Old Ghan Heritage Trail: Ron travels to the Outback region of South Australia
Fly over northern South Australia and you become mesmerized by the epic sweep of the rugged landscape. You feel like you're tiptoeing over the spine of this ancient continent. West of Parachilna, Lake Torrens is just one of many that form a rim of salt lakes around the top end of the Flinders Ranges.
The country has thrown up many obstacles to those who have sought to tame inland Australia and the men and women who built and serviced the old Ghan Railway line know that more than anyone. From Algebuckina on the Oodnadatta Track and in the vast open expanses near William Creek, signs of this historic railway line remain - rusting away in the elements. It's a reminder of the visionaries of the 1880s who dared dream of building a ribbon of steel across Australia. The Old Ghan line was up and running for a hundred years and in that time the romance of that journey worked its way into the national psyche.
If time wasn't you're enemy this was the way to see Australia. But the interpretive signs scattered along the old Ghan Route at places like the Wadlata Outback Centre at Port Augusta are proof that not everything went according to plan. Derailments, wash-aways, and termite damage to the railway sleepers kept the maintenance crews busy.
With so many workers, soon towns like Quorn and Hawker sprang up along the way complete with their impressive array of outback pubs. Outside the quaint little Quorn Railway Station the old Ghan Railway Heritage signs tell the story of the expansion of a service which would later be dubbed the Afghan Express after a traveller jumped off here with his prayer mat, faced east towards Mecca and gave thanks to Allah.
It was fitting name change, given the role the Afghan cameleers played in ferrying goods to and from inland Australia prior to the arrival of the train.
From 1878 to 1923 the Old Ghan Railway Line snaked its way into the heart of the country all the way to Alice Springs. But for a time, Farina on the Oodnadatta Track was the end of the line.
It's a ghost town now but in it's heyday it had two pubs, a brewery, a post office, bakery and plans for more than four hundred housing blocks. According to Kevin Dawes of Farina Station, the place was jumping.
"This was a pretty popular getting off spot for a lot of people," said Kevin. "In those days there were also a lot of Afghan cameleers, stockmen and drovers bringing their cattle and sheep through here so I dare say the two pubs were kept pretty busy."
"They were coming down the Strzelecki Track and from Oodnadatta and Birdsville. The railhead was also very important for getting the wool from the stations down to Adelaide."
If you go to Farina, make sure you visit the cemetery. It's a reminder of just how multicultural inland Australia has always been. Out here travellers have long made their way in camel trains and those powered by steam into the very heart of the country.
While the line's now closed, Lisa Pearson of the Wadlata Outback Centre says the Trail allows us all to relive the romance of rail.
"It's really about linking Port Augusta with the Northern Territory," she said. "It takes people along the original route of the old Ghan railway and provides a themed trail for people to experience the Flinders Ranges and the outback.
"They get to see a range of scenery right through the Flinders Ranges, across the bottom of Lake Eyre and the Oodnadatta Track and right up to Finke and the Northern Territory."
Maps of the old Ghan Heritage Trail can be found at the SA Travel Centre in King William Street in Adelaide. Or, at the start of the trail at the Wadlata Outback Centre in Port Augusta
Old Ghan Heritage Trail Map and brochures available from:
SA Visitor & Travel Centre
18 King William St, Adelaide, South AustraliaWadlata Outback Centre
41 Flinders Tce
Port AugustaIf you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au
