kiwibird: Angorichina Tourist Village!

Moving on, and into territory we have never visited, so it was with great anticipation that we set forth on the Thursday morning. In perfect weather with a blue sky, a warm temperature and no wind.

Our aim was to reach our final destination, Maree, sometime in the next few days, and look at some of the settlements along the way.

Our first stop, only 41 kms up the road, was Quorn, the home of the Pichi Richi Railway, which still runs as a tourist train between Port Augusta and Quorn. The old Ghan line to Darwin went through Quorn, then up to Maree, along the Oodnadatta Track to Alice Springs, all on a narrow gauge line. It was beset with problems as sections of the line were often swept away when creeks flooded. The railway was built along the existing track north as there were springs and water holes on this route, which meant explorers and camel drivers had sufficient water as they travelled north. Initially the line only went as far as Oodnadatta and passengers had to continue further on camels. Many settlements sprang up to service the railway. And much water was needed for the steam trains. Then a standard gauge line was built as far as Maree, nnd the Old Ghan Service continued from there. Finally in 1980 a standard gauge was built west of the line, away from the flood plains, from Pt Augusta to Alice Springs. Also the diesel trains did not need water. Sadly it spelt the end of the settlements along the Old Ghan line.

But back to Quorn. The last time we were there was in 1979, and the town appeared to be the same, just less prosperous, although that could be due to the lack of overseas and interstate tourists.

After coffee in the Quandong Cafe, great atmosphere, where we drank excellent coffee but ate terrible cake, we decided to have a quick walk around the town. Quandong fruit, a native bushland food, is made into pies at the cafe. Sadly they had sold out so we could not try them.

As in many of the outback towns there were pubs, and in this town we could see three main ones. Superb old buildings. One on each corner.

And this one opposite the railway station.

The old railway station, which also doubles as an information centre, with a museum too. Sadly no time for a good look around, so we said that we would stay in Quorn on the way back from Maree.

We bought a new road atlas, which had very detailed maps of the area. Surprisingly I could not get enough information from Google Maps to show me the condition of roads, or in fact the detail that I needed to plan our trip. When Walter looked at the road atlas he found that after the next town, Hawker, we could follow a sealed public road through the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park to Blinman. No dogs were allowed in this park, so we knew that we could not visit Wilpena Pound, or even stop along the way, but at least we could see the scenery as we travelled through.

Our plan was to travel back from Maree along the Outback Highway or Explorers Way and catch up on the sights we missed on the way up, including a good look at Hawker (including the panoramic painting) and Quorn, but we changed our mind when we arrived in Maree. Always the way!

On our travels we saw many ruins, settlements that were founded on hope but ended in failure, and not just due to the Old Ghan railway closing down.

We stopped at this site, Wilson Historic Site, which was once a railway siding, on the Old Ghan railway line. A town was established in 1881 as a centre for a farming community. Initially grain was grown here, as it appeared the land was fertile and there was plenty of rain at that time, and they had a few good years of productive grain production. But the goodness in the soil was soon depleted and in reality there was very little rain.

in 1885 there were 12-14 dwellings, with a post office, church and hotel, and it was the centre of sports in the area. But lack of rain and droughts meant that the town could not survive. By 1929 everyone had left. The ruins can be seen from the old train station.

We stopped once, only briefly, on the road through to Blinman, in order to take a few photos of the distance ranges. The area around Wilpena Pound was heavily wooded, which was quite a surprise after the arid plains between Quorn and Hawker.

There were also many places to stop, heritage sites, and lookouts, including a ridge of sandstone called 'The Great Wall of China' but with a dog in the car it was not possible to stop and really have a look.

We turned left at Blinman, and continued on the very rough unsealed road, through the Parachilna Gorge, to a place with an unlikely name of Angorichina Holiday Village.

I still cannot get used to the term 'holiday' or 'tourist village' as a description for anything outback here. It does not mean green grass, swimming pool, upmarket accommodation, sporting facilities, amazing playgrounds, even a bar/restaurant perhaps as it would in the UK or Europe. In the outback it means not quite roughing it, but almost, and in Angorichina that was precisely it. There was the usual grocery store/fuel pumps/hardware/tyre shop, all combined, which also sold coffee, plus a huge building for groups, and quite reasonable cottages for hire, plus a camping ground. All very rustic. It was set amongst quite spectacular scenery with rocks, cliffs, valleys, gum trees and plenty of dust. Not a blade of grass anywhere.

There were vehicles parked in front of the store, marked Blinman Hotel, and it would appear that they act as a taxi service should one wish to travel to Blinman for an evening of food and alcohol. They also offered tours of the local area, and a bit further afield. I guess this was prior to Covid-19 restrictions and lack of tourists. Perhaps all the extra services qualified the 'tourist' part in the name.

There was also an excellent walk to Blinman Pools, which would have been great to do had we been ten years younger. Plenty of clambering up and down slopes, according to the description on the sign. However, no dogs allowed on this walk so that was out anyway.

An interesting welcome sign at the front gate! The old building on the right was the pump house. Bore water.

Interestingly the settlement at Angorichina was once a TB rehabilitation centre. Plenty of hot dry weather here. After World War I the men who ran Angorichina Station gave the TB Soldiers Aid Society some land which was to become the site of a hostel for TB patients. As well as the hostel, that housed patients and nursing staff, there were chalets. The hostel now provides accommodation for large groups. There was a group of secondary school students there when we stayed in the camping ground. They arrived in relative comfort in a coach. But back in 1927 it must have been a long trip, first by train to Parachilna, then by car or horse and cart to the hostel. Tough times.

The camping ground was rustic, although surprisingly very comfortable. The small toilet block had gaps under the walls and doors, so I certainly kept an eye out for the slithery creatures. There were communal basins for hand washing. The shower blocks were interesting, in that the men's block had six showers, with water resistant carpet in the centre of the room and six hand basins. The women's block had three showers, no carpet, a washing machine and a tub!

There were two covered communal areas with barbeques, and again fire pits everywhere, with wood provided from the store.

We had taps on each site so could hook up the caravan to one of them. As we were the only people there on the first night we took the cover off the portaloo and placed it beside the caravan, with a view over the valley. It was full moon! Nothing beats a view from the perch.