Bullo River has been a cattle station since 1960 and sits on Miriwoong and Gajirrawoong Country. Photo / Tourism NT
Bullo River has been a cattle station since 1960 and sits on Miriwoong and Gajirrawoong Country. Photo / Tourism NT
Bullo River Station in Australia’s Northern Territory combines a luxurious cattle station stay with effective sustainability. If you’re looking for escapism on a remote, Outback ranch, there’s no better place to switch off and get your cowboy on, writes Neil Porten
Only a Texan could be unimpressed by the size of Bullo River Station. But even a fair-minded citizen of the Lone Star State would admit flying into the 162,000ha cattle station is a thrilling experience.
A late afternoon heat haze washes out the already muted colours of the northwestern Northern Territory terrain. From 4500ft, there’s still a hint of green along dry creek beds a couple of months after the end of the wet season. As the small plane approaches the airstrip, the fat curves of the chocolate Victoria River disappear behind us.
Bullo River has been a cattle station since 1960 and sits on Miriwoong and Gajirrawoong Country. It’s perhaps best known through former owner and author Sara Henderson, who won Australian Businesswoman of the Year in 1991 for her efforts running the ranch. Her daughter Marlee Ranacher took over running the station, opening it up for visitors.
Visitors like me, keen to enjoy a few days in a remote place of diverse ecosystems, where the conservation efforts are as fascinating as the practicalities of running a working cattle station.
Bullo River Station swimming pool. Photo / Tourism NT
Dinner on the first night is a short 4WD convoy away from the homestead beneath Jenson’s Boab. This smooth-trunked tree squats close to the riverbank, strung with lights. A pair of young male wallabies are sparring by the edge of the bush in the dusk light - it couldn’t get more Australian.
Hosts Joe and Catherine Atkins have been managers here for the current owners, Julian and Alexandra Burt, for four years. Our meal is simple stockmen’s food - braised beef stew, mashed potatoes, damper and green beans, followed by apple and rhubarb crumble with custard, all cooked over the open wood fire.
Later, around the homestead’s firepit, Joe talks positively about the young people who come to Bullo River to work as ringers - cattle hands - and tour guides. Under a golden crescent moon and stars down to the horizon, anticipation is high for the next day’s activities.
The homestead’s fire pit at Bullo River Station. Photo / Tourism NT
It’s an hour’s drive on the red-dirt road to the landing for our boat cruise on the Bullo River. That’s plenty of time for our guide Ben to tell us more about the local geography, biology and ecology.
The Bullo River is a tidal tributary of the Victoria River. Six Mile is the buffer zone between saltwater and freshwater and we are heading to the freshwater part.
On the road, bustards take flight and peewees flit in the dust. Agile wallabies make suicide dashes ahead of the ute. At stops to open gates, the minty smell of the hyptis weed, a South American import, wafts into the cab.
“The hardest thing to manage is weeds,” says Ben. Another pest, feral buffalo, ring-bark trees and muddy up the riverbanks causing erosion. Ben notes the location of a mother and calf so they can be caught later.
Along with pink-flowered hibiscus and termite mounds, more boab trees line the track. The boab is a feature of the Kimberley geography shared with neighbouring Western Australia. The Victoria River, Ben explains, acts as a barrier preventing Kimberley flora and fauna, including the boab, from extending any further east.
Bullo River Station is a 90-minute flight from Darwin and the airstrip is beside the homestead. Photo / Tourism NT
After breakfast, we head upstream in the electric-powered boat. Beyond the shade of the gorge’s blocky pink cliffs - the same arkose sandstone as Uluru more than 1000km to the south - Lloyd’s Creek is the ideal spot for fishing. Lines of bubbles rise to the surface - unseen freshwater turtles, Ben says: “A croc would never give itself away so obviously.”
A swarm of crimson dragonflies accompanies us on the cruise back. Ben points out the sights: a rainbow bee-eater swoops and returns to its branch; the buttressing roots of a banyan tree in a patch of monsoon forest; the call of a red-breasted robin; green ant nests in a tall paperbark.
The water is so clear: “The Bullo River starts and ends on the property,” Ben says.
Before returning to the homestead, a dip in Marlee’s Bath is restorative. The spring-fed waterhole has a tin-shed changing room, cool blue water and an orb-weaver spider web strung across the low cascade.
A dip in Marlee’s Bath is restorative. Photo / Tourism NT
“There’s a house in that tractor.”
Station manager Joe points to the large machine slashing - mowing - farnesiana weed bushes in Heifer 1 Paddock. On a tour highlighting the activities done to enhance the land’s conservation values, it’s clear big money is involved. The current owners have the resources and the desire to make a difference.
In 315ha Desert Paddock - “it looks like a desert at the end of the Dry”, says Joe - contour banks on the edge of the salt marsh are used to capture rain during the wet season. Freshwater wetlands form behind the banks attracting birds, fish and other wildlife. Freshwater released through the banks pushes back the saltwater. The weeds love saltwater. It’s a programme that improves the land for grazing in the dry season while increasing biodiversity year-round.
Two saddled horses stand sensibly in the shade of the cattle yards while their ringers patiently “tail” a mob of brahmin-cross weaners - training them to split into groups and merge again. From a gantry overlooking this orderly livestock operation, Michelle McManus, the station owners’ head of sustainability, points towards a large 500kW solar array. Solar provides 80 per cent of the station’s electricity.
“It’s the second largest off-grid system in NT,” says Joe.
Diesel generators are still needed but the solar panels have led to a $50,000 per year saving in fuel costs, Michelle says.
The final activity of our stay is early next morning. Australian Wildlife Conservancy bird expert Alexander Watson hands out powerful binoculars and we walk a dewy path beside the billabong near the homestead. A curious young wallaby and its parent watch us as we watch for birds over the still water.
Agile wallabies at Bullo River Station. Photo / Tourism NT
The station has collaborated with AWC since 2018, and in that time the conservation group has compiled a long list of species present here, including more than 200 bird varieties.
As expected, Alexander has an eagle eye: a finch bends a speargrass stalk behind us; a patrol of magpie geese glides on the water; kites and cockatoos fly over; a kookaburra observes from a high branch.
Here in the cool morning, with the changing colour of the rising sun promising another hot Outback day, the birdsong and the beautiful billabong add a final indelible impression on the memory.
Charter flight is the best way to get to and from Bullo River Station. It’s 90 minutes by air from Darwin and the airstrip is beside the homestead. Otherwise, allow 10 hours for the 800km drive from Darwin.
