Address & Contact
Erldunda NT
Phone: 08 8999 5051
Email: info@oldandado.com.au
Web: https://www.oldandado.com.au
Campground at the Old
Andado Homestead site. Facilities are limited and not reliable (often no water to operate the toilets or shower so be prepared for any eventuality). Old
Andado is the former
home of Mac & Molly Clark who are the most notable pioneers of the
Andado cattle station that operated here from the early 1900's. In the early years, various pastoral leases were owned by people on the land that later became known as
Andado Station in the 1920s. The station also changed hands several times. The original
home that is now
heritage listed, was built in 1922. The first station workers previously lived in temporary shelters and mud brick huts but nothing remains of those. Cooking was done outside on a fire pit until 1924 when the kitchen was added to the house. The Clarks were not the first people to live there, in fact Mac Clark didn't start working at
Andado until 1949 and Molly joined him in 1951. However, they soon became joint owners and later full owners. A new
homestead was built 20 kilometres away in the 1950s and the old place (this one) left to ruin. Molly and Mac had 3 sons and they restored the old
homestead in the early 1970s and established a tourism business there to show the hardships of life in the pioneering days. A series of tragedies in the late 1970s, including the death of Mac in a plane crash and a complete de-stock of the property made the station worthless after their cattle were found to have tuberculosis. However, Molly wanted to reclaim the old
homestead and the tourism business so she eventually secured a lease over a small portion of the property and was able to re-establish it as a working cattle station albeit small.Molly continued to run "Old Andado" right through to the 1980s when the land changed hands again. In those days, she worked tirelessly with the people of the region. She was a remarkable pioneer of the area and her influence and work is highly respected in the region. She did a lot of work with the bush children, the flying doctors, the CWA and put a lot of money into other charities as
well. Everything she made from the tourism venture went to charity. She started the Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame in
Alice Springs and she ended up building the track to
Alice Springs (via Allambie Station) to save
miles to get her shopping. The only alternative route at the time was to go via Finke and then back up the Ghan Road. She blazed the track for her own use by towing a railway sleeper. It started getting used and then the Works Dept made a proper road out of it using the grader in 1991. This road is the Binns Track and the route of this Trek Note. Molly lived in the
homestead exactly as it can be seen today right up to the year 2000 when she
broke her hip. She was moved to
Alice Springs but the property was managed by caretakers so she would return from time to time to help out and oversee. Molly died in 2012 and has been buried back on the property - the
grave site is across the creek and is marked with a
plaque.The Old
Andado station is a beautiful and unique place that is now
Heritage listed. The interesting feature about this
homestead is the early 1950s furnishings, memorabilia, books and artefacts. Old
Andado does not make profit but has relied on a Volunteer Caretakers system. The family have worked hard to keep Molly's legacy intact.To stay up to date with the future of Old
Andado, see their Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/oldandado/.