Koolburra Station

The property is 320km north of Mareeba, and 65km north of Laura on the Peninsula Development road, which dissects the property.

Adjoining Olive Vale Station and Lakefield National Park, the 160,000-hectare (pastoral holding) property has an estimated carrying capacity of 15,000 head with scope to increase this number with additional internal fencing, waters and further pasture improvements.

The average rainfall at the property is 1500mm per year.
Some of the improvements conducted in their time at the property include fencing along the boundary of the national park, which has increased the useability of about 130,000ha of the property.

The country is described as mainly open box with bloodwood and ironwood sand ridges, as well as having some melon hole black soil plains. The country is generally flat and divided by creeks.
There are some low hills and a mixture of sandy loam, as well as clay and river loam.
The native grasses include spear, kangaroo and others, with introduced verano, wyncassia and seca legumes.

Four rivers water the property, including the Hann, St George, North Kennedy and Kennedy. Furthermore, there is permanent water in the Jones, Emu and Koolburra creeks. The property has 22 springs, lakes and swamps. In fact Koolburra means ‘big water’.

The property has 15 dams, eight of which have been newly constructed, as well as four bores, three wells equipped with windmills, tanks and troughs.
The underground supply is of good quality water.

The homestead is a two-storey five bedroom residence set in attractive gardens with an underground sprinkler system. Other buildings include a quarters, workshop, machinery sheds, and hangar.

The property also has the St George outstation 70km south of the homestead, which consists of a three-bedroom home and workshop. A second outstation consists of a mustering shelter and bathroom, water tank, and cattle yards.

The main homestead has a good set of mostly timber and steel yards capable of handling at least 2000 head, and complete with sprinkler system, dip, crush, calf cradle and ramp. There is a second set of yards at the Jones camp.

Koolburra is almost fully fenced. The fencing splits into five large paddocks, six small paddocks, while an area to the southeast remains unfenced.

This fencing has nearly doubled the carrying capacity of Koolburra, with abundant grass available.