Farina - Ghost Town

Only 169 km to drive today after our night at Edeowie Station. As soon as we reached the bitumen, we headed north towards Parachilna and the Prairie Hotel, made famous by its 'Feral Mixed Grill' menu, which includes kangaroo, emu, and camel. It was far too early in the day for 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 built alongside the old Ghan railway line. Many of these can be seen further north along the Oodnadatta Track.

Continuing further north, we passed Leigh Creek. The town was established to support a nearby large coal mine. Sadly, the mine has now closed, and the population has decreased from 2500 to just 200 today. It's disheartening to see how this once-thriving town, which we fondly remember from our first visit in 1994, has changed.
 
There is talk of a company wanting to extract gas from the old mine site, so hopefully, this will help rejuvenate this once-busy town.
 
Oh dear, unfortunately, it was morning tea time when we stopped 6 km later at the famous Copley Bush Bakery, where we shared a quondong pie with our coffees.

It wasn't long before we arrived at Lyndhurst, where the Strzelecki Track begins its journey towards Innamincka. Here, we refuelled before making a brief stop at the Ochre Pits just north of the town. 

 

This site was an important gathering and trading location for Aboriginal people, with ochre colours utilised in ceremonies, art, and medicine.

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

This may be our sixth visit to Farina, in the far north of South Australia.

You might wonder why we have been here so many times. Well, there are many reasons for our visits.

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

Another reason for our continued visits is to observe the progress of the restoration of this once-thriving town. In 2008, a restoration group was formed, and over the past eleven years, the number of volunteers has steadily increased from 30 to over 150. 

These dedicated volunteers make themselves available during the winter months to restore these beautiful stone buildings so they no longer deteriorate further.

Steve, the project manager, explained that it's not a complete restoration due to the amount of red tape, hurdles, and bureaucratic requirements they would need to navigate for a full rebuild. 

When we first visited in 1994, only one building was still intact—the bakery. Its survival against the harsh conditions surrounding this once-bustling town, where everything else had crumbled and fallen, was because it was an underground bakery.

In 1878, Farina was first settled, and by the late 1890s, more than 600 people were living there. During the early years, the rains were constant, but after many years of poor rainfall, the hopes of growing wheat crops began to fade.

Fortunately, the alignment of the Ghan railway kept the town alive, but when the line was relocated further west in 1980, that was the final blow.
Apart from the history linked to this once-thriving town, we truly love the surrounding countryside, with its gibber plains and red dirt, which has continually drawn us to the outback for the past 25 years.

In recent years, the bakery has operated from late May until the end of July, 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 into the restoration of the town.

 

All our previous visits have been much later in the year, so we have yet to experience the joy of buying 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 buy 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, complete with showers and toilets, but please note that 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 to dig graves when the surface at the cemetery is made up of gibber stones.

A must-visit is the town's cemetery, 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.