WikiCamps Australia

Garanhan (Macassans Beach)

Campground

Contact

Macassan Beach Road, Northern Territory.

permits@dhimurru.com.au

dhimurru.com.au/general--special-permit-areas.html

Description

This site does not allow caravan access camping trailer access is permitted. No drones. For clarification, please contact the Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation. Garanhan/Macassan Beach is a long, wide beach of white sand which contrasts with the rough-textured shelves of laterite that run parallel to the general line of the coast. A narrow, dense strip of retja (monsoon coastal vine forest) overlies the rockshelf and a short walk behind the sandhills leads to a paperbark swamp. There are good shady picnic and camping spots under the casuarinas behind the rockshelf. There is also a composting toilet at this site. South of the sandy beach behind the rock shelf is Wurrwurrwuy, where a Yolngu record of the annual visits of the Macassan traders is recorded as stone pictures. Here visitors can walk among the stone pictures and learn a little about the history of Yolngu contact with Macassans over hundreds of years. Anyone wanting to visit this Recreational Area must obtain a General Permit from Dhimurru before they go. Permit applications can be made online or by contacting the Dhimurru office on 08 8939 2700 or permits@dhimurru.com.au. This site is accessible by 4WD only and is suitale for tents and camper trailers. Sites are unpowered.