Air Adventure Australia was established by Rod Dyer, one of the original entrepreneurs in the Kimberley. His son John now owns and manages this fast growing tourism business. Running flights into the region, Air Adventure Australia cater to luxury-seeking travellers passionate for all things experiential. From golfing trips and sightseeing to art and archaeological tours. But before Air Adventure Australia, there was Ellenbrae. The journey starts in the early 1960s with a vast station in the north of Western Australia.

A keen airman and creative businessman, the late Rod Dyer bought a Beechcraft Debonair aircraft, secured a 1,000,000 acre station at Ellenbrae Creek in the North Kimberley and began farming this very remote land.

“Dad was farming out in the western district with his business partner. They both had planes, both had pilot licences and heard about these leases, million acre leases up in the Kimberley, so they flew up to have a look, won the tender and away they went. There were actually no roads to get in there at the time so they didn’t even know how they would actually get there to farm.”

Ingenuity and hard work drove this immensely ambitious venture forward and led Rod to build an incredibly successful farming business.

“It was a pretty enormous undertaking but they just had the belief that they would be able to do something with it. There was a lot of innovation and creativity involved in the development of Ellenbrae.”

Rod’s son John, along with his siblings, grew up on the land.

“We had a couple of sheep properties around the area, so I spent plenty of time being free labour out on the property. My childhood was pretty lucky, there was a lot of fun, I spent more time outdoors than in and probably a good blend of farming and flying, hard work, but good fun. I think I learnt from dad that if you work hard you can play hard.”

Despite the commitment required and success of his existing properties, Rod was always looking for the next big challenge.

Ellenbrae was the catalyst for starting Air Adventure Australia with the 6,000 kilometre run up to the station and with no other way into that remote area other than by air, people became curious.

Dad was never one for retirement and it was really a combination of his passion for aviation and his love of travel, but also the opportunity to show people into his world that led to the birth of Air Adventure. Mum also said that it was because he had a captive audience for two weeks. Those who were flying with him who had no choice but to listen to his stories.”

“We used to fly off from the airstrip here in Hamilton on the farm and out to the Kimberley, then stay up there for a couple weeks at a time and when we came back, people used to wonder what was up there, you know the Gibb River Road didn’t exist then so the area wasn’t really on the radar.”
Rod began taking any interested locals with him, like plumbers, builders or people to help him with the stock.

“He was very selective with who he would take up, it would always be someone who was going to be useful. They got an adventure out of it and he got things built and that was really the humble beginnings of it all.”

The shift to a commercial flying enterprise came with the first group of paying clients from Melbourne.

“They were an artist group who really wanted to paint the Kimberley. I think that was the light bulb moment for Dad. It wasn’t just a straight track up there, you passed over some amazing country like the Flinders Ranges, Uluru and beautiful desert lands, well worth stopping for. That is how it became more of an itinerary and subsequently developed into a total experience.”

Establishing the Air Adventure Australia business not only channelled a family passion for flying, but gave access to the spirit, beauty and closely-guarded treasures of the landscape.

“The outback holds a lot of secrets with the ancient cave paintings that predate the pyramids, it offers a sense of discovery, adventure and a genuinely authentic experience, that is really important to me and really important to share.”

In addition to national clients, Air Adventure Australia attracts many international visitors looking for this authentic experience.

“Most of our trips depart from Essendon airport, Victoria, where our aircraft is based, and our travellers come from metropolitan Australia, New Zealand, Russia, USA, Germany, pretty much worldwide. We have started to see Chinese visitors on our golfing trips too, so I think China is a market that will see growth in coming years.”

Working in remote areas has its own set of challenges that range from availability of resources through to transport and infrastructure. But for all these challenges, the rewards are very tangible indeed and success in sharing the authentic, ‘genuine outback of Australia’ is very real.

“There’s nothing like sharing the real outback Australia not the homogenised experience. Authentic characters whose lives have been moulded by the landscape. Many of the families we introduce our guests to have been in that region for five plus generations or even longer if you are talking about Aboriginal peoples, they have been in the area for over forty thousand years.”

John’s family work closely in the greater business of Ellenbrae and his wife, Alyson is his business partner with Air Adventure Australia. Offering a strong background in marketing, she manages all communication for the business.

“Alyson has a wealth of experience in that area and is a huge asset to the business, it is great to be able to work with your family and we both know where our strengths lie.”
On the topic of succession, John is measured.

“I hope that one day my children (Annabelle and Charlie) might take an interest in the business, but I would take the same approach as my Dad did with me, it wouldn’t be forced upon them, the decision is theirs.”

And on goals for the future, John is clearly focussed.

“Our goal is to maintain our leadership positioning in the market. We thrive on coming up with the new, so continuing with innovation, creativity and retaining a boutique feel to everything we do is paramount. We aim to keep our personal touch, despite how much growth we enjoy.”

In terms of building a brand, Air Adventures Australia offers sound advice.

“You need to identify yourself, have a clear definition for who you are and what you do and then stay true to that.”