The day that retail consultant Tony McFadzean pulled up at a remote resort a 20-minute drive from Kings Canyon in the ocher dust of Australia’s Red Center, he began a love story that would change. his life.
The raw beauty of the landscape at the foot of the spectacular George Gill Range, dotted with rocky outcrops offering magnificent views of the 1,800 square kilometer wilderness, raised his spirits.
“I thought, ‘Wow! Just look at this place! He said today of his chance encounter with Kings Creek Station, about 330 kilometers from Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory.
“It was so beautiful. As soon as I saw it, I fell in love with the place. And then I met the owner and fell in love with him too.
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McFadzean, 62, who had spent most of his career in retail, and 35 years with Woolworths before retiring at 55, couldn’t forget the property that had touched his heart so much.
Then when he found out earlier this year that he was in the market, he went straight back and spoke to the owner.
“And then we bought it on the spot,” he laughs. “There was a bit of interest in it, so we had to act quickly. But my two business partners loved him too and we felt he had a bright future.
“It’s such a beautiful place and it offers so many opportunities to attract more visitors and for them to bond emotionally too. It is a wonderful part of Australia, an incredible region to visit. To say I’m excited is an understatement! “
The expansive Kings Creek Resort is just 35 kilometers from the iconic towering red rock cliffs of Kings Canyon and its Watarrka National Park, and 300 kilometers northeast of Uluru.
It is a working cattle and camel station – Australia’s largest exporter of wild camels – as well as a tourism business.
For visitors, it offers a wide range of accommodation ranging from bush camping and a former cattle camp to luxury glamping, activities such as trekking, buggy tours and helicopter rides.
Five days after the purchase, on March 19, however, COVID-19 regulations shut it down. It reopened on September 1.
The station was founded in 1981 by outback Aboriginal legend Ian Conway, who grew up in bush camps outside of Alice Springs and originally took the land as a Crown lease.
His grandfather was William Liddle who in 1907 became the first permanent pastoralist in the Kings Canyon area, taking a lease on the nearby Angas Downs station.
Conway’s grandmother was an Arrernte woman from Alice Springs, while her grandparents on her father’s side were also a white pastor and an Arrernte woman.
Conway, along with his wife Lyn, moved to the lands of Kings Creek with no water, no electricity, no roads, no buildings, and no infrastructure. “I really had no idea at the time, but I could see that it had potential for livestock and tourism,” he says today.
“We started to live there under a tree, like a couple of kangaroos. Then we had a canvas hung between two trees and after two years we moved into a tin shed, a lean-to, while we worked to establish the station and develop it as we went. And gradually the cattle took the second place after tourism, as more and more people visited and discovered the beauty of the land there.
Conway, now 70, finally decided to retire and move to the Adelaide Hills, where he opens a cattle ranch on a property.
But he only wanted to sell Kings Creek Station to buyers whom he was convinced would respect the land, its spirituality, traditional owners and custodians. He is convinced that McFadzean and his partners are the right people to take the station to its next phase.
“I told them they could access my knowledge if they needed it,” says Conway, who also started the nonprofit Conway’s Kids to provide educational opportunities for Indigenous children from across the country. remote lands of the Kings Canyon area.
“I’ll be back soon to finalize some things and show Tony and his team a little more of the country there so they fully understand what that means spiritually.”
“I’m probably the most knowledgeable person in the area and I want to pass some of that knowledge on to them.”
McFadzean and his business partners at Nullarbor Holdings, Tom Robson, who has a background in corporate finance, and Tom Collins, who ran an investment firm as well as a number of Mango properties, already own three businesses in the ‘outback, but expect Kings Creek to be the jewel in the crown.
They hope to introduce new attractions, activities, more styles of accommodation and a greater range of retail products.
“The basics of retail are the same wherever you are,” says McFadzean. “It’s just the logistics that are different.
“In town you can place an order with Woolworths and receive it that night. There, the next delivery might not take a week, the costs are higher because of the transportation, and you can’t get to the convenience store when you forgot something. You need to make sure that your inventory management is as good as possible. “
Even though the COVID-19 crisis has made it difficult for them to start, they are convinced that it also offers new opportunities.
