Have you ever considered the Outback to be a luxury holiday option? Stay at one of Australia’s most deluxe cattle stations and you’ll find equal amounts of opulence and culture, writes Nannette Holliday El Questro. It’s an unquestionable bucket-list destination . A 90-minute drive west of Kununurra in the heart of Australia’s northwest Kimberley region at the eastern end of the infamous Gibb River Road, the property’s romantic name and plush accommodations juxtapose the surrounding harsh wilderness, craggy rusty-ochre rock faces, sheer vertical burnt-orange gorges, and the ancient rolling Cockburn Range.
But it’s these age-old geological formations, stunning natural attractions, plunging waterfalls, secluded spring-fed swimming holes, and picturesque gorges that attract everyone, from families to grey nomads, as well as the rich and famous. READ MORE: Australia’s Kimberley coast: One of the world’s great wildernesses Established as a cattle station in 1903, grazier Charles Torrance McMicking named it El Questro in 1958. No one knows why, but every owner has kept it since.
Knowing it was unprofitable for large-scale cattle grazing, Will Burrell, the British Royal Doulton and Penguin publishing heir, and his Australian wife, Celia Shelmerdine, purchased the million-acre property for $1 million in 1991 to create the Homestead and El Questro Wilderness Park tourist destination . However, with long-standing land claims and conflict between the local communities and.
