Wooramel River Retreat

OUR STORY

Wooramel Station is a family owned working cattle, sheep, goat and outback station stay. The property occupies an area of 1430 square kilometres with 60 kilometres of coastline frontage to the Indian Ocean, backing onto the Shark Bay World Heritage area.

The Wooramel River is an upside down river running on the surface only 2-3 times a year for a couple of weeks at a time, after good inland rains. The river cuts through the property providing well grassed flood plains. The 60 kms of coastal plains also provide good grazing on native salt and blue bush pastures, while the remaining land system is covered with Wanyu and Acacia bushland.

The pastoral lease was established in the early 1800's but it was not until the Hall family purchased the station in the 1920's that drilling commenced for artesian water. Three bores with a few hundred kilometres of open bore drains were established, opening up previously unused country to stock.

The artesian (via natural) pressure sends water 240 m to the surface. It maintains a constant temperature of approximately 33 degrees with a high mineral content (iron, salt and magnesium) reputed to have soothing effects on tired muscles.

The Steadman family purchased the lease in 1987 migrating closer to the coast from Dalgety Downs an inland station near Gascoyne Junction. They established an international goat trade to capitalise on the feral goat numbers at the time on the property and started a regenerative process to the rangelands. They moved from merino sheep to a meat bread (Damara/Dorper) which is still one of their main stays for the business. The introduction of Droughtmaster/ Angus cattle has also helped to regenerate fragile country while still achieving economic sustainability. Their newest venture into nature based tourism offers visitors the opportunity to see and be a part of the Australian outback and also experience the ancient waters of the birdrong aquifer.

ACTIVITIES

Use your time to experience a bit of station life. We have lots of activities to keep you busy. 

WARM ARTESIAN BATHS

One of the highlights at Wooramel River Retreat is definitely experiencing the naturally heated therapeutic artesian bore baths.

Waters from the Birdrong aquifer travel from a depth 240m below the ground to the surface under its own pressure and is then piped into free flowing pools for you to sit down and relax.

The water is approximately 33 degrees with a high mineral (especially magnesium) content that is reputed to have soothing effects on tired muscles.

RIVER WALKING TRAIL

Spend a morning wandering along the riverbank, meandering through the gum trees, listening to the sounds of nature and watching the wildlife and landscape unfold. The Wooramel River walk is around 6 kms on a dirt track with sandy patches.

Please remember to take water and to slip slop & slap as even in winter the sun can be warm in the Coral Coast.

SELF DRIVE 4WD STATION TOUR

Get a taste of station life on our 70km self-drive 4WD Station Tour.  The track takes you out to the coastline where you can see the mouth of the river our 100-year-old shearing shed than crosses over the highway and heads east along a windmill track before meandering back to the homestead along the river. Pack a picnic and enjoy a day in the bush. There is a $10 charge per vehicle

One person's trash is another person's treasure or so the saying goes. In the bush it was and often still is impossible to throw anything away, as you just don’t know when it may come in handy. The early pastoralists simply choose a section of land not too far from the homestead and dumped everything they no longer needed.

EXPLORING THE HISTORICAL TIP

Explore through the discarded detritus of 4 generations - from wool carts to pumps, bottles to cars and washing machines. 

Sturdy shoes and adult supervision are a must. The only thing we ask - please do not remove any of our treasures, they are part our history.

BIRD WATCHING

The wildlife is abundant and bird watchers in particular will appreciate the variety of species of birds that are either permanent residents or visitors to the station.  Grab your binoculars, and between dusk and dawn you will see some of the Gascoyne's most spectacular birds.

CAMP OVEN NIGHT

Join us for a traditional Australian camp oven dinner, slow cooked on the fire.

Pre-dinner drinks are at 5 O’clock, enjoy the sun set over the Wooramel river and have a yarn with your fellow travelers. Dinner served around 6.30pm.

A hearty meat and a vegetarian dish served with rice or damper for $20 per head and $10 for kids 12 years and under.

BYO drinks, cutlery and plate.

An entertaining night out under the stars