THE FACTS ABOUT BAMURRU PLAINS

Australia

This new African-style lodge in northern Australia gives adventure seekers with a taste for understated luxury the option of going on safari Down Under. Located in the Mary River wetlands next to the famous Kakadu National Park, Bamurru Plains is in a wildlife sanctuary with hundreds of thousands of migratory birds, the world's largest estuarine crocodiles, Asian buffalo, Indian sambar deer, wild boar, wallabies and flocks of flying foxes. Built on stilts in an elegant design using a mix of hardwood and industrial materials, the spacious, open-plan lodge (with dining area, bar, kitchen and comfortable lounge area) has a large deck with a swimming pool overlooking the flood plain where the wildlife comes to drink and wallow. The villas, also on stilts, are stylish in their simplicity and have beautiful bathrooms; the service is faultless in an engagingly open and warm Aussie way; and the chef produces five-star cuisine: pre-dinner Pacific prawns, scallops and crocodile canapés set the scene. Spend your days in a sea-plane skimming over the flood plain, cruise along crocodile-infested rivers, watch herds of buffalo amble past your villa at dawn or cool off in the pool watched by dozens of wallabies. Barramundi fishing trips and excursions to Aboriginal rock-art sites can be organised. WHEN TO GO April to August is best. ROOM TO BOOK All the villas are sensational. CONTACT Swim Creek Station, Northern Territory, Australia (00 612 9231 2923; www.bamurruplains.com). COST A$850 (about £345) per person per night, including meals, drinks and standard safari activities