Gnaraloo homestead destroyed by Cyclone Olwyn
Autumn school holidays begin in Western Australia on Friday the 3rd April. Aside from the usual city exodus that date represents the informal beginning of the north-west surf season.
"That's when we'll see the caravans and families arrive from down south," says Gnaraloo station manager, Paul Richardson.
Gnaraloo Station is on the doorstep of Ningaloo Reef and attracts guests exploring the reef and nearby coast. Surfers travelling to Gnaraloo stay in the nearby 3 Mile Camp, which is also maintained by Gnaraloo Station.
However, when the families arrive at Gnaraloo and 3 Mile Camp they'll be greeted by a far different sight than what they're used to. On Friday Tropical Cyclone Olwyn passed directly over the top of Gnaraloo leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
"We watched it all Thursday," said Richardson. "We gathered all the machinery and chained it to the cyclone container. Had probably 45 tonnes chained to it."
Click here for video taken during the cyclone and photos of the aftermath.
The strong winds started at approximately 11pm Thursday night peaking at 8am Friday. Richardson said it then went quiet for around an hour-and-a-half - evidence he believes that the eye passed right overhead - before resuming with gusto.
"It was great windsurfing weather," said Richardson. "Wouldn't need a sail either, just the mast would do!"
Once the wind cleared he took stock of the damage. The homestead got "obliterated" and he can't see that being salvaged. "The shearer's quarters are gone, most of the cabins are gone, the petrol shed is gone....actually, it hasn't gone, it's up a tree."
They also lost all the fresh water tanks and most of the bore water tanks. Fortunately there was an electrician on site doing annual upkeep and after the staff spent 250 hours cleaning up they've got some cabins livable with the power back on.
Compared to the homestead, 3 Mile Camp was spared the worst of the destruction. The roof is gone off the middle toilet block, plus it's lost a wall. The structure is still standing though. The kitchen is gone, the Hilton is damaged, and so is a water tank, but Richardson believes the water tank can be fixed.
"That's important, there might be a bit of al fresco showering but we'll have water."
And Richardson's message to those planning to head north? "As long as you don't mind doing your business while looking at the stars then we're all good."
More photos and videos to come.
Comments
It's just been a weird cyclone season over here, we have had heaps form near Maldives and cruise around in the middle of the Indian Ocean since mid January out of our cyclone forecast.Our first cyclone olwyn of the season has the same track pattern as the ones did to our west but over land. All of the Cyclones this year, even on your side seem to be forming and tracking South East with the expection of Nathan.
Anyone who has stayed at Gnaraloo and met Paul would know what unique experiences these both are. Thoughts are with you Paul, be sure when we are next over your way we will lend a hand wherever you need it most. Cheers for the memories.
Most likely he won't be there as in a couple of months the wa government is taking all the land off Warra, red bluff, gnarloo stations and Ningaloo. Then they plan to build luxury resorts for the rich and sell the rest to mining companies.
If they tried this land grab on the East coast there would be a flood of support for keeping things the way they are. Unfortunately its the North West, and there's not many there to take offense, which is precisely the reason anyone who has been up there is the better for it.
I have stayed at Gnarloo a couple of times for fishing and hope what mr kellyslater says dosent happen,its a majestic spot how it is
@kellyslater...where is this info about Gnarloo ? I can see a draft plan but nothing about taking land off locals.
Im not full bottle on this, there is no doubt more info out there. It's a pretty shit act by the gov, I'm a bit surprised not many seem to give a crap. There is a petition as well it doesn't seem specific which area it covers though.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/26556255/pastoralists-angry-over-nin...
https://www.change.org/p/hon-ken-baston-mlc-save-the-wilderness-product-...
Great link KS . Everyone on Swellnet should sign this if they ever wish to experience the best Oz has to offer. Or their kids, or grand kids....
Agreed. Thanks for that link KS. Spread the word folks...
done.
Best place i've ever been to. Hope it stays that way for years to come.
Shit! That sucks.
