Warumungu and Warlmanpa country
The station
350,000 acres of Barkly tableland, still a cattle station, with a tourist park on the Stuart Highway side of it.
Traditional owners continue to use Banka Banka West and take an active part in managing it. That work includes the cattle, and looking after country — including local weed management. Families are still here.
The park is one part of the station, not the whole of it. Walks from the camping area go to cultural places, including Kajanpurra Waterhole and Punkkurr Punkkurra Spring. The point of those walks is to learn something of how this country has been used. Follow the directions you are given. The rules about drones, fires and vehicles are there because of other guests, the land, and traditional owner requirements.
- Wirnkarra
Banka Banka West is on the traditional land of Warumungu and Warlmanpa people. Ancient ancestral beings gave form to the country during the Wirnkarra Dreamtime. Punkurr Punkurr Spring was created then, and the station takes its name from that spring.
- 1860
John McDouall Stuart came through, looking for a route from Adelaide to the Gulf of Carpentaria. At a creek on the property, Aboriginal men he later called bold and daring attacked his party. He named it Attack Creek. He did not get through until 1862.
- 1895
Thomas Nugent, of the Ragged Thirteen, established Banka Banka Station. It has been a cattle station ever since, and for more than a century it has also been a rest stop for people on this road.
- Wartime
A staging camp stood here during the Second World War. What remains of it, and the mudbrick homestead, are heritage listed. You can visit them. Stay on the tracks and follow the signs.
- 2010
The Australian Government’s Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation bought the property on behalf of Aboriginal people.
- 2020
The Federal Court recognised that the Kunapa, Kangwarla, Kanturrpa, Marnitkara, Ngarrka and Pirrtangu groups hold native title to Banka Banka West Station.
Water, used carefully
The station has spring water, and people go out of their way for it. It also has to last for the cattle and for the next guest. Do not wash vehicles, do not wash camping setups, and do not fill onboard tanks. When the park is busy, water to the campground is restricted so the tank can recover for the early morning and the evening.
The shop at reception sells local artwork and souvenirs. Retail, and the bar, run in the season from April to September. The bar, if the managers open it, is 5pm to 7pm.
