Pardoo Station

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Pardoo Station

23rd May 2012

Another couple of nights ‘station camping’, hopefully this time there will be NO snakes & NO car troubles! These cattle station stays are really good fun & the owners must get good money from running their version of a caravan park! Basic amenities, sometimes no power, but all good fun.

Pardoo Station was originally about 250,000 acres (1,000 km2) in size and is on the western end of the Great Sandy Desert where it meets the Indian Ocean at the southern end of the Eighty Mile Beach. Pardoo Station is currently a 200,000-hectare working cattle station running Santa Gertrudis cattle which are sold for export and runs 80km along the coast and goes inland another 80km. It is covered with low scrub, and on the coastal plains is saltbush. As you move inland, the grass changes to soft spinifex and the colours are amazing.

Mount Goldsworthy, located on the South Western side of the lease, is the site of the first iron ore mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The Pardoo mine, also an iron ore mine, is located in the region, too, and shares the stations name. Pardoo was originally an outcamp of De Grey Station, but became a separate entity owned by the Thompson family until 1963 when Frank Thompson sold it to Les Schubert.

In November 1965 Schubert swapped Pardoo along with a cash adjustment of $120,000 for Louisa Downs and Bohemia Downs stations in the Kimberley Region. Karl Stein took over the station in January 1966.

Sometime before 1977 Karl Stein retired and sold Pardoo to Russel Peake. The Leeds family purchased Pardoo from Peake and subsequently sold Pardoo to its present owners about 4 years ago.

There is an area near the homestead set up for caravans with water and power available, the original section has plenty of shade but the newer area is still being established in this regard. A swimming pool was a bonus.

Fishing near the mouth of the Pardoo River is ‘supposedly’ excellent. We were advised to fish on the high tide when water in the creek rises 5 to 6 meters and for about two hours fish including blue nose salmon’ are easy to catch’. Trish and I and ‘The Girls’,( Kristy and Linda) headed off armed to the teeth with everything except the ideal hook size (the shop had sold out!), but this did not deter Kristy who pulled in a very reasonable Bream, which fired everyone else up as it was the first fish landed, (plenty big bites), but you guessed it…it was also the last fish landed ! The Station shop stocks a basic range of essentials, including alcohol which is a great service to the campers. Also, there is a restaurant on the station which doubles as a mess for all the station workers and this was great serving fabulous food, with a 2 course station meal only $25/pp. Meeting other couples and chatting by the fire each night about all the days events was certainly one of the great things about Pardoo, and many people we met return year after year.

Not only a great place for fishermen, but also a great place for families to explore.

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