Welcome to the first edition of Meet The Flinders , a series where I interview (and celebrate) the people who live and work in the Flinders Ranges and open it up to others.
First cab off the rank is Alpana Station and the lovely Sally Henery who was more than happy to take part. Thanks Sally!
Before we dive in, here’s what you need to know about Alpana before you book your stay.
Alpana Station
Owners – Sally and David Henery.
Accommodation – Shearers’ Quarters, Nungawurtina Hut, powered (some with ensuite) and unpowered campsites.
Location – 5 km south of Blinman (50 km north of Wilpena) on the Flinders Ranges Way.
Website – alpanastation.com
Phone – (08) 8648 4626
Email – alpanastation42[at]gmail.com
Pets – permitted at some accommodation types (see FAQ ).
Accessibility – some accommodation is accessible by 2WD, while some is only accessible by high-clearance vehicles and vans (see FAQ ).
(Left to right): John, Patrick, Keziah, Elsie, Sally, David, and Banjo the dog (Photographer: Andrew Hull)
Hello! To start, could you tell me a little about yourself?
My name is Sally Henery.
I run Alpana Station’s station stay business with a lot of help from my husband David, our son John and our daughter-in-law Keziah who also live on the property.
Alpana Station was started in 1878 by David’s great-great-great-grandfather Paddy Henery as a 133-acre farm and has expanded over six generations to 60,000 acres in the very scenic central Flinders Ranges.
In 1994 David’s father started our station stay diversification with an upgrade of the shearers’ quarters for group accommodation, camp sites, accredited 4WD guided tours and a 4WD self-drive track.
In 2007, on his retirement, I took over the tourism enterprise from my father-in-law, and David and I have continued and expanded our tourism offerings.
Nungawurtina Hut
I met David when I came to the Blinman area from Adelaide forty years ago to work on a neighbouring property.
After we married and had our two children, my role was to supervise the children’s pre-school and primary school education via distance education, School Of The Air.
During the tourism season, March to November, my day involves answering phone call and email enquiries, meeting people as they arrive or depart, taking guests and others on the Alpana Station 4WD tour or other guided tours in the area, cleaning the accommodation between bookings, ordering souvenirs, and I keep the station/business books too.
David and our son John, with help from daughter-in-law Keziah, run the station, and our two little grandchildren, aged four and two, love to help too.
Mustering, fencing, checking water, fixing waters, dealing with pest plants and pest animals, checking stock, vehicle repairs…
You’re in an elevator and your floor is fast approaching. How would you explain the station stay to the person next to you?
Alpana’s station stay is located just five kilometres south of Blinman and comprises a very clean and comfortable shearers’ quarters for group accommodation, Nungawurtina Hut, a magic bush retreat, four ensuite powered sites, four powered sites for self-contained vans, ten scenic bush camping sites with basic amenities, two fun self-drive 4WD tracks, and we offer guided 4WD tours.
We are a small to medium sized, family owned and operated, affordable, friendly, quality station stay, and we were one of the original Station Stays SA members.
Ensuite powered sites at Alpana Station
What is the best part of running station stay accommodation? What has been the biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?
Living on a station can be a very isolated lifestyle.
Opening up our property to visitors means we are definitely not lonely! We get to share our very special part of the Flinders Ranges and our family story with guests from all over South Australia, Australia and the world.
Many guests become return visitors and become friends we look forward to catching up with.
As the station stay business has grown and become busier it is a challenge to keep on top of the daily work-load and maintenance with just the four of us to do everything.
We had thought to expand our offerings by adding a cabin or two but to cope with that would mean employing someone to help, which would mean finding or supplying accommodation for staff, and it all seems too hard.
So we pulled our heads in and will instead concentrate on making improvements to what we already offer, and keep it manageable for the four of us.
What’s the most unusual or bizarre request you’ve received from a guest?
A campsite for a month was an unusual request. Most bookings would average a three or four nights stay.
One couple asked if they could take a trailer load of our slate to make a fairy rock pool in their backyard in Adelaide. They did, and I’d love to see a photo of it one day.
Gate between the homestead and accommodation/camping area at Alpana Station
What makes your station stay unique compared to other options in the Flinders Ranges?
Alpana offers four private ensuite powered sites. I believe we are the only station stay in SA who has these. They are very popular.
We are also the only one in the central Flinders Ranges offering real, accredited, off-road 4WD tours and a transport service for Heysen Trail hikers. We have the history of seven generations of the Henery family on Alpana.
Do you have any plans for the station that future guests should be excited about?
As mentioned above, we plan to keep poking away at small improvements as time and finances allow.