![Pentecost River](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Pentecost_River.jpg)
Home Valley or Home Valley Station is a pastoral lease and
cattle station
In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...
in
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 ...
.
Location
It is located along the
Gibb River Road
The Gibb River Road is a road in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Description
The road is a former cattle route that stretches in an east-west direction almost through the Kimberley between the towns of Derby and the Kununurra an ...
west of
Kununurra in the
Kimberley region.
History
The pastoral lease is currently owned by the
Indigenous Land Corporation
The Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC) is an Australian federal government statutory authority with national responsibilities to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to acquire land and to manage assets to achieve cultural ...
along with nearby Karunjie Station and Durack River Station, which together cover an area of . Home Valley covers a total area of and is bordered to the east by the
Pentecost River
Pentecost River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The Pentecost rises in the Durack Range and flows north through El Questro Station where it joins the Chamberlain River, then continues north crossing the Gibb River Roa ...
from its neighbour
El Questro Station
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 ...
. The station is also known as HV8, which is the station's brand, and many of the signage to the station uses the HV8 logo.
Coming into existence in 1957 the pastoral lease was taken up by when Harold MacNamara left Mabel Downs, which he had been managing for the Naughtons family. The area had a poor reputation and, along with
El Questro Station
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 ...
, was known as the underworld as a result of the large amount of theft of unbranded calves. MacNamara then sold up to Kevin Stansby, including 700 head of cattle, and returned to work for the Naughtons on Texas Downs. Stansby later sold to General Development Corporation, based in
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
in 1972.
An upgrade was planned for the
airstrip
An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...
in 2005 when 96,350 was allocated so that so it could be brought up to
Royal Flying Doctor night landing standard as part of the Regional Airports Development Scheme implemented by the
Gallop government.
The station has been open for
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
since 2006 and offers a range of accommodation to visitors; following a major renovation in 2008 it was converted to a holiday resort. The accommodation and homestead overlook Bindoola Creek, which is lined with
boab
''Adansonia gregorii'', commonly known as the boab and also known by a number of other names, is a tree in the family Malvaceae, endemic to the northern regions of Western Australia and the Northern Territory of Australia.
Names
The specific ...
trees and has views of the Cockburn Range.
Parts of the station were featured in the film ''
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
'' as the fictional property Faraway Downs, particularly through the cattle drive scene.
See also
*
List of ranches and stations
This is a list of ranches and sheep and cattle stations, organized by continent. Most of these are notable either for the large geographic area which they cover, or for their historical or cultural importance.
West Africa
*Obudu Cattle Ranch
* SO ...
*
List of the largest stations in Australia
This is a list of the largest stations in Australia, which includes stations with an area in excess of .
All of the largest pastoral leases are located in the states of South Australia (SA), Queensland (QLD) and Western Australia (WA); or in the ...
External links
Home Valley Station Trails Project
References
{{Stations of the Kimberley Western Australia
Homesteads in Western Australia
Pastoral leases in Western Australia
Kimberley (Western Australia)
Stations (Australian agriculture)
1926 establishments in Australia