With overseas travel now virtually impossible, and unlikely to open up in the foreseeable future, they see it as the perfect time for Australians to rediscover their own backyard and travel more and more. more in the outback.
“We’re going through a tough time right now with closed borders making it difficult for families and gray nomads to plan their trips, but I think later there will be real opportunities,” says Robson, 42, based in Brisbane. who went camping extensively as a child growing up in West Ipswich, Queensland.
“We hope Australians maybe look a little more in and out of the country for their trip and come out to see these great places. Kings Creek is a very special place. We couldn’t really believe it when it went on sale.
“Ian and Lyn Conway have done an amazing job from scratch to build the station until it is today, and we will continue what they started and put in more infrastructure and introduce a few other things so that people can truly enjoy the nature CA offers. It’s a great place!
Robson Collins’ brother-in-law, 52, is the one of the trio who takes care of everything to do with equipment, structures and the exterior, while Robson is the man of numbers and McFadzean the expert in retail.
Growing up on a property outside of Cairns, Collins has always had an affinity with outback and outback businesses.
“We think the future of Kings Creek Station is huge,” he says. “The Kings Canyon Resort is only 15 to 20 minutes away and you have one of Australia’s greatest sights, the Rock [Uluru], just around the corner.
“The earth over there is quite spectacular and it has an earthy feel that penetrates your blood. It offers so many opportunities because it is so vast and there is so much potential.
“When the borders start to open, and then later, when foreign tourists are allowed in, I think we’ll be inundated, and we are now preparing for that future.
Robson and Collins went into business together, asked McFadzean to consult with them on the retail side, and then asked him to join the company as CEO.
In 2013, they purchased the isolated Nullarbor Roadhouse on a 65 hectare site on the South Australian side of the Eyre Highway, east of Nullarbor Plain, with its fuel, 27 motel rooms, 74 caravan sites. , an airstrip and an 18-hole, par 73 golf course, reputed to be the longest in the world.
The following year, they purchased the Erldunda Roadhouse just outside Uluru, 200 kilometers south of Alice Springs, offering a Shell truck stop, 46 motel units, 96 trailer sites, telephones, internet, 30 emus, a camel and Chuck Norris the rooster.
In 2015, the trio then acquired the Border Village Roadhouse on four acres on the South Australia / Western Australia border, with a licensed restaurant and bar, store, fuel, 34 motel rooms. , three backpacker rooms, five cabins and 24 caravan sites. .
All three titles, in 2018, have grown by almost 20% per year over the previous three years, and they have now all been fitted with car charging stations to be ready for the advent of more electric cars. .
But in addition to making Kings Creek station more sustainable, they are also determined to remain respectful of its past. They even presented Ian Conway, at the handover, with a symbolic key in a display case, saying he would always be welcome anytime he returned.
Conway was touched by the gesture and he too is optimistic that more Australians will now visit the Outback and learn more about their country.
“It’s bloody time!” he says. “This country was originally built on the outback. There is so much to offer, there is so much going on all the time, with the red earth, spectacular scenery and wildlife. It’s so amazing and everyone is so welcoming. “
It is an enthusiasm shared by the three new owners of his station. “Everyone knows Uluru, but in the future we would like them to get to know Kings Creek Station, too,” says McFadzean, who had a rural upbringing in the bush on the outskirts of Griffith, in the NSW Riverina. .
“We are so close to Kings Canyon and we are an extra piece of fabric that can be woven into the Northern Territory experience.
“Once we have spent a little more time there and understood the location, we will move forward to create more accommodation and alternative activities. It’s so beautiful out there with its red soil, wildlife, amazing people and thousands of camels… It’s a very, very special part of Australia that we would love to see so many others. And we are now looking for our fifth outback adventure… ”
[dm-listing-recommendation experimentname=’below-content-listings’ positiononpage=’belowContent’]
The day that retail consultant Tony McFadzean pulled up at a remote resort a 20-minute drive from Kings Canyon in the ocher dust of Australia’s Red Center, he began a love story that would change. his life.
