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Pine View Shelter

Welcome to Pine View Station

It is recorded that this was the Country of the Malyangapa. We pay our respects to the elders past, present and emerging.

Welcome to Pine View Station, one of the most western properties in New South Wales. It is also one of the few that did not form part of the Kidman “chain of supply properties”.

The Pine View lease was taken up by Bertie Lacey in 1928 although he had worked in the area for around ten years prior. It remains in the Lacey family today. For five generations the focus of land-use on Pine View Station has been to breed fine wool merino sheep.

European Exploration

In mid-November 1844 Sturt’s Expedition’s moved to a Morphett’s Creek. From there Sturt dispatched Poole and Browne north-westerly towards Lake Torrens (Lake Frome) in the vain hope of finding a safe westerly route.

After their return nine days later Sturt sent Flood scouting ahead to the north. Sixty kilometres away he found a good waterhole for a camp.

Flood also saw four shy “native women”, the first seen west of the ranges.

From Floods Creek. Poole, Browne and Mack rode as far as the Queensland border whilst Sturt, Stuart and Flood headed to the plains east of the Barrier Ranges. Each party returned to camp by Christmas day 1844.

Quotation

Charles Sturt

“Flood had not at all exaggerated his account of this creek, which, as an encouragement, I named after him. It was certainly a most desirable spot to us at that time; with plenty of water, it had an abundance of feed along its banks”

(Map to show Barrier Ranges, Morphett Creek, Lake Torrens, Floods Creek)

Outback living

Pine View Station is one of the most western properties in New South Wales with a major section of its western boundary being the wild dog fence.

Originally part of Corona Station, Pine View was established in 1928 when the Corona lease expired and Bertie Lacey was granted a block of land.  It remains in the Lacey family possession today.

For five generations the focus of land use on Pine View has been to produce fine merino wool.

Did you know

  • It was long believed that a single horse-shoe shaped lake called Lake Torrens surrounded the Flinders Ranges. It was later acknowledged that there are a series of lakes including Torrens, Eyre and Frome.
  • In 1956 a two way radio first developed by the Flying Doctor Service delivered radio lessons through the Broken Hill School of the Air to children in outback New South Wales
  • Today station children’s school lessons are delivered through a real-time satellite internet connection.

Outback Living

Health and Education in remote New South Wales.

In 1937 when the Flying Doctor Service began providing health care to families in remote far western New South Wales and neighbouring border areas the pedal wireless became commonplace in homesteads.  It enabled the doctor to speak directly to patients.

Flying Doctor primary health clinic is held at the Pine View Station homestead every few weeks. Patients from neighbouring stations travel to the property to see a doctor or allied health professional, and often stay for a chat and refreshments with friends afterwards.

Keep a look out for

  • A Sturt’s Steps post near The Veldt homestead on Sanpah Road with information about the RFDS
  • Information about Sturt’s Expedition along the Pimpara Lake and Mt Shannon Roads
  • More about Sturt, wool production, the RFDS and SOTA in museums at MilparinkaTibooburra and Fort Grey
  • Learn about the rabbit fence that became a wild dog exclusion fence in Milparinka
  • Be sure to visit Sturt’s Depot, Poole’s grave and Sturt’s cairn.

Landscape

Pine View Station lies within the Lake Frome catchment area. Many of the ephemeral creeks that flow through the station have their headwaters in the Barrier Ranges and were important sources of food and water for the traditional owners as well as Sturt’s Expedition.

Only after very major flood events will they flow through the border with South Australia into ephemeral lakes such as Disappointment and Starvation.

The western boundary of Pine View is the state border but is also the wild dog exclusion fence. Originally constructed as a rabbit-proof fence in the 1880s, it had some measure of success at controlling the plagues of rabbits and has since been useful as a deterrent to predator wild dogs and dingoes.

#sturtssteps