I've never been able to get there. I got close once back in 1988 on the long way back from Perth to Melb with my wife - got to Quobba blowholes but no chance of going further up the coast, and it was late Feb (bloody hot!) and no swell, and I didn't have my board with me.
But I want to go back there sometime, the way it is now and not be forced to stay in some "glamping" $500pn tents for the rich to say they've roughed it. These "developments" will screw up the coast and the environment. I read that one plan has a resort on the top of a turtle nesting spot.
Ooh, greedy corrupt pollies get me angry.
KS good stuff!thnx for sharing the knowledge.i agree with yocal n blowin on the fact that its one of the best places i have ever been.i hope they dont mess it up.
are u guys sure its gonna get destroyed by parks n wildlife?
a bunch of station owners with all the cattle n sheep overgrazing,destroy pristine native vegetation and loss of top soil is common in the livestock industry.that is why there is a dept in the government that has to regulate proffit driven farming.
unsure n hope someone can clear up as i havent been up in 15years but i hear bluff is$20 a nite n they already have eco tents with wifi that are hundreds per nite?
so if i go camp in me own tent with the wife n 2kids its going to be $560 a week?
also i'd love to know whats it worth to camp at gnarloo?bet it aint no$35pw.$35 a nite sounds more like what they probably charge?
seems like overpriced eco tourism is already there!managed by a lucky few on land that should belong to everyone......
Troppo - things could definitely be better up there, the goats are DESTROYING the joint - but they could be a fuck of a lot worse.
I've seen the way that the government manage places such as this.
They get in some Uni grads to do a recce and say that there are wheel ruts, undesignated paths through dunes and unsupervised camping ie a circle of rocks with some coals in the centre and the government will say that the area is not pristine and requires oversight .
This oversight comes in the form of innocuous wheel ruts and sandy tracks being replaced with a two lane graded road and walkways that that are delineated by coppers logs, guard rails and masses of signage - both officious and interpretive / educational.
Free camps become graded, fencing wire and coppers logs restricted soulless caravan parks with limited duration stays, reams of rules and a couple of pensioners from Victoria that heard about the joint last week as official " Camp Hosts" that will police the myriad of rules with an iron fist.
Not to mention an exponential increase in fees to cover the expense of providing all these " improvements" that are unnessecary, destructive to the original attraction of the area and in need of constant maintenance.
The area must then be promoted to cover ongoing costs with increased occupancy which leads to a further development of the area etc etc you can imagine where this ends up....never forgetting that these facilities were introduced to prevent the degradation of the natural environment. The fuckers responsible don't seem to appreciate the irony of their actions.
So a caravan park with tens of thousands of visitors, sealed roads, convenience shops, service stations, admin buildings , tourist information bureaus and all the associated pollution , rubbish and traffic is all allegedly more environmentally sensitive and sustainable than those couple of wheel ruts through the scrub.
This is the National parks INDUSTRY and is all about increased economic turnover and beaurocracy and little to do with actual protection of the environment.
Read the Quobba Station Blowholes management plan that is being enacted as we speak.
Bare patches of earth that people have camped on cheaply and unobtrusively for generations are being replaced with Eco chalets ....You've got to appreciate the Orwellian language that they're developing to euphemistically describe the destruction of Australia's bush camp heritage. Eco Chalets my arse. They are bolt holes for wealthy tourists used to evict the poor from an attractive area and usurp it for their own devices such as making money.
Of course the poor will have their place....a Coles car park -like place of cordoned off flatland . Complete with signs upon signs of rules.
And this is before private enterprise and it's transferral of the common wealth of the area to a select wealthy few through exclusivity rendering pricing strategies.
Such as fuck off poor surfers - we've got fund managing beginners from Hong Kong to cater for.
Hey Troppo,
info here: http://www.planning.wa.gov.au/publications/5841.asp
Section 1.2 has maps with overlays of proposed developments.
Section 1.3 has detail.
