Darwin tour and sailing trip, Northern Territories, Australia
| country: | Australia | ||||
| location: | Northern Territory | ||||
| departures: | This trip can be tailor made anytime between 1 Sep 2009 - 31 Mar 2010 | ||||
| price: | From AU $2,224 - AU $2,350 (5 days) excluding flights
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| late availability: | Take the family and enjoy your Christmas Holidays in style sailing in the Top End of Australia. | ||||
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Darwin tour and sailing trip, Northern Territories, Australia
Darwin oozes that laid back feel so many crave in this highly stressed world. Edged with palm trees and a shimmering blue ocean, Australia’s most northern capital is a serene contrast from the extreme centre.
The relaxed Australian manner is adopted by the many cultures that reside there – at least 50 nationalities share the cosmopolitan energy that infects Darwin, with its sunset markets, wharf side eateries and Aboriginal art centres. Not short on history, Darwin’s WWII trail will amaze and inspire you while the museums will make you want to stay longer. Sail out of Darwin and overnight on a luxury catamaran. Quiet sailing increases your chance to see dolphins, turtles, sea snakes and dugongs. Visit remote islands and observe some unique and spectacular wildlife.
Darwin oozes that laid back feel so many crave in this highly stressed world. Edged with palm trees and a shimmering blue ocean, Australia’s most northern capital is a serene contrast from the extreme centre.
The relaxed Australian manner is adopted by the many cultures that reside there – at least 50 nationalities share the cosmopolitan energy that infects Darwin, with its sunset markets, wharf side eateries and Aboriginal art centres. Not short on history, Darwin’s WWII trail will amaze and inspire you while the museums will make you want to stay longer. Sail out of Darwin and overnight on a luxury catamaran. Quiet sailing increases your chance to see dolphins, turtles, sea snakes and dugongs. Visit remote islands and observe some unique and spectacular wildlife.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrive Darwin and check into your breath-taking, exotic, totally unique architect designed Rainforest Villas. Each garden villa enjoys private and individual indoor and outdoor retreats and direct access to the stunning waterfall sandstone and greenstone pools. |
| Day 2: | Today is yours to explore the vibrant tropical city of Darwin. Exploring the compact CBD of Darwin by day is best done on foot or it can also be circumnavigated on a bicycle following a designated path that meanders through the lush esplanade that skirts the CBD and provides great views over the harbour. Local restaurants serve dishes from all over the world along with authentic Northern Territory cuisine like mud crabs, barramundi, buffalo, kangaroo and crocodile. On weekends the city is scattered with open air markets at Parap, Nightcliff and Mindil Beach. Here you’ll find an array of stalls serving cuisines from all over Asia and locally made arts and crafts. There are also performances from musicians and artists, a variety of street theatre, traditional bush poetry and even free stock-whip cracking lessons. The choice is yours. |
| Day 3: | Relax with morning tea and lunch while we sail the 4-6 hours (depending on the tide and winds) from Cullen Bay and along the coastline to Charles Point, towards Boyne Harbour Marine Park. This mangrove habitat is rich in marine and bird life. Quiet sailing increases your chance to see dolphins, turtles, sea snakes and dugongs. Chat with our friendly, knowledgeable crew about Darwin, the harbour, marine systems and wildlife. Excursions ashore via dingy require only a basic level of fitness. Anchor off Bare Sand Island and dingy ashore to view birds or simply walk the 45 minutes around the island. Finish the day with sundowner drinks on the island as the sun sinks into the Timor Sea. Bare Sand Island is the major flat back turtle nesting ground in the Top End. Depending on tide, there might be night viewing of turtles. A leisurely sail into Boyne Harbour, anchoring off one of the sheltered bays, allows time for fishing or mud crabbing, choose to go ashore for more bird watching, photos or beach combing! |
| Day 4: | Overnight on the water. Watch the sunrise or enjoy a sleep in. There’s a leisurely breakfast of cereal and fruit followed by bacon, eggs and baked beans with toast and tea or coffee. Enjoy a leisurely coastal sail with lunch and arrive at Cullen Bay Marina. Overnight back at your luxurious Rainforest Villa. |
| Day 5: | Depart Darwin. |
how this holiday makes a difference
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Environment
The Sailing component is accredited by Ecotourism Australia and is a locally owned and operated business. As an Ecotourism Australia accredited business operator they use resources wisely and offer tourism in natural areas that offers interesting ways to learn about the environment. The owners also have science degrees and have been involved in natural resource management. They provide guests with information on top end marine environments as well as providing a relaxed luxury soft adventure sailing experience. Bynoe Harbour Marine Park is one of our key destinations for our multi day sailing safaris aboard ‘EcoSafari’, a luxury 12m SeaWind 1160 Sailing Catamaran. Bynoe Harbour is home to a diverse range of relatively intact marine and coastal habitats and contains some of the Northern Territory’s best quality reefs. Bynoe Harbour contains a rich mixture of plants and animals and provides internationally significant habitats for many species of high conservation value. The accommodation provider has been accredited under the AAA Tourism Green 5 Star 'Environmentally Friendly Hotel'. This unique initiative rewards commitment to simple environmental best practice providing property managers with a common sense system for reducing their environmental impact. The Eco-Friendly star means that the hotel has earned this accreditation based on assessment criteria falling under: Eco-Friendly STAR Accreditation is tailored specifically for the accommodation industry. The Standards used were developed by AAA Tourism in partnership with GREEN GLOBE – the internationally recognised performance improvement program for the tourism industry. Community Both the accommodation provider and Sailing company are both owned and operated by Darwin locals who have lived in Darwin for more than 30 years. Through using these local operators ensures that new economies are injected into the community. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |