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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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