THERE are ranches in the United States, there’s even an Oaks Ranch in Texas, but not one of them does kangaroos like Karen McLellan and Andrew Duggan do.
The couple manages Oaks Ranch, a bush paradise south of Mogo, and wants television mega star Oprah to put them on the map when she arrives in Australia with 300 loyal fans later this year.
The property they manage is on 300 beautiful acres, and they have another 300 at their disposal next door.
Karen says, without hesitation, Oaks Ranch is an Australian experience unlike no other.
“It’s so Australian, there are wild animals everywhere,” she said. “It’s not like a zoo experience. It’s the real deal.”
And that might be just what Oprah and her crew are looking for, as she’s been quoted as saying the trip was inspired by her love of the Baz Luhrman epic Australia.
“There are Aboriginal sites all around us, and we have a Koori guide who can take the visitors on walks around the property, and show them what is edible and what’s not,” Karen said.
“We have sheep, lamb, lama, alpaca, a lampaca, trail horses. We also have our Clydesdale and the donkey, who is like our guard dog, he’s got a lot of personality.”
The South Coast is not known for its American tourism industry, but Karen says Oaks Ranch has caught the attention of at least one.
“We have a Facebook page and one of our friends is an American lady who loves our animals,” Karen said.
“She makes comments online whenever we post photographs, she loves them.”
The Tomaga River and Candlagan Creek border the property on two sides, with Mogo Zoo on the other side of the bush and Broulee beach a mere jump to the left.
“Sometimes we can hear the lions roaring during the night,” Karen said. “And the stars at night are unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.”
It’s fair to say the couple has tested the water all over the world. Their extensive work and travel experience spans France, Spain, Hong Kong, England, Japan, New Zealand, France and throughout Asia.
But when they arrived in Australia they did the “backpacker thing” and stumbled upon the beauty of the South Coast.
“We saw the job advertisement and when we came to visit the ranch we just thought, this is wonderful,” Karen said. “You feel like you’re a million miles away, but catching a flight to Sydney is like jumping on the bus, it takes 30 minutes.”
They’re hoping this accessibility will get them over the line as tourism operators around Australia clamber for the opportunity to entertain Oprah and her guests.
“It’s very accessible, this would be an easy option for them logistically,” Karen said.
“In our letter we told Oprah we could even arrange for her to skydive onto the property if she wanted, which has been done before. There’s space for a helicopter. This is just so easy logistically.”
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