QHA_March 2018_Electronic_s

FEATURE
So how did this mining town attract the interest of the
Powers, and more importantly, what is it like running
one of the northern most hotels in Australia? We were
keen to find out. Bernard takes up the story.
“The hotel was built in 1970 by Australian Airlines,
then known as TAA. It consisted of the main hotel with
an adjoining motel of 22 units. In 1980, they built a
further 18 units to bring the total to 40. We bought the
resort in 1981. Aside from numerous refurbishments to
both the motel and the main hotel building, the overall
structure hasn’t changed other than the addition of a
very large beautiful deck overlooking the bay.”
The result has seen it become a focal point for not
only the hotel but indeed the people in town and the
surrounding regions. Mark elaborates, “The deck
and beer garden are iconic in Weipa. The deck has
become what people refer to as ‘the place to meet’,
whether it is your first time or you have lived there for
50 years. It is a beautiful spot in the day or night. It’s
position overlooking Albatross Bay is also unique in
that it is one of the only places in Queensland where
you can watch the sun set over the ocean from the
western side.”
It prompted us to ask Mark about hotel patronage and
the types of customers The Albatross attracts.
“The average person can be anything from a 24 yearold
masters engineering student who wants a fantastic
cup of coffee and knows a great red wine, a family
travelling around Australia camping and fishing, an
executive couple who have just retired or a group of
professionals who are coming up recreationally. It is
that diverse. It can even be a number of employees
of the various companies who use Weipa as a central
point for their commercial or public works around the
mines. It’s a huge mixture.”
Mark went on to explain how Weipa is anything but a
boom or bust town.
“It is a steady, stable town underpinned by Rio Tinto
but there is also a lot of government activity. Education
is a huge employer up here through public and private
schooling. There is a lot of visitation to Cape York due
to education, health, environment and defence.”
As a result Weipa Airport has flights arriving regularly
throughout the week.
Work is being undertaken on a new mine, along with
an upgrade of the port facilities and aside from the
commercial airport, just 30 minutes outside of Weipa is
the Royal Australian Air Force’s Scherger base. This is
a strategic air strip capable of being activated at short
notice. It was designed for operational units to move
into existing facilities at little or no notice, either for
urgent defence requirements or military exercises.
Mark continues, “There are enormous environmental
and infrastructure development works taking place.
Water, roads, manufacturing, along with all the support
services which come with it – the size of these projects
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