Seven Emu Station

Description

The ultimate self-drive wilderness adventure on a genuine Australian outback cattle station.

On the coastal waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria, a getaway to Seven Emu Station holds something unique for everyone from tourists, campers, environmentalists, birdwatchers, fishermen and four-wheel-drive explorers.

Your self-drive holiday adventure can include camping, boating, fishing, nature-watching, and Aboriginal culture and heritage as a guest of the Shadforth family on this real-deal cattle station in the outback of the Northern Territory.
Seven Emu owner Frank Shadforth has worked the property all his life. The Shadforth family are Garawa Aboriginal people from the Gulf Country. Seven Emu is on traditional lands but Willie Shadforth, a cattle drover and horse trader, worked hard, saved hard, got lucky and bought the station outright – for cash! – in 1953. He was one of the first known Aboriginal people to buy a pastoral lease. Willie passed the property onto his son, and in turn Frank has now handed the management of the farm to his son Clarry while he concentrates on Seven Emu’s guests. Clarry’s children assist him with running the station – its fourth Shadforth generation.
As well as the family’s own continuing tradition of innovation and self-reliance, everyone in the Shadforth family keeps their Garawa culture safe in their hearts and minds. Frank is more than happy to share some of their stories and traditions with you on his day tours to the wildlife sanctuary which include a walk along Australia’s most remote and lonely beach – so remote it has never been named. Bird watchers and nature lovers gain exclusive access to the area’s unique biodiversity with an Indigenous interpretation. Frank’s keen eye even spies rare marsupials.