Arnhemlander 4WD Cultural Tour
Arnhemlander 4WD Cultural Tour
Arnhemlander 4WD Cultural Tour
4.5
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About
Arnhemlander an exceptional Aboriginal cultural & heritage day tour into Arnhemland. With an experienced guide, owned and operated by traditional owners. Meet artist's along the way at Injalak Art Gallery. Travelling into the Mikinj valleys stunning scenery and billabongs, wildlife. World famous rock art sites, escarpments, forests, birdlife, floodplains.
Jabiru, Northern Territory, Australia
Awards
Travellers' Choice
2023
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Arnhemlander 4WD Cultural Tour
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4.5
249 reviews
Excellent
210
Very good
23
Average
8
Poor
5
Terrible
3
Sharon
1 contribution
Sep. 2023 • Couples
We've had a great and insightful tour to West Arnhemland. The transport was very comfortable with cold water on board. Our guide (Nick) had a lot of interesting stories and background to share about the area, animals and people. It was a unique day tour. Very much recommend.
Written 1 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dana M
38 contributions
Sep. 2023 • Family
What a great tour! Our guide Jason was respectful and knowledgeable about the Bininj culture and shared lots of stories that had been passed onto him from local elders. We saw incredible rock art galleries and visited Injalak art centre where we had the opportunity to talk with some of the artists and see them painting and weaving, and a visit to the screen printing workshop. The scenery throughout Arnhem land was incredibly beautiful, lunch by the billabong was great, and we were fortunate to see plenty of wildlife.
We loved that the tour was personalised (we travelled as a family in a 4wd, not a bus) and Jason was fantastic with our young children, answering their never ending questions and making sure that they had fun as well.
We loved that the tour was personalised (we travelled as a family in a 4wd, not a bus) and Jason was fantastic with our young children, answering their never ending questions and making sure that they had fun as well.
Written 30 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Krista W
1 contribution
Aug. 2023 • Family
Not exactly what I expected
I booked this tour after reading the brochure at our resort advertising "predominantly Aboriginal Guides" and looking for an insight into Arnhemland and the Aboriginal people, lifestyle and culture.
Although our guide had 20+ years experience in the area with knowledge of the plants, animals and birds we saw, he was not Aboriginal and therefore we got little insight into the stories and meanings of rock art and absolutely zero interaction with any Aboriginal people whatsoever.
At the Injinak Arts Centre there were no Aboriginal women weaving baskets, or painting, and the staff working there were also not Aboriginal
Our guide showed us a Woomera and spear to try but the spear was broken and therefore would not throw so that was a bit of a waste.
We did enjoy seeing the rock art and also the crocs during our lunch time stop, but overall for a family of 4 at close to $1k did not see the value.
We did the Guluyambi Cultural Cruise the day before with Hilton (Aboriginal Guide) and found this more insightful and enjoyable even though it was less than 2 hours and only a quarter of the price.
I booked this tour after reading the brochure at our resort advertising "predominantly Aboriginal Guides" and looking for an insight into Arnhemland and the Aboriginal people, lifestyle and culture.
Although our guide had 20+ years experience in the area with knowledge of the plants, animals and birds we saw, he was not Aboriginal and therefore we got little insight into the stories and meanings of rock art and absolutely zero interaction with any Aboriginal people whatsoever.
At the Injinak Arts Centre there were no Aboriginal women weaving baskets, or painting, and the staff working there were also not Aboriginal
Our guide showed us a Woomera and spear to try but the spear was broken and therefore would not throw so that was a bit of a waste.
We did enjoy seeing the rock art and also the crocs during our lunch time stop, but overall for a family of 4 at close to $1k did not see the value.
We did the Guluyambi Cultural Cruise the day before with Hilton (Aboriginal Guide) and found this more insightful and enjoyable even though it was less than 2 hours and only a quarter of the price.
Written 31 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Murray L
Sydney, Australia3 contributions
Jul. 2023 • Couples
This was a brilliant tour! Our guide Nick was incredibly knowledgeable and engaging and took us to places that normal tours would not be able to access. The tour included beautiful scenery, Indigenous rock art, a visit to the Injalak art centre and township of Gunbalanya, and a picnic lunch beside the wonderful billabong there.
Written 24 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
JFS
Sydney, Australia44 contributions
Jul. 2023 • Family
We took the all day Arnhemlander tour and were picked up at our hotel at around 8am and brought back late afternoon.
