Outback to city: the Rasheeds sell Arkaba homestead
UNLIKE MANY retired couples – who dream of an outback escape – Keith and Lynette Rasheed are selling their 200 ha property on Arkaba Station and moving to Adelaide.
The Rasheed family first came to South Australia back in the late 1800s from Lebanon. They began as store keepers and eventually became sheep farmers.
When Kevin Rasheed, Keith’s father, returned from WWII he saw the potential for tourism in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia, and in 1950 eventually had the money to purchase Wilpena Pound.
“Our family have always been about turning pastoral land into tourism areas. We didn’t want to rely on fluctuations in the wool industry and of course droughts, and that’s how Wilpena and Arkaba came about,” Keith said.
Located in the heart of the Flinders Ranges, Wilpena Pound was converted by the Rasheeds from a pastoral area to a tourism hotspot, but they sold the area back in 2008 and later, in 2012, sold most of Arkaba Station, keeping just 200 ha of nearby land on which to live.
Ten years ago, there were no buildings on the property, but the Rasheeds have since added water, electricity and a traditional country homestead, surrounded by natural landscapes where they are often spotted exploring in their famous pink Land Rover.
The Rasheed family is often credited with bringing tourism to outback South Australia. “Many years ago we recognised the potential of this country area for a select group of tourists. It was never going to be for large numbers though,” Keith said.
Keith is hoping their home for the past few years will now be used as a lifestyle property, with the potential for more tourism. “We always knew that we didn’t want huge tourism numbers and with the urban sprawl, if you don’t manage it, you destroy the thing you’re trying to protect.”
The Rasheeds are moving to Adelaide to be closer to family, but said they’ll still be spending a lot of their time in the Australian outback.
