Farina - Ghost Town

Only 169 km to drive today after our night spent at Edeowie Station. 
As soon as we reached the bitumen we headed north towards Parachilna and the Prairie Hotel, made famous by it's Feral Mixed Grill' menu, which includes kangaroo, emu and camel. It was far too early in the day to have a beer, so instead, we just took some photos before continuing on.

Not long after we stopped beside the road to photograph one of the railway sidings that was built alongside the old Ghan railway line. Many of these can be seen further north along the Oodnadatta Track.

Continuing further north we passed by Leigh Creek. The town was created to support the large coal mine located nearby. Unfortunately, the mine has now closed and the population of the town has dwindled from 2500 to just 200 today. It's sad how this once thriving town that we remember from our first visit in 1994, has become.

There is talk about a company wanting to extract gas from the old mine site so hopefully, this will help to rejuvenate this once busy town.

Oh dear, unfortunately, it was morning tea time as we stopped 6 km later at the famous Copley Bush Bakery where we shared a quondang pie with our coffees.

It wasn't long before we reached Lyndhurst where the Strzelecki Track starts on its journey towards Innamincka. Here we refuelled before stopping briefly at the Ochre Pits just north of town.

This location was an important meeting and trading place for aboriginals, with the ochre colours used for ceremonies, art and medicine.

There is just no stopping progress because it was quite a shock to realise that the dirt road from just north of Lyndhurst, is now bitumen through to the Farina turnoff. 

We think this may be our sixth visit to Farina in the far north of South Australia.

You'd probably ask why we have been here on so many occasions. Well, there are many reasons for our visits. 

Marree is just north of Farina and is the start point for those seeking to drive either the Oodnadatta or Birdsville Tracks. Over the past 25 years we have driven the Oodnadatta Track on numerous occasions, and in both directions and once previously along the Birdsville Track. 

Another reason for our continued visits is to see how the restoration of this once thriving town is proceeding. In 2008 a restoration group was formed and over the past eleven years, the group of volunteers has steadily increased from 30 to more than 150. 

These dedicated volunteers make themselves available during the winter months in an effort to restore these beautiful stone buildings to a point where they will no longer deteriorate any further.

Steve the project manager explained that it's not a full restoration because of the amount of red tape, hurdles and heritage mumbo jumbo that they would need to go through for a full restoration.

There was only one building still intact when we first visited here in 1994 and that was the bakery. 
Its survival from the harsh conditions that surround this once busy town, when all else around it had crumbled and fallen down, was because its an underground bakery.

In 1878 Farina was first settled and by the late 1890s there were more than 600 people living here. During the early years, the rains were constant but later after many years of poor rainfall, the dreams of producing wheat crops were in tatters. 

Luckily the alignment of the Ghan railway kept the town going but when the line was relocated further west in 1980, that was the final nail in the coffin.

Apart from the history associated with this once thriving town we just love the surrounding country with its gibber plains and red dirt that has been continually drawing us to the outback for the past 25 years.

In recent years the bakery has been open from late May until the end of July and has been producing freshly baked bread, pies, pasties and buns from its wood-fired oven.

And each year a substantial amount of money is raised through the bakery with all the proceeds going back towards the restoration of the town. 

All our previous visits have been much later in the year so we have yet to experience the enjoyment of purchasing freshly baked goods in almost the middle of nowhere.
Thanks, Ros, a finger bun for me, and a matchstick for her. When we lived in Canberra and travelled to the coast we would always stop in Nimmitabel and Ros would always purchase a matchstick. She said the ones here at Farina are as good as the ones she used to buy all those years ago.

Camping is available with showers and toilets but there is no drinking water. Fees are $5.00 per person per night and firewood is available to purchase.

Talk about 'boot hill' as portrayed in the many western movies from years ago. 

I could only imagine how difficult it would be digging graves when the surface at the cemetery is made up of gibber stones....

A must visit is the towns cemetery which is perched on a rise a few kilometres from the former township. Records indicate that several hundred people are buried here including many Afghans who ferried goods further north, using camels before the railway was extended beyond Farina.