If you are originally from outside Australia [we are from Europe and Asia] you are going to see evidence of human habitation in this ancient area in the form of rock paintings dating back long before the Roman, Greek and Egyptian civilisations. That is really something for all adopted Australians to be proud of and want to keep intact for future generations.
If you want to learn about this, actually stand close to and look at this ancient art then you are in for a real treat on this tour.
Nick was our guide for the day and he carefully and attentively looked after us from start to finish. He is very informative about this huge area its people, geography, fauna and animals. It truly was an 8 hr hour education and visual feast which included special permission to visit certain sites for close up photos [thank you!].
Also included stunning scenery and the obligatory crocodiles at Cahill crossing and the small town of Gunbalanya where we had a tasty lunch overlooking the picturesque lagoon watching the crocs square off with each other in the water – a truly surreal experience.
People are doing it tough in this town and surrounding areas so a visit to the Injalak arts is also an opportunity for you to buy some local art and crafts as well as put some money into the community.
In all this this is simply a stunning tour and if you are in the Kakadu area this tour is probably the only way to get into Arnhemland.
Well done Nick and team and thank you for a memorable day.
If you are originally from outside Australia [we are from Europe and Asia] you are going to see evidence of human habitation in this ancient area in the form of rock paintings dating back long before the Roman, Greek and Egyptian civilisations. That is really something for all adopted Australians to be proud of and want to keep intact for future generations.
If you want to learn about this, actually stand close to and look at this ancient art then you are in for a real treat on this tour.
Nick was our guide for the day and he carefully and attentively looked after us from start to finish. He is very informative about this huge area its people, geography, fauna and animals. It truly was an 8 hr hour education and visual feast which included special permission to visit certain sites for close up photos [thank you!].
Also included stunning scenery and the obligatory crocodiles at Cahill crossing and the small town of Gunbalanya where we had a tasty lunch overlooking the picturesque lagoon watching the crocs square off with each other in the water – a truly surreal experience.
People are doing it tough in this town and surrounding areas so a visit to the Injalak arts is also an opportunity for you to buy some local art and crafts as well as put some money into the community.
In all this this is simply a stunning tour and if you are in the Kakadu area this tour is probably the only way to get into Arnhemland.
Well done Nick and team and thank you for a memorable day.
Written 24 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Abi B
1 contribution
Jul. 2023 • Couples
Such a special experience. Our tour guide Nick was passionate and informative. Best - and oldest - rock art you'll ever see.
Written 20 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jess R
Dunedin, New Zealand60 contributions
Jul. 2023 • Solo
Fantastic tour! Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about the information he was sharing which made for an awesome day. The tour gives you insights into areas you would otherwise either not be allowed to access or wouldn’t realise were significant cultural sites. Definitely recommend!
Written 4 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
venrique514
Montreal, Canada29 contributions
May 2023
I should have read the reviews for the Arnhemlander 4WD Cultural Tour on Trip Advisor beforehand. The tour turned out to be a waste of time & money and it is definitely the worst tour I have taken in a long time.
Not only we did not meet or had any interaction with any aboriginal person, but the driver (as in not a guide) was a white fellow who although knowledgeable about the culture (his wife is aboriginal), kept saying that he was not a guide and that guiding was not his day job, even apologizing for his "tour" not being structured. He also was not able to tell what some of the rock paintings were and kept guessing what they were... just like us.
When I sent and email to provide my feedback, their "Director" not only never apologized or said he was sorry we had a bad experience, but he wrote a quite defensive (perhaps even offensive) and condescending email telling me that we had a very professional and experienced guide (even though he said multiple times he was not a guide) and saying things like "... for your enlightenment...", ".. what you are saying is wrong and unreasonable...", "... you are the only one complaining..." and he even told me that I was not an expert in guiding so who was I to dare questioning the "guide's" professionalism and saying he was not experienced!
Well, I guess I am just a paying customer, but obviously these people have no idea what customer service is. Ever heard about "Customer is always right"?
If all you are interested on is setting foot in Arnhemland, go for it. But if you are interested in learning about aboriginal culture, you are better off with the free activities offered in the park (i.e. ranger walks and cultural centres) because this tour, run by Kakadu Cultural Tours, does not really provide any further insight or information about it.
