Farina: In the Outback region of South Australia

The old ghost town of Farina is 26 kilometres north of Lyndhurst and it’s a reminder that nothing remains the same. The remains of the old houses hark back to the days when families gathered around the fireplace on winter nights while the cold winds blew down from the Stzelecki and Simpson Deserts.

It was just one of many homes established following the proclamation of the town in 1878. Originally known as Government Gums the name was later changed to Farina. Until 1884 it was the last stop on the Great Northern Railway Line. Kevin Dawes, the current manager of Farina Station explains:

“The early pioneers had this notion that the rain followed the plough and they thought, according to that logic, that if they got a railway here bringing wheat farmers to the district this could become the great granary of the north. Hence the name Farina - it's Latin for flour. But, there's not a wheat crop in sight.”

With the benefit of hindsight, it all seems rather absurd. But anyone who visited area following the big wet of 1974 would understand how the explorers and settlers overestimated its potential.

“I suppose those early explorers didn't know what the rainfall was like in this country and if they come up here in 74 or something like that (they would think) you could grow anything. They had the notion that the rain would follow the plough - but no rain followed.”

While the wheat and barley crops failed, Farina flourished as the railhead for The Great Northern Railway until the line pushed through to Maree and then Alice Springs. Stockman would bring cattle from Innamincka and Birdsville and Oodnadatta and Afghan cameleers would bring a new name to one of Australia's great railway lines.

Soon passengers on the Afhan Express or Ghan as it became known, would stop for a beer and a night's accommodation at the Transcontinental.

“The old pub had quite a few rooms in its day and each had it's own fireplace. In later years this apparently it was turned into a hostel offering accommodation for people coming off the trains and that.”

Kevin Dawes stood and admired an old tank stand which is a vital part of the Farina story:

“All the trains in those days were steam trains so they needed water so there are tanks like this all the way from here to Oodnadatta - up along the old Ghan line.”

The sign at the main intersection of the old town tells another tale of high hopes. At one point there were plans to establish 432 quarter acre house blocks on the salt bush and rocky plains of Farina.

But the plan failed due to the lack of water. The underground supply proved too salty and better water was found at Maree. By the 1930s Farina was on its last legs and by the early 60s the Post Office was closed. But as you wander around the ruins there are still one or two gems to be found. Kevin pointed out what was once an underground bakery:

“This is the old oven where they used to bake the bread and buns. Someone's pinched the door but you can still see where the baker had his long pole and dragged the bread out. That's the fire box where they stoked the fire up for it.. There's the old flue - it still works.

“This bakery supplied the town with bread and buns back in the 1890s. In later years they stopped using the bakery they found it to be a nice cool spot in the summer. So they put flywire and they used to hang the meat up on rails. They’d store meat here right through summer.”

For Kevin, it's just another reminder of a place that went from boom town to ghost town.

“I reckon it's the forgotten town of the outback. When they first settled here they had big ideas about making this the granary of the north and it was going to be as big as Hawker or something like that and it never happened. A lot of people lived here and lot have moved on and a lot died here.”

And at the back of town, with Termination Hill in the distance, is the last resting place for the pioneers and Afghan cameleers and their families who helped make Farina an important staging post and railway town - for a while at least.

Farina is on the Lyndurst to Marree Road about an hours drive from Leigh Creek. Kevin and Anne Dawes provide campground accommodation not far from the town and its historic railway siding.

Farina Ruins
26 kilometres north of Lyndhurst
Farina Caravan Park
$3.50 per night per person
Showers & toilets available
For more info email info@postcards-sa.com.au