Andado

It is situated in the locality of Ghan about south of Ltyentye Apurte Community and south east of Alice Springs. The property shares a boundary with Crown Point Station to the west, Allambi to the north west, Pmere Nyenti Aboriginal Lands trust to the north and east, and the border with South Australia to the south. The homestead is the easternmost habitation on the western side of the Simpson Desert. ==Description==

The station occupies an area of and is the largest privately held station in Australia. The property is situated on the western edge of the Simpson Desert and has a portion of the ephemeral Finke River flowing through it. The swamplands are found between tall dunes and only flood intermittently. Vegetation communities include large areas of spinifex grassland, saltbush shrublands, and acacia and eucalypt woodlands. ==History==

The traditional owners of the area are the Arrente people, who lived and travelled through the area for thousands of years. The area is rich in Aboriginal artefacts and the name of the property is derived from a word meaning stone tool in Southern Arrente (aka Pertame), one of the Arrernte language dialects. The Andado lease was first taken up by Robert MacDill in 1909. He sank several bores in the area and in 1914 gained more leases with his brother Robert David MacGill and Henry Stanley Roper. Shortly afterwards a mud brick dwelling was built. Another homestead was built in 1922 after Robert married and his wife came to live at the station. This homestead remains and is known as the Old Andado homestead. By 1969 the Clark family owned Andado outright and by 1972 they commenced work on restoring the old abandoned homestead which was used to accommodate tourists. The Mac Clark Conservation Reserve was established in 1982 within the station boundaries to preserve the rare Acacia peuce tree, of which there is a stand of 1,000 mature trees found about north of the old homestead. During the 1900s most of these trees had been cut down to make shelters and stockyards until there were only three populations left: one at Andado, another near to Birdsville and the last near Boulia. The area had been struck by drought from 2001 with minimal rains for the next eight years. In 2009 Don and Colleen Costello took over Andado after selling Mount Ebenezer Station. The Costellos also acquired New Crown and Lilla Creek Station, which together occupy an area of . Don and Colleen live on New Crown with the managers, Wayne and Clarice Kimlin, in charge at Andado. Later the same year rains came and the Finke River flowed for the first time in over a decade. The property was stocked up with 3,000 head of cattle shortly afterwards. By 2018, Andado Station was reported to be run by Viv Oldfield. ==See also==