Cowarie Station, most commonly known as Cowarie, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in north east South Australia.
The property is located 216 kilometres (134 mi) north of Marree and 225 kilometres (140 mi) south west of Birdsville. The Diamantina River merges with the Mulligan River on Cowarie forming the Warburton River which continues to flow to the south west and into Lake Eyre. [1]
The lease was initially granted for 21 years to William Benjamin Rounsevell starting on the last day of 1875, covering an area of 400 square miles (1,036 km2) and named Cowarie after a nearby hill. The name is Aboriginal in origin and is the name for marsupial rat common to the area. [2] Many other leases in the area were also soon taken up leading to much greater traffic along the Birdsville track and a post office opened at Cowarie in 1877. [2]
Sidney Kidman in partnership with his brother Sackville acquired Cowarie in 1895, the first property acquired by the Kidmans who went on to build the largest cattle empire seen in Australia. [3]
The station was managed by Sharon Oldfield in 1999 and occupied an area of 3,937 square kilometres (1,520 sq mi). The same year Oldfield won the commonwealth Bank Ibis award for rural productivity in recognition of her work with wildlife management and conservation on the property. [4]
In 2009 the station was running a mixture of shorthorn and Santa Gertrudis cattle which benefitted from the floodwaters flowing down the Diamantina River that reached the station that year. [5]
The bore was sunk in 1903 as part of the governments plan to sink bores along the Birdsville-Marree stock route in order to provide a permanent water supply. The bore is over 1,000 metres (3,281 ft) deep and is popular stopping place along the Birdsville Track. The bore site consists of a horizontal pipe from the head of a bore, discharging hot artesian water in a circular pond about 5 metres (16 ft) in diameter. The waters then flow along a bore drain. [6]
Birdsville is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. The locality is on the Queensland border with both the Northern Territory and South Australia. The town is situated 10 kilometres (6 mi) north of the South Australian border. In the 2021 census, the locality of Birdsville had a population of 110 people.
The Diamantina River is a major river in Central West Queensland and the far north of South Australia.
The Channel Country is a region of outback Australia mostly in the state of Queensland but also in parts of South Australia, Northern Territory and New South Wales. The name comes from the numerous intertwined rivulets that cross the region, which cover 150,000 km². The Channel Country is over the Cooper and Eromanga geological basins and the Lake Eyre Basin drainage basin. Further to the east is the less arid Maranoa district.
Innamincka Station, often called simply Innamincka, is a pastoral lease in the Australian state of South Australia. It operates as a cattle station. It is located about 4 kilometres north-east of the small township of the same name. 23 km (14 mi) west of the Queensland border, and 246 km (153 mi) south-east of Birdsville. As of 2012 the station – the second largest in South Australia after Anna Creek station – occupied an area of 13,552 square kilometres and was owned by the pastoral company, S. Kidman & Co.
Diamantina Lakes Station, most commonly known as Diamantina Lakes, was a pastoral lease that once operated as a cattle station in central west Queensland, and is now Diamantina National Park, a national park.
Glengyle Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in central west Queensland.
Annandale Station, most commonly known as Annandale, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in central west Queensland. It is located on the tribal lands of the Wongkamala.
Alton Downs Station, most commonly known simply as Alton Downs, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in north east South Australia.
Mundowdna Station, most commonly known as Mundowdna, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in north east South Australia.
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Durrie Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in Queensland, Australia.
Carandotta Station, most commonly referred to as Carandotta but often spelled as Carrandotta, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in Queensland, Australia. It is within the localities of Carrandotta and Piturie in the Shire of Boulia.
Morney Plains Station, most commonly referred to as Morney Plains, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in south west Queensland.
Mulka Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the far north of South Australia. The land occupying the extent of the Mulka Station pastoral lease was gazetted as a locality by the Government of South Australia on 26 April 2013 under the name "Mulka".
Clifton Hills Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the far north of South Australia.
Adria Downs Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the outback of Queensland.
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Merty Merty is both a pastoral lease that once operated as a cattle station in north east South Australia and a locality. In April 2013, the land occupying the appropriate extent of the pastoral lease was gazetted by the Government of South Australia as a locality under the name Merty Merty.
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