JABIRU/KAKADU The Top End, NT

Christine Manfield, chef

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“The land just talks to you,” says chef Christine Manfield of the Australian outback, particularly the vast, ancient Top End, which encapsulates the upper reaches of the Northern Territory including Arnhem Land and Kakadu National Park. “Being on Country is incredible. It's so spiritual.”

The Northern NSW-based chef first travelled to these parts in 2017, when she was scoping out the landscape at Bamurru Plains, where she would go on to lead small group, Wild Bush Luxury food safaris for several years. Since that first visit, she made a commitment to explore outback Australia every year, whether it's the Top End, Flinders Ranges in South Australia, or beyond. But the Top End with the wetlands and floodplains of Kakadu and the vastness of the Bamurru Plains water buffalo station holds a particularly special place in her heart.