Below is the e-mail I sent to them in case you are interested in the details. I replied to it on My 28th and even dared to ask for compensation. Obviously I never got a reply; as I said, they simply do not know what customer service is.
"
Dear KCT team,
My wife and I were on the Arnhemlander Tour this morning (May 21) and we found it quite disappointing, so we wanted to give you some feedback about it.
Your website mentions that KCT is 100% aboriginal owned & operated and describes this tour as "An exceptional Aboriginal cultural & heritage day tour into Arnhem Land & Northern Kakadu with an experienced guide". We do not usually book sightseeing tours, but this one looked like a good opportunity to further learn about and get more insight into aboriginal culture, so we were sure that this tour would be the highlight of our visit not only to Kakadu, but also to the NT.
So you can imagine our disenchantment when we did not have contact with a single aboriginal person throughout the day and when we realized that we did not even have a guide, let alone an experienced one. Our "guide" mentioned a couple of times that this is not his "day job" and apologized for his "tour not being very structured", adding that he is not a guide. Furthermore, he is not aboriginal himself, so the insight that he was able to provide was very limited. All of this made it feel more like a "Hop on hop off" sightseeing tour rather than "An exceptional Aboriginal cultural & heritage" one.
In addition, I even contacted you on April 30th to confirm that the tour would take us to Gunbalanya and the Injalak Arts Centre before making my booking and I was told that the tour would be going into Gunbalanya through the season. So we were also unpleasantly surprised when we learned this morning that the Injalak Arts Centre was closed and that we were not going to go to Gunbalanya.
Our driver was really good and did his best and I can appreciate that. He seems to have good knowledge of the culture since he married into and has been living in the community for about 30 years. However, he is not a guide and does not have that deep knowledge and intimate understanding of the culture, so he cannot convey the information the way an aboriginal person would.
At almost $300 per person I would expect this tour to deliver a good cultural experience on a structured tour with a professional guide. If, like in today's case, this is not possible because there was no guide available and it was not possible to go to Gunbalanya, I would have preferred for the tour to be cancelled or at least to know about it beforehand and have the possibility to cancel my booking and get a refund. Of course I would be disappointed, but better to be disappointed for not being able to do the tour than for having a subpar experience that does not meet the expectations.
We choose the tours we do very carefully, so if we would have known that this would be a sightseeing tour instead of a cultural one and that it would not provide much more knowledge or insight than what we get reading the displays in the Cultural Centres, we would simply not had booked it.
We had heard and read good things about KCT, so we hope that what we are describing in this message is an exception because we really feel that what we got is not what we paid for. Nonetheless we thought it was important to share it with you in hopes that it helps you to improve the quality of your products and/or processes.
...
"
Not only we did not meet or had any interaction with any aboriginal person, but the driver (as in not a guide) was a white fellow who although knowledgeable about the culture (his wife is aboriginal), kept saying that he was not a guide and that guiding was not his day job, even apologizing for his "tour" not being structured. He also was not able to tell what some of the rock paintings were and kept guessing what they were... just like us.
When I sent and email to provide my feedback, their "Director" not only never apologized or said he was sorry we had a bad experience, but he wrote a quite defensive (perhaps even offensive) and condescending email telling me that we had a very professional and experienced guide (even though he said multiple times he was not a guide) and saying things like "... for your enlightenment...", ".. what you are saying is wrong and unreasonable...", "... you are the only one complaining..." and he even told me that I was not an expert in guiding so who was I to dare questioning the "guide's" professionalism and saying he was not experienced!
Well, I guess I am just a paying customer, but obviously these people have no idea what customer service is. Ever heard about "Customer is always right"?
If all you are interested on is setting foot in Arnhemland, go for it. But if you are interested in learning about aboriginal culture, you are better off with the free activities offered in the park (i.e. ranger walks and cultural centres) because this tour, run by Kakadu Cultural Tours, does not really provide any further insight or information about it.
Below is the e-mail I sent to them in case you are interested in the details. I replied to it on My 28th and even dared to ask for compensation. Obviously I never got a reply; as I said, they simply do not know what customer service is.
"
Dear KCT team,
My wife and I were on the Arnhemlander Tour this morning (May 21) and we found it quite disappointing, so we wanted to give you some feedback about it.
