Beltana - another old town,

Many people must be wondering about the large number of blogs which focus on country towns that are struggling, with closed shops, very few people, or even just ruins.   But this is country South Australia, and the reality hits with droughts, railways closing, finished industries and closing of mines.

Also, unlike the richer states of Queensland and New South Wales, the South Australian government does not have the money to invest in promoting tourism in the country towns.    

So we visited another old town today, Beltana, which was made a State Heritage Area in 1987.    The government has even sealed the 12 km road into the town, which was quite amazing really. Sadly once in the town there was nowhere to spend any money.

Beltana is set amongst the lower hills of the Flinders Ranges and has a creek flowing through it, plus  plenty of trees.   A lovely setting.   But of course it is was dry and today there was a north wind whipping up the dust.    Every time I got out of the car to take a photograph I also received a mouthful of dust.    

We drove around slowly in the car, stopping to read signs and take photographs.   It was too rocky, stony and hilly for Walter to walk around with his walker.  

But back to the history of Beltana.   It was surveyed in 1873, and by 1883 the population grew to 390 people with 70 houses.  There was a mine close by called Sliding Rock Mine and when it closed down people came to live in Beltana.   There were also other small mines close by which provided work for people.

The town also serviced the Great Northern Railway which ran from Port Augusta to Oodnadatta, then Alice Springs.

But as things go out here in South Australia, the railway closed in 1950 when the new broad gauge line was built to bring coal from Leigh Creek.    The main road was also diverted away from Beltana, leaving the town without any services.   So people left.  As they do!

Of course I did not write down the names of the buildings. The old one roomed school?

                                              
There were a few chimney stacks, but no buildings.

 

This fence post was interesting, very old, with iron winders to tighten the wires on the fence.

The old mission  house?

The creek was very dry.  

The old hotel.   The person who owns the hotel now has a shop which opens on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.   A bit of business.

The old railway station, now a beautifully restored private residence.

One of the many streets.

The good news about this old town is that all the buildings are privately owned and there is active restoration of the buildings.   Some have been beautifully restored.  The Beltana Progress Association have organised interpretative signs, and also maintain the picnic areas, mobile phone service, toilets and small camping ground.

We really loved this old town.     

Farina - no longer a ghost town

We are staying in a camping ground at Copley which is about 40 km south of Farina, but more about this town later.

Today we decided to visit Farina, which we have done twice previously, in 2020 and 2021, during the pandemic when South Australian borders were mostly closed.    Consequently there were not many people around then.

Today was a bit of a shock, for sure, there were people and vehicles everywhere.   Where did they all come from, as there is no through road as such.    North of Farina is Marree, with a small camping ground, then the Oodnadatta track runs north, and the Birdsville track runs east.    These tracks need tough vehicles and caravans.       But people are on the move again, which is great for the local businesses. 

There is a camping ground in Farina, and I can imagine it is fairly packed at the moment.

Farina only comes alive for about six weeks of the year, late May to mid July.   During that time about 150 volunteers help restore buildings, run the underground bakery, and serve in the purpose built shop and cafe in the photo below.

The queue to purchase baked goods was very long, although apparently during the recent long weekend the queue stretched out of the door and down the road.     I bought the delicious looking solid fruit loaf, in the photograph below, plus bread that was full of bacon, cheese and herbs, 2 buns and coffee.    Everything is freshly baked, and only good quality ingredients are used. 

The day was warm, with the temperature in the low twenties, and clear blue skies.   However, what is not in the photos is the northerly wind blowing the sand everywhere.    It is especially dry here at the moment so plenty of sand and dirt.   Apparently when people lived here the sand would pile up against the doors during dust storms.

Farina started off as a government dug well in 1870 and was proclaimed a town in 1878.   A post office and telegraph station was built, followed by two hotels, an underground bakery, a bank, two breweries, a general store, churches, blacksmiths and a school.  The town became a railhead of the Great Northern Railway in 1882.   By this time the population reached 600.

