Gnaraloo Station to Host Leg 3 of the Australasian Safari

Normally visited only by wilderness tourists, Gnaraloo Station in the north west of Western Australia will host guests of a much faster and louder kind during September, when it hosts its first motorsport event – Leg 3 of the Australasian Safari – Australia’s answer to Dakar.

Located 150km north of Carnarvon, the 90,000ha property is situated adjacent to the newly-created Ningaloo World Heritage Area and Ningaloo Marine Park.

Gnaraloo owner Paul Richardson is looking forward to seeing the station’s dramatic coastline, white sand dunes, red dirt and clear blue skies become the backdrop for what is shaping up to be the most challenging leg of the seven-day Australasian Safari adventure.

“I’ve always been interested in motorsport and built cars for racing myself,” Paul said. “Part of the Safari course through Gnaraloo is along a coastal cliff less than two metres away from the edge of the Indian Ocean. The views from the helicopter will be amazing and the going tough for competitors. When Gnaraloo’s mechanic Feral took the Safari guys over the proposed course on the property it blew them away. We’re sure it will do the same for the competitors.”

The 100 or so Safari competitors from around Australia and overseas will have a unique opportunity to drive the Safari leg on Gnaraloo and experience several other outback pastoral stations.

More than six months of planning is required by Safari organisers to set the course in its entirety to ensure all permissions are in place. Approximately 500 people will stay overnight in Carnarvon as part of the Safari entourage, which includes competitors, support crew, officials, medics, media and event organisers.

When not hosting international motorsport events, Gnaraloo operates as a wilderness tourism business and working pastoral station. Accommodation is provided at the Homestead area, including luxury stone cabins, and at 3 Mile Camp offering rustic camping. Gnaraloo runs the scientific Gnaraloo Turtle Conservation Program, which monitors and protects significant breeding areas of endangered sea turtles on its coastline at the Gnaraloo Bay Rookery and the Gnaraloo Farquhar Rookery.

Now in its 27th year, the Australasian Safari runs from 21 to 29 September 2012. This year the event is taking a new coastal route travelling from Perth north to Geraldton, up the coast to tropical Carnarvon - the southern gateway to the Ningaloo World Heritage Area - and inland through the Gascoyne region, skirting around the Kennedy Ranges before heading south again to finish in Geraldton.

The Western Australia Government supports the Australasian Safari through Eventscorp, a division of Tourism WA.

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