The raw beauty of the landscape at the foot of the spectacular George Gill Range, dotted with rocky outcrops offering magnificent views of the 1,800 square kilometer wilderness, raised his spirits.
“I thought, ‘Wow! Just look at this place! He said today of his chance encounter with Kings Creek Station, about 330 kilometers from Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory.
“It was so beautiful. As soon as I saw it, I fell in love with the place. And then I met the owner and fell in love with him too.
[dm-listing-recommendation experimentname=’midcontent-listings’ positiononpage=’midcontent’]
McFadzean, 62, who had spent most of his career in retail, and 35 years with Woolworths before retiring at 55, couldn’t forget the property that had touched his heart so much.
Then when he found out earlier this year that he was in the market, he went straight back and spoke to the owner.
“And then we bought it on the spot,” he laughs. “There was a bit of interest in it, so we had to act quickly. But my two business partners loved him too and we felt he had a bright future.
“It’s such a beautiful place and it offers so many opportunities to attract more visitors and for them to bond emotionally too. It is a wonderful part of Australia, an incredible region to visit. To say I’m excited is an understatement! “
The expansive Kings Creek Resort is just 35 kilometers from the iconic towering red rock cliffs of Kings Canyon and its Watarrka National Park, and 300 kilometers northeast of Uluru.
It is a working cattle and camel station – Australia’s largest exporter of wild camels – as well as a tourism business.
For visitors, it offers a wide range of accommodation ranging from bush camping and a former cattle camp to luxury glamping, activities such as trekking, buggy tours and helicopter rides.
Five days after the purchase, on March 19, however, COVID-19 regulations shut it down. It reopened on September 1.
The station was founded in 1981 by outback Aboriginal legend Ian Conway, who grew up in bush camps outside of Alice Springs and originally took the land as a Crown lease.
His grandfather was William Liddle who in 1907 became the first permanent pastoralist in the Kings Canyon area, taking a lease on the nearby Angas Downs station.
Conway’s grandmother was an Arrernte woman from Alice Springs, while her grandparents on her father’s side were also a white pastor and an Arrernte woman.
Conway, along with his wife Lyn, moved to the lands of Kings Creek with no water, no electricity, no roads, no buildings, and no infrastructure. “I really had no idea at the time, but I could see that it had potential for livestock and tourism,” he says today.
“We started to live there under a tree, like a couple of kangaroos. Then we had a canvas hung between two trees and after two years we moved into a tin shed, a lean-to, while we worked to establish the station and develop it as we went. And gradually the cattle took the second place after tourism, as more and more people visited and discovered the beauty of the land there.
Conway, now 70, finally decided to retire and move to the Adelaide Hills, where he opens a cattle ranch on a property.
But he only wanted to sell Kings Creek Station to buyers whom he was convinced would respect the land, its spirituality, traditional owners and custodians. He is convinced that McFadzean and his partners are the right people to take the station to its next phase.
“I told them they could access my knowledge if they needed it,” says Conway, who also started the nonprofit Conway’s Kids to provide educational opportunities for Indigenous children from across the country. remote lands of the Kings Canyon area.
“I’ll be back soon to finalize some things and show Tony and his team a little more of the country there so they fully understand what that means spiritually.”
“I’m probably the most knowledgeable person in the area and I want to pass some of that knowledge on to them.”
McFadzean and his business partners at Nullarbor Holdings, Tom Robson, who has a background in corporate finance, and Tom Collins, who ran an investment firm as well as a number of Mango properties, already own three businesses in the ‘outback, but expect Kings Creek to be the jewel in the crown.
They hope to introduce new attractions, activities, more styles of accommodation and a greater range of retail products.
“The basics of retail are the same wherever you are,” says McFadzean. “It’s just the logistics that are different.