Farina was an important focal point for remote stations, Afghan Cameleers and Aboriginal communities, plus Chinese and European settlers drawn by copper and silver discoveries.   Plus there was the idea that wheat could be grown here, due to one wet season.

But it all fizzled out.   Droughts, wars, and the railway line closing in 1980 resulted in Farina falling into ruins.

I noticed that although much of the land was government owned, there were privately bought allotments.  

Farina was certainly not a good place to invest in a block of land!

Hawker - an old railway and farming town

Hawker. A small town in the middle of the Flinders Ranges, with a population of roughly 450 people plus an extra few hundred per day who pass through or stay in the camping ground.   A busy place during winter and spring when the weather is cool, as against in summer when the day time temperatures reach high thirties or low forties.    

A lovely evening sunset, so going to be a sunny day tomorrow plus an extremely cold night, probably minus or just above zero.    Thank goodness we are in a caravan with heaters.

This is a very large, and expensive camping ground, but the sites are of  reasonable size, for Australia.   There are some enormous vehicles in here, both caravans and vehicles.   

A view of some of the ranges.

Hawker started off, in the mid 1800s, as a centre for farming. 

 It was also a railway town on the narrow gauge line that was built, from Port Augusta in the 1880s, to Quorn, Hawker,  Farina, Marree, and Oodnadatta.   It finally reached Alice Springs in 1929, 1241 km in total.   

    

 For the first few years Hawker was a prosperous town, with supporting businesses for farmers. and railway   Wheat was mainly grown and for a few years the crops were excellent.   Two mills were built and the grain was milled here, and the flour transported by train to other places.   But then the inevitable drought came along, plus plagues of grasshoppers and locusts.   And that was the end of the dreams of most farmers.   Those that remained on properties went over to sheep grazing and wool production.

But back to the old Ghan.    The service ceased operation in 1980 and the lines taken up in 1981.   Hawker, like the other towns along the line no longer had a railway service.   

The new Adelaide/Port Augusta/Alice Springs/Darwin standard gauge line , built on the western side of the Stuart Highway, opened in 2004.   Although there are goods trains, the only passenger service is an expensive tourist train, also called The Ghan, 

The old water tank which was used to fill the engines.

The old railway station, now  a private residence.

The beautiful old Catholic Church, with the Presbytery beside it, is no longer used sadly.    

The hotel, still used and very popular.    There is also an excellent cafe further along the road, plus a general store/cafe/post office around the corner.    The petrol station is opposite the store and also sells camping gear and is a tourist centre too.   There is an enormous garage which does vehicle repairs and sells hundreds of tires of all descriptions.   So needed on the rough roads around here.   I believe the general store, garage and petrol station are owned by the same family.   A bit of a  monopoly going on there.   Tourists are catered for very well in Hawker.    In fact tourism is the biggest money earner for the region now.   

An old derelict store, all boarded up and with a definite lean on the verandah.    An interesting contrast - old crumbling building with a modern telecommunication mast behind it.

A magnificent dog park, with grass.   I know it does not look much, but very welcome to a dog.   Piper of course loves this area, especially when there is a ball to catch as well.

A view over the land from the hills opposite Hawker.   It was this flat land that was initially used for growing wheat.    

An old farmhouse, now in ruins.    A farmer that was not able to continue in such a harsh environment.

We visited a small settlement called Cradock, with one house still standing and being repaired at this moment.

There were two old churches, one of which is now a residence.   The pub is open and offers accommodation and meals, and there is a beautiful war memorial garden.    Other than that there were some new sheds/temporary houses and plenty of dry and dusty land.     An interesting place to visit, all the same.

The dry creek bed.

A street!

In Hawker there is a magnificent panorama gallery, which is part of the Jeff Morgan Gallery.    Jeff Morgan is an artist and this is his gallery where people can buy his paintings.   The gallery is very good to visit, but after paying $15 you can also visit the panoramas.       He has painted three huge displays plus a circular one which you can view from a raised platform, and another huge circular one. They are massive, and he has added stones, rocks, dried trees and plants at the bottom of the paintings, which adds to the effect.   It is sometimes difficult to see where the painting ends and the natural display starts.   

