Luxury Escapes Kimberley

[RB]

Got the regular email today but it is the first time I have noticed the Kimberley trip. Has anyone already done this trip or have any thoughts on the offer?
Majestic Kimberley: a Luxury Small-Group Tour

 

[jb747]

I can't comment on the tour operator or accommodation, but the Bungles themselves are extraordinary.

 

[Cossie]

I'm also interested if anyone can give some advice on this as well, thanks!

 

[RB]

I know JohnM did a great trip report of the Kimberleys on a completely different style of trip that seemed similar to what we have done for other isolated parts of Aust. He certainly got to see more too.
The Luxury Escapes package is certainly short & sweet but you seem to pay a lot for the privilege

 

[Denali]

Not this year but if AFFer cruisers did this instead, I would be interested/checking our calendar.

Looks good.

 

[Pushka]

Not this year but if AFFer cruisers did this instead, I would be interested/checking our calendar.

Looks good.

How can you cruise in the Kimberley’s?

 

[Denali]

How can you cruise in the Kimberley’s?

I'll bring little drink umbrellas and boat thingies for evening coughtails and you can pretend youre on the high seas

 

[Pushka]

I'll bring little drink umbrellas and boat thingies for evening coughtails and you can pretend youre on the high seas

Yeah. Nah. I don’t do umbrella thingies in my drink. That’s a bit naff.

Although it is on our bucket list to do sometime.

 

[vetrade]

Haven't done this tour but we did do a day tour of the Argyle Diamond Mine late in 2016. The flight we took from Kununurra to Argyle obviously has a lot of similarities to the flight included in your tour because we flew over Lake Argyle and the Bungle Bungles too (great scenery from the air). Tourist flights up that way are expensive - our trip included a tour of the mine and lunch in the cafeteria and cost $750 pp. The mine tour wasn't up to our expectations - not that interesting and really the novelty was in the fact it was a pink diamond mine.

I gues the discounted cost of your tour compares quite well when you consider it includes the flight and 3 days tour including accommodation.

Personally we detest group tours longer than a day because you never know what the other people are going to be like and the timetables tend to be too regimented for us. We hired a 4WD to see the area at our own pace - including a 3 day stay at El Questro Station (recommended).

I'm guessing you wouldn't go all that way just for a 3 day tour so you probably need to put this tour in the context of what your whole trip would include.

 

[JohnM]

The Bungle Bungle Range (nb. not Bungle Bungles), aka 'the Bungles', is amazing. The package looks good but there is a lot more to see in the Kimberley, so I would try to do more than just that if you are going that far.

Check out this TR (which I suddenly realised is not among the links in my signature line - I will amend that): A Kimberley kaleidoscope.

There is a TR link for my Kimberley coast cruise. I would recommend small boat travel along the coast, rather than anything remotely approaching a cruise ship. If you look at my TR, you'll see we could get the main boat under waterfalls and into tighter locations.

The Kimberley has to be one of my favourite places, and it's on our doorstep - but it is very costly because of the isolation.

 

[ExpeditionCruiser]

For a Purnululu NP specific program the price on this offer is actually really good, especially considering it's fly in and out from Kununurra. APT (the operator) have the package brochured at $2,795 per person twin share, so $1,799 is a good deal. APT's lodge is also - in my opinion - the superior of the two main lodges in the park (East Kimberley Tours operate the other one).

As others have stated, it's probably not worth heading all the way over for this offering on its own - it's better tacked on to the end of a Kimberley coast cruise, or packaged up with a few nights in El Questro / Home Valley / Kununurra / Broome.