and simple tents and explore the untouched East Arnhem coastline – they’ll learn to spear fish and speak a Yolngu matha phrase or two, and listen to a yarn by the campfire.
Margaret River, Western Australia
It’s barely 9am in Bunker Bay and a small queue is forming outside Ilma Beach House. Sister property to the bucolic Meelup Farmhouse, it’s a few sandy steps from the aquamarine Indian Ocean. The prime tables beneath the crisp white parasols on the timber deck are disappearing fast – in an hour the place will be humming with holidaymakers tucking into crab Benedict and ricotta pancakes, clinking citrussy martinis. It’s this breezy, white-linen breakfast scene – more Hamptons than country Western Australia – that signals the gearshift in this spot.
This is the northern tip of Cape Naturaliste, part of the Margaret River region, where the road, three hours southwest of Perth, slips into more than 80 miles of unblemished Western Australian coastline. From Busselton’s long timber jetty to Augusta’s windswept capes, the towns of Dunsborough, Yallingup, Cowaramup and Margaret River are strung together by slender bush-lined roads and rolling vineyards that spill towards honeyed shores.