I actually don't disagree with Parks & Wildlife taking over the land and declaring it as National Park, but the proposals don't necessarily state that National Parks will solely manage the 'Tourism Nodes' nor the 'Eco Lodge Nodes', nor that the entire region will be declared National Park, it only ptoposes that they should be classified as 'conservation and recreation reserves'. What it does state is that they will be taking development applications for these areas.
So for now I support the cause of the Pastoralists because they are arguing against any form of development, and from what i've seen, they manage the land well.
I disagree with the scale of the proposed plans same as Blowin. Why not leave it as a remote camping only site with bare minimum facilities. That is half the fun of driving into the desert loaded with supplies in the first place.
It's like paving a road to Cape York. Nothing Burke and Wills about driving your sportscar or family sedan in cruse control all the way up to the most remote tip of Australia.
If it ain't broken don't fix it. Fuck the goats off.
Good money for goats at the moment.
rite on guys!blowin n yocal your comments are awesome+educational.blowin the post on the national parks INDUSTRY is one of the best articles i've ever read!great breakdown of bureacracy.thnx boys keep up the good work......... i will sign the petition
Trippo you are Day-z !!? From d.pt ? A man who lend me the 6"4 brewer for nude surfing supersucks. The owl chapman single fin that hooted ! Howzit !?
g'day m8!all is good.hope 2get out 2visit u next month school holidays.
occasionaly i tell people bout the super suck session,lifes better out of board shorts!!!
i dont think anyone will ever see a naked man with a gimp mask on get 5barrels on a 1wave @ the suck again!!surf naked....hang 11.rock out....that was impressive surfing!!
Whats with your troppo name change ? Ya datang ke visit lagi
seen someone already took dazza so i randomley opened the dictionary n those were the best words on the 2pages.
i started checking the surf reports on swell net a few years ago.then started reading some of the comments in the forums.i found the different oppinions and info on boards n everything else superb n couldnt help myself!
@mums on the living room floor on the mid(serious lack of surf)turned me into a computer kook.now i'm in the matrix vortex n loving it!!
gonna have to learn how to type n spell as these are some smart bloggers!whish i was smart enough to put up pictures n play surf video games!?
maybe SN could do seminars for the tech impared
So whats the meaning ? Ive heard of gone troppo but notsure wat it means . Back on topic seeing we gone off it um the fruit plantations in carnarvon got fairly wiped out and wont be much for a few months at least
yeah they were claiming 12-15months b4 banana trees are back 2normal production
wonder if they're gonna get hit by another cyclone in the near future??
whats the word on the mangoe trees?know its not the season
troppo=mentally disturbed from exposure to a tropical climate
dichotomy=a division into 2;result of such division/a sharp or paradoxical contrast
Ya good name troppo hah ! Mangoes maybe will have fruit by next xmas . Pisang 10 months at best .
need more info, they will have signed up yo agenda 21, will need to back track re local govt legislation, will be able to pin them on past environmentql laws
dave burdon
5/8 frances st tweed
hds 2485
intergenerational equity wlll underpin basis of saving land for future generations based on heritage value
email me. we will save land for future australians or will we will have new govts. not about politics but people and land being as one. email me
cyclone nathan is gonna cruz down the coast from n.t and head for the gascoyne.....
Ah you guys are actually talking about fruit crops, I thought it was code words stuff, ha!
Ive said it before & will say it again craig . Riddles goes over my head i dont play that stuff . Cant decipher the wierd stuff . Not much code & riddle from me . Is cyclone nathan really going to gascoyne ?
Nah, Nathan is dissipating. Possible small tropical low forming up there but nothing major.
Craigo, its your uncle Clivus here mate. Would it help if we get a surfing reserve slapped on this section of coast?
Couple of uneducated comments here from last week Mollochhorridus.
You sole paragon of truth you.
this Terry Redman seems to be the man to put pressure on to get best result, still have a few months yey.
BUt i seem ait confused as some seem to want to keep pastoralists even with goats destroying native vegetation while others think the national park scenario will result in too much development. Surely pressure on REdman can getan outcome of better land management with some better facilities but not much change, it is crown land after all!