Undoolya Station is a 1440km2 pastoral lease east of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. It has been managed by the Hayes Family since 1906. It is currently managed by Ben and Nicole Hayes.Early historyCentral Aranda people have lived on Undoolya Station and the surrounding region for thousands of years. Undoolya Station was established by South Australian pastoralist and stock agent Edward Mead Bagot. After working the southern section of the Overland Telegraph Line, Bagot applied for two leases adjoining the Alice Springs Telegraph Station in 1872. His friend Joseph Gilbert also applied for two blocks, closer to where Owen Springs Station is today. Bagot's son Ted, Churchill Smith and Joseph Gilbert's son William, selected cattle on Gilbert's Pewsey Vale Station to stock the new Central Australian leases. They undertook the first large cattle drove from South Australia to Alice Springs in June. It is considered to be one of the great droving feats in Australia history, during which they met Charles Todd returning from his first inspection of the southern end of the Overland Telegraph Line, as well as well-known explorers Ernest Giles, Peter Warburton and William Gosse. Emily Gap, now part of the East MacDonnell National Park, became their temporary camp upon arrival until construction of a homestead began in 1873.