Destination Profile - Adels Grove, Queensland
Adels Grove, also known as the Frenchman's Garden, is a stand of exotic trees established in the 1930s. It is a 32 hectare freehold property first surveyed as a miner's homestead lease in 1904. It is completely surrounded by the 6,000 square km Lawn Hill Station cattle property which in turn is a Fauna and Flora Reserve.
Around 1920 the Adels Grove lease was taken up by Albert de Lestang, a French botanist who was reputed to be commissioned by the government of the day to experiment here on the growing of tropical trees and fruits. By 1939 he had some 1,000 species of exotic and native plants, shrubs and trees growing here.
A sign positioned at the entrance to Adel's Grove during his time read...
ADELS GROVE
Store, Garden and Repair Shop, Blacksmithing,
Carpentry and Saddlery undertaken here.
I buy, sell or exchange horses and vehicles.
I buy Marsupial skins, Botanical and Zoological specimens
Motorists catered for here.
Drovers, Bagmen and other Travellers will find
the Grove a Home away from Home
Good Fishing and Sport.
A. de Lestang
These days Adels Grove caters for many similar aspects to those of A. de Lestang, but delete blacksmithing, carpentry and saddlery.
The Grove also abounds with Livistona Palms, Leichhardt Pines, Acacias, Melaleucas, Figs, Eucalypts and many other native species growing side by side with the exotics. The fauna of the area is both diverse and prolific with several types of wallaby and kangaroo, a vast variety of birds, both land and aquatic reptiles (no saltwater crocodiles), a good few amphibians and some unique native mammals. Many of the species are either nocturnal or migratory and are therefore not commonly sighted. It is a one of lifes sheer delights to paddle a canoe along Lawn Hill Creek.
This destination is part of the Cape York Outback Paradise Australian Adventure.
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