El Questro Wilderness Park is a wilderness park on El Questro Station, a cattle station that diversified its pastoral operation to include tourism, located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It remains a working cattle station with a herd of approximately 6,000 head. In 2012 the pastoral station lessee was GPT Funds Management Pty Ltd. El Questro station operates under Crown Lease number CL207-1984 and has Land Act number LA3114/1180. [1] [2]
The park is located 110 km (68 mi) west of Kununurra and is accessed from the Gibb River Road and encompasses an area of over 4,047 km2 (1,000,000 acres) that extends some 80 km (50 mi) into the heart of the Kimberley. [3]
The station was first established in 1903. Will and Celia Burrell bought the cattle station in 1991 and developed it into a wilderness park tourist destination. [4] The Burrells sold El Questro to General Property Trust in 2005. General Property Trust onsold the wilderness park to Delaware North in March 2010. [5] [6]
There are three resorts on El Questro: Emma Gorge (offering safari cabins), [7] The Station (bungalows and camping) [8] and The Homestead (luxury rooms and suites) [9] - all operated by Delaware North of Buffalo, New York.
The Kimberley is the northernmost of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy and Tanami deserts in the region of the Pilbara, and on the east by the Northern Territory.
The Gibb River Road is a road in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm, the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a grazier. The largest cattle station in the world is Anna Creek Station in South Australia, which covers an area of 23,677 square kilometres.
Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia Pty Limited, commonly called Voyages, is a subsidiary business of the Indigenous Land Corporation. Voyages manages tourism and resort facilities in the Northern Territory, in Western Australia and in Queensland, Australia.
Pentecost River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
After World War II, pastoralists from the Western Australian Kimberley region sought to develop the local beef export industry by encouraging infrastructure development there. Three brothers, Gordon, Douglas and Keith Blythe who owned and operated several pastoral leases in the east Kimberley devised an Air Beef Scheme by which a meatworks including an abattoir, carcase freezing facilities and an aerodrome were built at the remote Glenroy Station on the Mount House lease, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of Imintji Aboriginal Community near Derby. The scheme operated successfully from 1949 to 1965 and was important for the economic development of the towns of Wyndham and Derby as well as the development of the Kimberley pastoral industry generally.
Argyle Downs is a pastoral lease and cattle station located about 120 kilometres (75 mi) south east of Kununurra in the Kimberley region near the border of Western Australia and Northern Territory. It is operated by the Consolidated Pastoral Company.
Ivanhoe or Ivanhoe Station is a pastoral lease and cattle station located just north of Kununurra in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Founded in 1893 by the Durack brothers, station is presently owned by the Consolidated Pastoral Company.
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Fossil Downs Station is a pastoral lease and cattle station located about 50 kilometres (31 mi) north east of Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Home Valley or Home Valley Station is a pastoral lease and cattle station in Western Australia.
Drysdale River Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in Western Australia.
Liveringa or Liveringa Station, often referred to as Upper Liveringa Station, is a pastoral lease in Western Australia that once operated as a sheep station but presently operates as a cattle station.
Mount Hart Station, commonly referred to as Mount Hart, is a defunct pastoral lease that once operated as a cattle station in Western Australia. The lands are part of a conservation area and the homestead operates as a wilderness lodge for tourists.
Charnley River–Artesian Range Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area covering about 3,000 square kilometres (1,200 sq mi) in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is situated about 205 kilometres (127 mi) east of Derby and 287 kilometres (178 mi) north west of Halls Creek, and is accessed via the Gibb River Road. It is named after the Charnley River that flows through the property.
Mount House Station, commonly referred to as Mount House, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in Western Australia.
Moola Bulla Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) west of Halls Creek and 150 kilometres (93 mi) south of Warmun, and occupies an area of 6,600 square kilometres (2,548 sq mi). It bisects the watershed of the Fitzroy River and Ord Rivers.
Mount Elizabeth Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in Western Australia.
Napier Downs Station, commonly referred to as Napier Downs, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Kimberley region in Western Australia.
Billiluna Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in Western Australia.