When Rob and Lyn French first started out with Gilberton Outback Retreat 5 years ago, there wasn’t much clarity on how to establish a successful Station Stay operation. As Lyn explains, “we walked into it knowing nothing about what we were getting ourselves into. We made a few mistakes along the way but we’re proud of what we’ve built.”
When Rob and Lyn French first started out with Gilberton Outback Retreat 5 years ago, there wasn’t much clarity on how to establish a successful Station Stay operation. As Lyn explains, “we walked into it knowing nothing about what we were getting ourselves into. We made a few mistakes along the way but we’re proud of what we’ve built.”
What started out as a means of securing additional revenue during the drought period, quickly evolved into a labour of love for the French family. “We just love having people around and we have always felt that we have so much to offer our guests. Our aim is to have people visit as guests but leave as friends”. Being the 7th generation of family to live in this area, and having four generations currently living on the station, Rob and Lyn certainly have a lot of local knowledge to offer. They know their product intimately well and they live and breathe every aspect of station stay life.
The couple also emphasise that a strong motivation for them has always been to educate people about where their meals come from – paddock to plate.
Lyn and Rob always envisaged Gilberton Outback Retreat to be positioned as a luxury offering. Lyn rightly points out that each property is unique so there’s no point trying to copy what someone nearby is doing. The couple did their own primary research to get ideas on what they wanted their station stay business to be, and what they didn’t Gilberton Outback Retreat want it to be. That meant a few luxurious nights out at $1,000 per night station stay retreats in the Northern Territory and elsewhere.
If you can do something yourself for the time being thenbthat’s the best way to approach it.
The regulatory and planning requirements were hurdles that Lyn describes as a “bit of a nightmare”. However, a bit of creative thinking and some help from the Bed & Breakfast and Farm Stay Association of Far North Queensland18 helped them identify significant shortcuts that reduced the regulatory barriers to entry. Yet whilst they were able to find handy shortcuts around onerous paperwork, the couple never cut corners on quality and always ensured they used qualified builders and tradesman who worked to strict specifications.
In relation to food licences, the couple had completed all the necessary food handling training. However, because of the nature of Rob and Lyn’s offering, where they only cater to one guest at a time and offer their accommodation as an ‘all-inclusive’ package, they were able to classify their visitors as “guests of the house” who do not pay for food or alcohol. This enabled them to work around the requirement for food and alcohol licences.
The Gilberton property operates under OL tenure (option to lease), which, as Lyn puts it “is the lowest tenure you can have”. Changing it would have been extremely difficult, so the best option was to establish the property as a Nature Refuge with the Queensland Government. Such an agreement is negotiated directly with the landholders and acknowledges a commitment to protect land with significant conservation value, while allowing compatible and sustainable land uses to continue. As part of their negotiations, Lyn and Rob had incorporated the right to conduct ecotourism
(low risk).
Lyn suggests that the best way to start is to not go too big, too fast. “If you can do something yourself for the time being then that’s the best way to approach it”. This is advice that Lyn practices herself, with all work on the station stay being undertaken by her and her husband Rob. She indicates that the couple would eventually love to employ some other staff at the right time and under the right circumstances, which they suspect they will be able to do so in the near future.
The couple estimate that those prepared to do it right should be willing to spend about $100,000 to establish a successful station stay business. As Lyn suggests “Don’t go halfhearted. If you do something, do it properly”.
Gilberton Outback Retreat relies on bookings to be made through the website or by phone. Lyn notes that she and Rob had tried a few different booking platforms in the past but ultimately have chosen to control this themselves. A big factor in this is that they refuse to work with overseas companies in which their core values don’t necessarily align.
Lyn’s final bit of advice is that you should be prepared to tolerate a bit of criticism here and there from other landholders as this comes part and parcel with any decision to tread your own path.
“You just have to look past that and move on otherwise it brings you down. Criticism is like rain… It should be gentle enough to nourish a person’s growth without destroying their roots”.
Don’t go half-hearted. If you do something, do it properly.
