Exmouth Gulf Station or Exmouth Station is a pastoral lease and

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

located in the

Gascoyne The Gascoyne region is one of the nine administrative regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Gasc ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, approximately south of

Exmouth Exmouth is a port town, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the 5th most populous settlement in Devon. Histo ...

. Occupying an area of , the station occupies much of the eastern side of

North West Cape North West Cape is a peninsula in the north-west of Western Australia. Cape Range runs down the spine of the peninsula and Ningaloo Reef runs along the western edge. It is in the Gascoyne region and includes the town of Exmouth. History In 16 ...

; the eastern boundary of the station is the gulf, from which the station takes its name. The area was under pastoral lease beginning in 1876 when J Brockman acquired leases in the area covering North West Cape to run cattle. Brockman sold parts of the lease in 1888 to ornithologist Thomas Carter including Exmouth, Yardie Creek and

Ningaloo Station Ningaloo Station is a sheep station located in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia about north of Coral Bay. It is bordered to the north by Cape Range National Park. The station has an area of approximately and offers accommodation to ...

. Carter was the first settler in the area and established a pastoral station in 1889 grazing sheep. He then established most of the coastal wells and carefully recorded the Aboriginal names of the places in which they were located. Initially Yardie Creek and Exmouth were part of the same lease, but were split in 1912 at the same time the

Point Cloates Point Cloates (), formerly known as Cloate's Island, is a peninsula approximately 100 kilometres south south-west of North West Cape, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It features Point Cloates Lighthouse and the ruins of a previous li ...

whaling station was established on the coast nearby. In 1931 the station was sold from the estate of Messrs King and Watson to the manager of

Minilya Station Minilya Station, most often referred to as Minilya, is a pastoral lease currently operating as a cattle station that once operated as a sheep station in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The property is situated approximately south of ...

, Mr S.T Lefroy, for the sum of £13,000. The first significant

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

strike in Australia occurred at

Rough Range Rough Range is a location in Western Australia where oil was discovered during an exploration drilling programme in 1953. West Australian Petroleum (WAPET) drilled its first well at Rough Range near North West Cape North West Cape is a penins ...

within the boundaries of the station, and oil is still being produced in the area and pumped out to Cape Range. A

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning ...

A-46 aircraft hit a wireless mast while making a low pass over the station in 1943, tearing a section off the wing of the plane. The pilot made it safely back to

Potshot airfield RAAF Base Learmonth, also known as Learmonth Airport , is a joint use Royal Australian Air Force base and civil airport. It is located near the town of Exmouth on the north-west coast of Western Australia. RAAF Base Learmonth is one of the RAA ...

for repairs. Exmouth Gulf is operating under the Crown Lease number CL100-1976 and has the Land Act number LA3114/996.

References

{{Stations of the Gascoyne Western Australia Homesteads in Western Australia Pastoral leases in Western Australia Stations (Australian agriculture) Shire of Exmouth 1876 establishments in Australia

See also

References