About us
The story of Dirk Hartog Island starts in 1616
Dirk Hartog Island has been with our family for over 50 years and it all started when Sir Thomas Wardle, former Perth Mayor decided to purchase the island’s pastoral leasehold land in 1968.
Sir Thomas Wardle would travel to the island for vacations to escape the world of business and city to spend time with family. Managers and stockmen would live on the island for periods of time operating the pastoral station.
Moving on from the pastoral life three decades later, in 1993, the island took its first steps of tourism, establishing into one of Australia’s top eco-destinations. We (Kieran Wardle, grandson of Sir Thomas, and wife Tory) have been managing and nurturing the tourism business from the beginning.
Over the years, we had three beautiful children – Will, Ollie and Sanchi. Our children have spent their early childhood here on the island and have been educated through Carnarvon School of the Air. Will is passionate about protecting the environment and enjoys capturing the beauty of the island through images. Ollie is an outdoor adventurist and is willing to help out in every way possible. Sanchi spends most of her time after school with her pets and loves being in the kitchen helping bake cakes and desserts.
Today, we are still operating accommodation, guided tours and providing 4WD access to the island via the ‘Hartog Explorer’ barge.
Vision, Mission, & Values Statement
Our Vision
An island returned to itself and kept forever wild.
We see Dirk Hartog made whole again, as close to 1616 as a place can be: its native life back, its true integrity intact, inherited exactly as it should be by the generations after us.
Proof that a place can be shared with the world, yet stay wild.
Our Mission
To share the wild edge of Australia, and help bring it back in the same breath.
We carry you the whole way, from the first booking to the last goodbye. On the island, the wild returns you to yourself and the present falls away into something far older and untouched.
That step back in time is no accident: it is the work of Return to 1616, the regeneration we are part of, bringing the island closer to what it once was.
Our Values
Wild comes first. The island’s raw character is the whole point. We tread lightly, resist the polish, and let the place stay exactly as untamed as it has always been.
Leave more than we take. We play our part in Return to 1616, helping bring the island’s native life back. We’re caretakers, and we measure ourselves by what we help restore.
Honest, never staged. The place is real and so is the welcome. We don’t manufacture a moment, we share a true one.
Born of this island. Everything grows from here: the saltbush and wild rose, the 1616 story, the red earth underfoot. Nothing generic, nothing imported.
In family hands. Family stewardship, passed down generationally and deeply personal. Here, you’re always someone’s guest, never a number.
Our Mission
Continue to provide warm hospitality to guests and campers that stay on the island.
Educate people about the enriched history, the ‘Return to 1616’ restoration program and pass on stories about living on the island.
Continue to support and sponsor the WA Royal Flying Doctors, Pirate Ship Foundation, Return to 1616 program and CSOTA.
Continue to find sustainable and eco-friendly strategies of operating a tourism business.
Our Future
Our family future hopes to continue operating the tourism in many years to come and assist in protecting this World Heritage Site, not only for Dirk Hartog Island’s pristine beauty, but the whole of Shark Bay.
