New station stay collaboration

The 'Station Stay Way' is a new collaboration between Bush Heritage's Hamelin Station Reserve and three pastoral properties:  Bullara Station, Quobba Station, Wooramel Station.

These four properties between Geraldton and Exmouth each have a 'Station Stay' that provides accommodation and camping options for self-drive tourists and visitors.

Each Station Stay offers a unique and authentic bush experience and enables travellers to engage in the amazing World-Heritage environments of Shark Bay and Ningaloo.

Earlier this year the group decided to formalise their relationship and to work together to promote their Station Stays, encouraging people to visit each Station Stay on the trip up or down the coast, and experience the delights of the conservation reserve and pastoral properties.

This partnership was kicked off at this year's Caravan and Camping Show in Perth (22nd - 26th of March). The group had a beautiful stall at the Tourism Pavilion. There was an excellent collection of tourism providers from across WA in this pavilion promoting a wide range of experiences and opportunities.

Over the five days of the Show Edwina Shallcross and her mother April from Bullara, Tim and Sara Meecham from Quobba and Jo Axford and Luke Bayley from Bush Heritage spoke to the many many (MANY!) show attendees about the Station Stay Way, travelling up the west coast, wilderness experiences to be had and of course Bush Heritage!

There was a huge amount of foot traffic with 47,617 people through the gates this year and 16,440 on Saturday alone. I have to say on Saturday afternoon my head was swimming after speaking to so many of these people!

We talked to everyone from young families, to adventurers, to retirees, to people taking long service leave and wanting a different experience. 

People showed great interest in travelling to these remote wilderness areas. I was also delighted to run into some of our fabulous Bush Heritage volunteers - Annie and Ian Mayo. This dynamic duo are travelling up the West coast this year and volunteering for Bush Heritage as they go, providing great support.

Luke Bayley (Bush Heritage West Executive Manager) commented:

"Spending time at the Station Stay Way display at this year’s Perth Caravan and Camping Show was a pleasure and seemed time very well spent for all businesses involved. In the Tourism Pavilion the Station Stay Way stall seemed to stand out with its relaxed and enthusiastic approach to talking with visitors and its unique offering of a range of authentic outback  tourism experiences along the globally significant Gascoyne Coastline.

"Working in collaboration with regional  pastoral businesses to promote the region is an important part of our approach to doing business in regional Australia and we valued the opportunity to share our operation and to work alongside other high-quality operators.

I can’t help but think that development of this ‘Station Stay Way experience’ could see exciting opportunities for international travellers to better co-ordinate their outback experience in this part of Western Australia."

Edwina Shallcross of Bullara Station near Exmouth commented:

The idea to collaborate with other Station Stays in the Gascoyne came from the recognition that travellers were very keen to know where they could have similar experiences to ours.

Our guests were wanting to break away from the traditional Caravan parks and to have an authentic Australian campground (campfires and more space to enjoy the bush).

All four stations are ideally located along the coastal road to do the 'station hop', each offering a different experience but maintaining the same level of service and integrity.

We were already promoting each other’s properties, now we have an official trail with the “Station stay Way” in place. I was really pleased to see such a strong interest in our product – many had already stayed at some of the stations and were keen to try more. Going forward we'd like to package up experiences with local operators and perhaps include other station stays. Watch this space!"

To find out more please see the links above to each of the Station Stays. If you're travelling in the West this year, I strongly encourage you to visit Hamelin Outback Station Stay and our Station Stay Way partners:   Bullara Station, Quobba Station and Wooramel Station.