The owner of both the Top End’s Annaburroo station and the Bark Hut Inn has big plans, and they all centre on a certain bovine.
Story Kerry Sharp Photo Tourism NT
Out on the Mary River floodplain country in the Top End, iconic watering hole the Bark Hut Inn is putting a wider choice of buffalo meat on the menu. It’s part of a greater celebration of the beast, and the history and spirit of the area’s early buffalo mustering days.
New owner, NSW businessman Neil Schembri, the son of poultry farmers Alex and Pat Schembri, once introduced a few buffalo to graze on his NSW property. Fast forward 20 years and Neil now owns one of the NT’s best known early buffalo properties, Annaburroo station and its neighbouring tourist drawcards, the Bark Hut Inn and Mary River Wilderness Retreat.
“I was up here for a break and looking around for a potential station to buy, drove past Annaburroo, and only discovered when I got home that it was being advertised for sale online,” Neil says. “When the selling agent told me Annaburroo had buffalo and crocodiles, I was sold, and when I dug deeper and learnt about its fascinating past buffalo industry and pioneering original owner Terry Baldwin, I was completely hooked.”
This story excerpt is from Issue #168
Outback Magazine: Aug/Sep 2026
