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| Old Farina |
I probably should say "When are we going?"
We are not going anytime soon, but we have been to Farina a few times and I will show some of my photos from the ghost town of Farina in South Australia. As you have probably noticed, I love anything old, even my husband although he is not much older than me, and I'm not saying how old I am, but I think I qualify as "old" and I actually quite like being old apart from the aches and pains and a few other unmentionables 😉😂
I have previously shown photos from our trips to other States in Australia, so thought I would showcase a very interesting place in my home State. We have been here a few times and always enjoy our stay in Farina, approximately 600 km from Adelaide. It was an old railway town and was settled in 1878, In the 1880's it was felt that it would be a good area for growing barley and wheat, but it was soon discovered that the rainfall was not sufficient to grow these crops. The name Farina means flour, because this area was originally thought would be the granary of the north. The narrow gauge railway was important to Farina and was the railhead for the towns of Birdsville and Oodnadatta.
Farina is a Ghost Town but in 2008 a Restoration Group was started up and volunteers work for about 8 weeks a year restoring the site and maintaining it.
When we first visited Farina there were no facilities and we had to be self contained but over the years the Restoration Group have installed toilets and showers and now there is an Underground Bakery which operates for a few weeks every year and sells fresh baked items for the campers which is very popular. The downside for us is that it might become too popular, and for me it will lose some of the very essence of why we loved it - the remoteness, the adventure getting there and exploring the area. To keep the town from being destroyed by the elements and some tourists, it is necessary to keep improving and controlling what is left of the town and the Restoration Group have definitely made some major improvements and it is good to see the old town come to life again.
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| An old Ford Consul Mk 1 |
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| Cattle/sheep wagon |
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| Relaxing |
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| Relaxing while dinner cooks |
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| Flock of Galahs |
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A Bustard
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We originally thought this bird was an eagle but once we got closer it was a bustard. Eagles are more handsome!
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| The Marquee was for the Bakery shop and has now been replaced with a permanent building |
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| Patterson House almost completed |
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| The Marquee was set up as a temporary shop for the Bakery |
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| View of our van from the Anzac Memorial |
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| Anzac Memorial |
The War Memorial was erected in 2015 to commemorate 70 service personnel from Farina who served in World War 1 & 2.
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| The old Railway Bridge |
Comments
I suspect that Farina lost a significant proportion of its population to the wars - as so many small towns did.
Do you know what caused it to become a ghost town?
It's good volunteers are doing up the buildings and so on..
Nice post.