Gnaraloo is a working pastoral station and wilderness tourism business located in the Gnaraloo Bay in the

Shire of Carnarvon The Shire of Carnarvon is a local government area in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia, located about north of the state capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of , and its seat of government is the town of Carnarvon. The major indust ...

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 ...

. It is adjacent to the Ningaloo Marine Park and north of Carnarvon. It is famous for its coastline, wildlife and fishing and waves and wind.Butler, Bruce.(1999) They're blowing in the wind. Sunday times (Perth, W.A.) 10 January 1999, Sunday section p.4-5''Gnaraloo – wavesurfing and other attractions at the Station.''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, '' The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuous ...

, 28 July 1988, p.116; 2 June 1989, p.55; 1 August 1989, p.4,8,11; 14 September 1990, p.18; 7 May 1993, p.47 The main surf break in the area is known as "Tombstones", which is a heavy barrelling left-hander.

History

The area was pioneered by Donald Fleming who, in partnership with Arthur Nicol, took up land in the area including Gnaraloo. At the time it was known as "Flemington". He later sold it to Frank Mottram but stayed in the area until 1935. In 1908 the station was in size and was held by Forrest, Emanuel and Co. who paid a £70 rental on the property. Under Mottram's ownership in 1910, the station was running about 1,500 sheep with the flock increasing in size to 3,554 in 1911 despite no stock being bought in that time. Following a good season another 800 lambs were tailed in 1912 increasing the size of the flock further. The Mottrams sold the lease to Dansy Powell and Harry Cordes in 1921, with a flock of 9,000 sheep and now encompassing an area of with the lease due to expire in 1948. The property was advertised with dividing it into 12

paddock A paddock is a small enclosure for horses. In the United Kingdom, this term also applies to a field for a general automobile racing competition, particularly Formula 1. Description In Canada and the United States of America, a paddock is a small ...

s with 9 wells, 8 with

windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in some ...

s, tanks and troughs. The homestead had three large rooms, an office and a store room with a detached stone kitchen. The station had a good year in 1922 with 9,000 sheep shorn and with an estimated 1,500 stragglers to be mustered and clipped. 223 bales of wool were produced, and the stock were all reported to be in good condition. Powell and Cordes sold the station in 1927 to a partnership between Alex Fleming and George Baden Powell. It station was sold again in 1928 when the Gnaraloo Pastoral Company formed between the Fleming and Powell families was dissolved; the Fleming family came to own the station outright again with Donald's son, Alex Fleming owning the station from 1928 until at least 1954. Gnaraloo remained in the Fleming family until 1975. In 2015 the station owners had to renegotiate the lease agreement with the state government, including having the government excise sections of pastoral land along the world-heritage listed

Ningaloo Coast The Ningaloo Coast is a World Heritage Site located in the north west coastal region of Western Australia. The heritage-listed area is located approximately north of Perth, along the East Indian Ocean. The distinctive Ningaloo Reef that fring ...

from the property, for conservation and tourism ventures.

Geography

Topography and surrounding regions

The homestead property is located on elevated ground approximately east of the coast and west of Lake MacLeod. The station has an area of with approximately of coastline. Gnaraloo Bay contains four stretches of sandy beaches. They are paralleled by a near-continuous wide

barrier reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

off in the adjacent waters. The main beach is the Gnaraloo beach, located about south of the homestead and about in length. Nine Mile Bore and Cape Farquhar, each with three beaches, are located north of Gnaraloo Bay, just before Ningaloo. Red Bluff and the Quobba homestead are located at the south.

Climate

Gnaraloo has a mean and median annual

rainfall Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

of respectively. Most of which falls in May to July. The annual evaporation is c. . The area received heavy rains in 1953 with Gnaraloo being deluged with 610 points (155 mm, 6.1 in) of rain over two days. Surrounding stations received falls of up to .

Transportation

Gnaraloo can be reached by land from Carnarvon through the Gnaraloo road. A small airstrip is also present just outside the Gnaraloo leased area, but there are no scheduled flights. The airstrip was slated for an upgrade in 2008 to allow better access for the

Royal Flying Doctor Service The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote an ...

Conservation

Gnaraloo station commenced its turtle conservation program in 2008 under the guidance and direction of the WA Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC). The Gnaraloo Turtle Conservation Program (GTCP) does daily patrols for the entire loggerhead nesting season (November–February). A feral animal control program was implemented in 2009 to work alongside the sea turtle conservation program due to introduced predators being an environmental risk to sea turtle nest success. In 2010 the station won the Environment Protection Category in the ''Keep Australia Beautifuls Clean Beach Awards, for its efforts in the conservation of the area's flora and fauna, particularly the Critically Endangered species of

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhe ...

s nesting in the area. The station borders a

UNESCO World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

site and concerns were raised in 2021 in relation to the impact of the planned construction of wind turbines and solar panels onsite.

Notes

External links

Gnaraloo Website

Gnaraloo Surfspot Info

Gnaraloo Turtle Conservation Program
Facebook page {{Towns Gascoyne WA Homesteads in Western Australia Shire of Carnarvon Surfing locations in Western Australia Pastoral leases in Western Australia Ningaloo Coast