What would you want to do?

I don’t care what a tourist want’s.

I care about what I would want.

If I was to visit an area of exquisite, wild, beauty I would want to see what others don’t normally have a chance to see.
I would want to know where the secret oasis‘s are. The animals that live in the region and all about the plant life. I would want to touch and feel and experience those things that I could never experience at home.

From the local people who have offered there hospitality I would love to have an insight into there everyday lives, to know there hopes and dreams, to share there music and art.
I would want to feel welcome and accepted for my differences, as I would welcome and accept theirs.

I would want to take home more than just souvenirs or photographs, I would want to take back a life enhancing experience. Something I could use in life as well as something to share with others that would not only impress but enlighten those that I discuss my trip with.
I would want to say to them, “You must go on this trip, it is invaluable, a chance to do something that very few people ever have a chance to do.”

That’s what I would want from a holiday, and am pretty willing not to accept anything less.

And neither will Sand Frog Tours.

This Fella' can teach anyone to ride.

There are many fine Aboriginal orientated tourist activities within the Barkly region.
The problem with tourist and the Aboriginal people is that the tourist is usually on a time frame while the Aboriginal people are, in every real sense of the word, timeless.
This has made for a difficult pairing in the past. A ceremony performed for a tourist attraction is hardly a ceremony, yet the possibility of seeing an authentic Aboriginal ceremony is nigh impossible.
You can buy boomerang buy the dozen but the possibility of wondering the bush with an elder in search of the perfect tree root to make your very own #7 has been a non reality for most.
And what of the chance to speak one on one to a person of knowledge about there role in contemporary society.
The missing link in an authentic aboriginal experience is the barrier that is always present when meeting any culture that is significantly different from another, the barrier of understanding.
To have some time to talk with and get to know someone who has lived a way of life that is over 40’000 years old is difficult.
Sand Frog Tours will be the link between outback Australia and an Authentic Aboriginal Experience via Aboriginal organizations that wish to share their knowledge and their journey with visitors to their country.

All about lifestyle.

I first came to the Northern Territory when I was twenty six. This was a move to Nhulunbuy/Gove in the remote reaches of Arnham Land. I stayed for two years before being dragged back to another love, The Flinders Rangers in South Australia.

After extensive travel, marriage, and kids, four years ago found me back in the "Territory" managing a Motel in Australia's last gold mining boom town of Tennant Creek.

It was at this time that my love of Aboriginal art come to the fore and I started buying local works, establishing a gallery and selling them at markets along the east coast.
Upon our return, Susan (my wife) and I managed a hotel/motel in town and became reacquainted with the local Aboriginal people, garnering there respect and acceptance for the interest we held in there culture and the belief that they are the keepers of an ancient and unique style of knowledge, a knowledge that has the possibility of being diluted out of existence if it is not preserved, shared and experienced.

Enter Sand Frog Tours.