The Great Kimberley Scone-Off pitches Ellenbrae Station against Parry Creek Farm

For the past three decades, one station has been recommended to all travellers on the Gibb River Road.

But it’s not for epic scenery or great fishing, but for the humble scone.

It is not that Ellenbrae Station doesn’t have some cracking sightseeing opportunities, but the scones are so revered they have left the natural environment playing second fiddle.

Since the 1990s, Ellenbrae alone has held the title as the Kimberley’s scone supremo, but not any more. This year a contender has emerged.

Enter Parry Creek Farm.

Pitching trendy against traditional, young upstart against tried and true, Parry Creek has thrown down the gauntlet via cheeky social media jabs over the course of the 2019 tourism season.

The numbers are nowhere close to stacking up yet — Ellenbrae has served 15,000 scones this season — but the Wyndham product is confident it has what it takes to bake with the best.

Parry Creek Farm’s Alice Skilton said the scone-off was born as an incentive to lure more tourists to both destinations.

“We get a lot of tourists on the way to do the Gibb, or who have just finished the Gibb, so it was just a no-brainer to have that cross-promotion for both of us,” she said.

“We are getting people coming in specifically because they had a scone at Ellenbrae, or they had come to us from Kununurra on their way to the Gibb, so I think it has worked well.

“Steven Burgess, our chef, he was ready to take on the scone queens of the Gibb River Road.”

Alongside the traditional scone, Parry Creek has also been knocking up pumpkin scones.

The farm is keen to dabble in native foods for future scone creations, too.

“We are only one hour from Kununurra, so it is a bit easier for us to get the produce to make those scones than it is for Ellenbrae,” Ms Skilton said.

Out on the Gibb, Larissa Walker and her crew stick with tradition.

When supply runs to town take a full day, it is worth sticking with one thing and doing it well.

Ms Walker said after days spent hiking through the Kimberley wilderness, Ellenbrae provided a welcome change of pace for travellers.

“We do joke that the scone saved Ellenbrae because without the scones pretty much Ellenbrae would cease to exist,” she said.

Everyone else on the Gibb has waterfalls and gorges, we have scones

“After all those walks I guess everyone is looking for a treat.

“It was amazing how many people came in this year and asked about the scone-off and what was going on.”

Ms Skilton and Mr Burgess drove out on the Gibb to present the inaugural scone-off trophy to Ellenbrae Station last weekend.