“In town you can place an order with Woolworths and receive it that night. There, the next delivery might not take a week, the costs are higher because of the transportation, and you can’t get to the convenience store when you forgot something. You need to make sure that your inventory management is as good as possible. “
Even though the COVID-19 crisis has made it difficult for them to start, they are convinced that it also offers new opportunities.
With overseas travel now virtually impossible, and unlikely to open up in the foreseeable future, they see it as the perfect time for Australians to rediscover their own backyard and travel more and more. more in the outback.
“We’re going through a tough time right now with closed borders making it difficult for families and gray nomads to plan their trips, but I think later there will be real opportunities,” says Robson, 42, based in Brisbane. who went camping extensively as a child growing up in West Ipswich, Queensland.
“We hope Australians maybe look a little more in and out of the country for their trip and come out to see these great places. Kings Creek is a very special place. We couldn’t really believe it when it went on sale.
“Ian and Lyn Conway have done an amazing job from scratch to build the station until it is today, and we will continue what they started and put in more infrastructure and introduce a few other things so that people can truly enjoy the nature CA offers. It’s a great place!
Robson Collins’ brother-in-law, 52, is the one of the trio who takes care of everything to do with equipment, structures and the exterior, while Robson is the man of numbers and McFadzean the expert in retail.
Growing up on a property outside of Cairns, Collins has always had an affinity with outback and outback businesses.
“We think the future of Kings Creek Station is huge,” he says. “The Kings Canyon Resort is only 15 to 20 minutes away and you have one of Australia’s greatest sights, the Rock [Uluru], just around the corner.
“The earth over there is quite spectacular and it has an earthy feel that penetrates your blood. It offers so many opportunities because it is so vast and there is so much potential.
“When the borders start to open, and then later, when foreign tourists are allowed in, I think we’ll be inundated, and we are now preparing for that future.
Robson and Collins went into business together, asked McFadzean to consult with them on the retail side, and then asked him to join the company as CEO.
In 2013, they purchased the isolated Nullarbor Roadhouse on a 65 hectare site on the South Australian side of the Eyre Highway, east of Nullarbor Plain, with its fuel, 27 motel rooms, 74 caravan sites. , an airstrip and an 18-hole, par 73 golf course, reputed to be the longest in the world.
The following year, they purchased the Erldunda Roadhouse just outside Uluru, 200 kilometers south of Alice Springs, offering a Shell truck stop, 46 motel units, 96 trailer sites, telephones, internet, 30 emus, a camel and Chuck Norris the rooster.
In 2015, the trio then acquired the Border Village Roadhouse on four acres on the South Australia / Western Australia border, with a licensed restaurant and bar, store, fuel, 34 motel rooms. , three backpacker rooms, five cabins and 24 caravan sites. .
All three titles, in 2018, have grown by almost 20% per year over the previous three years, and they have now all been fitted with car charging stations to be ready for the advent of more electric cars. .
But in addition to making Kings Creek station more sustainable, they are also determined to remain respectful of its past. They even presented Ian Conway, at the handover, with a symbolic key in a display case, saying he would always be welcome anytime he returned.
Conway was touched by the gesture and he too is optimistic that more Australians will now visit the Outback and learn more about their country.
“It’s bloody time!” he says. “This country was originally built on the outback. There is so much to offer, there is so much going on all the time, with the red earth, spectacular scenery and wildlife. It’s so amazing and everyone is so welcoming. “
It is an enthusiasm shared by the three new owners of his station. “Everyone knows Uluru, but in the future we would like them to get to know Kings Creek Station, too,” says McFadzean, who had a rural upbringing in the bush on the outskirts of Griffith, in the NSW Riverina. .
“We are so close to Kings Canyon and we are an extra piece of fabric that can be woven into the Northern Territory experience.
“Once we have spent a little more time there and understood the location, we will move forward to create more accommodation and alternative activities. It’s so beautiful out there with its red soil, wildlife, amazing people and thousands of camels… It’s a very, very special part of Australia that we would love to see so many others. And we are now looking for our fifth outback adventure… ”
[dm-listing-recommendation experimentname=’below-content-listings’ positiononpage=’belowContent’]