Bamurru Plains in Australia’s Northern Territory – a wetlands safari destination where birds and ‘wild bush luxury’ meet

What is it? Bamurru Plains is an outback lodge, unmistakably Australian, promising “wild bush luxury”. The lodge is set within Swim Creek Station, a 300 sq km water buffalo and cattle property, and bovines aside, it is nature that is the main drawcard.

The surrounding floodplain – that of the Northern Territory’s Mary River – is an area likened by some to Botswana’s Okavango Delta (but without the elephants). In the dry season, the waters recede into lagoons around which wildlife congregates in astounding numbers.

What’s there to do on a floodplain? The signature experience here is the airboat tour. Seated high above the water, guests in ear muffs – to dim the noise of the enormous fan at the back of the flat-bottomed vessel – skim across swampy wetlands. The stars of the show are the striking black and white magpie geese , which breed here in their tens of thousands. Geese, whistling ducks and ibis take flight in dense flocks as the boat approaches.

Surrounding the wetland is a flooded forest of paperbark trees, a primor­dial swamp through which the airboat slowly threads its way. Azure kingfishers torpedo from tree to tree, and the underwater special­ist, the darter, fans its wings in the sun to dry. Crocodiles lurk here, too, trails of bubbles rising as they tread the lagoon floor.

Are there other activities? How about a sunset boat tour on Sampan Creek, featuring crocodiles, white-bellied sea eagles and, perhaps most importantly, wine and canapés? Safaris in an open four-wheel-drive vehicle reveal more surprises, such as brolgas, a species of crane. Stops include a birdwatching tower, atop which, when we visit, guide Cameron handles a harmless golden tree snake. He then plays a recording of a forest kingfisher, attracting four of the curious birds to a tree close to the tower.