This article identifies problems, issues and insights through critical reflection on the rules, written and unwritten, which encroach on the research process in the "Both Ways" project. The project investigates the development and sustainability of remote Aboriginal children's services in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia. Children's services, such as child-care centres and outside-school-hours care, are fairly recent phenomena in the NT, with only a handful of services receiving government funding in 1995, increasing to approximately 100 in 2006. This article focuses on problems, issues and insights gained from conducting cross-cultural research in this unique context. In many ways, these insights apply to all research but take on added importance in Aboriginal research contexts where exploitation and unequal power relations continue to exist. Advice, illustrated with practical examples, is provided for researchers endeavouring to undertake cross-cultural research. (Contains 1 note and 5 figures.)