ARKAROOLA WILDERNESS SANCTUARY

My friend and I went up there for a short few days - but we got caught in the heavy rainfall and were stuck in the village due to the road closures. Vicky and Doug were absolutely awesome and let us stay the extra 4 nights without charging us and still provided us with the breakfast every morning. Could not recommend this place enough - it’s magic. Wonderful food, wonderful owners, just amazing. I can’t wait to go back! Thanks again, Vicky, Doug and the great staff up there. 😁😁

Arkaroola was our favourite stop on our road trip! In the evening, you can sit peacefully and watch 20 or more yellow-footed wallabies drink water and have some food very nearby, also hopping by our room at times too. We enjoyed the meal options, although a few more veggies would be handy, it wasn’t a peak time of year and the food was good given how far away from everywhere Arkaroola is. Doug was awesome with his knowledge and equipment at night with the astronomy experiences and we did them all! - Under the stars was mainly using binoculars to look for constellations and other beautiful parts of the galaxy. The premium chairs are well worth it because the guide can set the coordinates for you and you don’t need to go searching the sky to potentially miss things. - The observatory tour was great having a huge telescope in a dome to more clearly see planets and similar things to under the stars one at a time in the group, but with greater magnification. - Explore the cosmos was our favourite despite mainly being inside, because of the amazing equipment to again see even more magnified views on the screen from their telescopes. Doug’s knowledge and commentary (and jokes) during it all were worth every second! We’ll do the flights next time and ridgetop tour, it was just 45 degrees in summer this time. The rooms were very peaceful and comfortable, though there was practically no one else there and the amenities all worked well. My wife loved the beauty of the interior design. We deflated instead of inflated our wheels travelling from the west and lost two of our wheels on the way there and the other two on the way back. The road wasn’t that bad, we just had older wheels and a smaller 4WD. The mechanic and garage at Arkaroola was amazing, really knowing his stuff and we got 2 temporary wheels to make it back to Hawker where Hawker Motors were very quick, cheap and friendly in replacing our wheels! They even have a petrol station in Arkaroola and air pump. After a friendly start, the rest of the service was quite poor while there. The male just wanted to swim in the pool all day and took offense if we wanted to stay in and he had to occasionally work. The same male also told us he just didn’t feel like putting our our free included continental breakfast and instead told us we had to order off the menu at over $30 per person. That is absolutely unacceptable and I wanted to share it here, but Doug gave us longer in the tours without knowing this and we got some better value other places too. We’ll certainly be back in a winter for the Milky Way! 🌌

We have had the most amazing time!!! The rooms are fabulous. We stayed in the Mawson lodge, the beds are comfortable, the rooms are lovely and spacious, a sizeable double and a single with a trundle underneath. What can I say about the service, well it was amazing!! Sam it the ultimate host and jack of all trades!!! He was the receptionist, chef, waiter, fuel attendant and many other things!! He is just so amazing and helpful!! Big shout out for SAM!!! Also the star gazing was so amazing!! Doug is just so full of knowledge and couldn’t be helpful enough the experience will be something that we will never forget. He also informed us about the yellow footed wallabies while we watched them eat the food he had thrown out for them. The location is absolutely beautiful! The sanctuary is on 934 m2 of land with walking trails and 4x4 tracks. The geology is the oldest in the world and they also have rare plants that they are conserving that you can’t find anywhere else. The overall experience was very interesting and we will be coming back again!! The only downside to the experience was that we weren’t here long enough. We only stayed overnight!! I highly recommend that you stay for at least three days minimum!! Thank you so much!!!!! ❤️