Your website mentions that KCT is 100% aboriginal owned & operated and describes this tour as "An exceptional Aboriginal cultural & heritage day tour into Arnhem Land & Northern Kakadu with an experienced guide". We do not usually book sightseeing tours, but this one looked like a good opportunity to further learn about and get more insight into aboriginal culture, so we were sure that this tour would be the highlight of our visit not only to Kakadu, but also to the NT.
So you can imagine our disenchantment when we did not have contact with a single aboriginal person throughout the day and when we realized that we did not even have a guide, let alone an experienced one. Our "guide" mentioned a couple of times that this is not his "day job" and apologized for his "tour not being very structured", adding that he is not a guide. Furthermore, he is not aboriginal himself, so the insight that he was able to provide was very limited. All of this made it feel more like a "Hop on hop off" sightseeing tour rather than "An exceptional Aboriginal cultural & heritage" one.
In addition, I even contacted you on April 30th to confirm that the tour would take us to Gunbalanya and the Injalak Arts Centre before making my booking and I was told that the tour would be going into Gunbalanya through the season. So we were also unpleasantly surprised when we learned this morning that the Injalak Arts Centre was closed and that we were not going to go to Gunbalanya.
Our driver was really good and did his best and I can appreciate that. He seems to have good knowledge of the culture since he married into and has been living in the community for about 30 years. However, he is not a guide and does not have that deep knowledge and intimate understanding of the culture, so he cannot convey the information the way an aboriginal person would.
At almost $300 per person I would expect this tour to deliver a good cultural experience on a structured tour with a professional guide. If, like in today's case, this is not possible because there was no guide available and it was not possible to go to Gunbalanya, I would have preferred for the tour to be cancelled or at least to know about it beforehand and have the possibility to cancel my booking and get a refund. Of course I would be disappointed, but better to be disappointed for not being able to do the tour than for having a subpar experience that does not meet the expectations.
We choose the tours we do very carefully, so if we would have known that this would be a sightseeing tour instead of a cultural one and that it would not provide much more knowledge or insight than what we get reading the displays in the Cultural Centres, we would simply not had booked it.
We had heard and read good things about KCT, so we hope that what we are describing in this message is an exception because we really feel that what we got is not what we paid for. Nonetheless we thought it was important to share it with you in hopes that it helps you to improve the quality of your products and/or processes.
...
"
Written 27 June 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Slide M
1 contribution
Jun. 2023 • Couples
After reading other reviews, things have certainly gone downhill. I did the Arnhemlander Cultural Tour today (15/6/23) and it was a total waste of money. We saw no art being made. We saw no basket weaving. We were not demonstrated any survival skills (as advertised). Our “generous lunch” was a dry bread roll with no butter, 2 slices of ham and a bit of salad. Our “experienced guide” had been on the job for 2 weeks. He was not indigenous. His knowledge was based on what he had aquired on Google. We met one artist who hung around for 5 minutes before disappearing. We were constantly pressured to buy artworks. There was so much padding it was ridiculous. At $289 per person, saying I am greatly disappointed is a vast understatement.
Written 15 June 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rob
1 contribution
May 2023 • Couples
Small group led by expert guide Nick to beautiful floodplain, billabong, savannah woodlands and incredible stone country and amazing rock art sites. Great appropriate communication of cultural knowledge in Cannon Hill area on May 2nd
Written 15 May 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Prueskee
Los Angeles, CA93 contributions
I've booked the tour and looking forward to it, but can anyone give me some insight as to what the lunch consists of?
HDStripad
Australia903 contributions
A small fresh chicken salad in a box with sweet drinks, followed by sweet cake or biscuits. I am not fond of cake and sweet biscuits and wished I had taken some fruit or crackers. The lunches are packed by the Border Store cafe. You can request a vegetarian option but be sure to make dietary preferences clear at the time of booking. Water is available to refill water bottles. We didn’t take the tour for the food.
yoganomad2017
Hobart, Australia
Hi I would like to book a day tour for two people on any days between June25th and 28th. Could you let me know how to do this? Thanks
CMK31
Brisbane30 contributions
Agree with Peter E on calling the tour company on the 1800 number.
If you like aboriginal art, make sure you book a tour that is not on a Sunday or public holiday when the Injalak Art Centre is closed. The centre had a reasonable number of paintings available for sale at varying quality and price points and I fell in love with several, but managed to only buy one. A short tour of the centre is included and very worthwhile and there is no pressure to buy.