And with this panorama the rocks, stones, earth and trees blend in perfectly.   Such talent.

As well as the panoramas Jeff has also collected stones, mineral rocks, plates, cups, cars, teddy bears and many other objects.   Amazing place.

Tomorrow we travel further north east to a town called Copley.    We will miss Hawker.     

On the move again - Northern Flinders Ranges

We left after lunch on Friday and drove for one hour through Adelaide to the camping ground in Bolivar, run by Aspen Holidays.   A short start to the trip but certainly takes the stress out of packing the caravan and tidying the house.

Bolivar, where the sewerage plant is situated, and the aroma touched our noses  as we left the expressway!   Luckily no smell at the camping ground.    Interestingly we stayed in the new area designed for short term stays, but most of the area is for permanent/long term stays, and interestingly at the back of this area they are building a residential area, with two bedroom houses.    Both areas have swimming pools and are beautifully maintained.    

But go back forty five years when it was a dismal area on Port Wakefield Road, the road north that had very little development on it.   I so remember driving past it on my way to teaching at a school in Virginia, which seemed to be way out in the country.   And it was then.   But no more!  Industrial sites, housing and you name it all the way, roughly 20 km of development. 

The view of the sunset from my little bedroom window.   

We aimed to cut across country to the wine area of Clare, then continue upwards to our destination at Hawker, in the Flinders Ranges.   Total distance about 358 km.  Well that was the idea anyway.

We looked forward to travelling through the country towns of Mallala, Balaclava, Blyth, the top of Clare, Spalding, Jamestown and Orroroo.      Each town has its own character.   But we forgot that they also close at midday on a Saturday, including service stations.    A bad mistake.

Of course we could have topped up with diesel before midday, but we did not, and by the time we got to Orroroo we were down to 1 bar with a 130 km range.    And the service station in Orroroo was not only closed for the weekend but it was going to be closed for months due to a fuel leak in one of its underground tanks.    Luckily we decided to not stay in the camping ground there.

So we decided to take a detour via Wilmington, 51 km away.   As we drove into the wind and rain our km range kept dropping rapidly, due to towing a caravan in the head wind.   After a nail biting, high anxious time we finally made it to Wilmington, still with one bar, but with messages flashing up on the screen to say that we need to refuel.   No range left.

And guess what, the service station/road house in Wilmington was closed, so we drove a few kilometres to the camping ground and stayed there.   Wet, muddy and cold.   But we were not stranded on the side of the road.

The rule in Australia is keep your fuel tanks topped up, and obviously this applies to areas close to Adelaide too.

Anyway, the service station in Wilmington opened Sunday morning for a few hours so we were able to continue our journey today, another 100 km to Hawker, via Quorn.   Phew!

 While on the bad news front!   The lower part of South Australia has been in the grip of a two/three year drought.   I think that where we live on the Fleurieu Peninsula it has broken as we are receiving plenty of rain and the countryside is now green.

But above Adelaide, it is still brown.   And the recent storms have blown the topsoil away, with the new seed in it, so no crops this year.    The rain that we saw yesterday came too late.

Heavy clouds over the brown land.

Flat land too, with the hills away in the distance.

Beautiful, but harsh scenery.

We stopped at the church hall in Balaclava for the best double shot latte, and banana cake.   The cafe is run by volunteers on Friday and Saturday mornings.   We arrived just in time.    No photos as we were totally focused on our coffee.  

We h also have no photos of Wilmington, or the camping ground which is not the most brilliant place.  It was also very muddy.

Today we stopped in Quorn for our coffee and cake, in the sunshine.    An historic town, beautifully restored and reasonably prosperous.   It is popular with travellers heading to the Flinders Ranges, and for people keen to take a trip on the old train that travels towards Port Augusta.

There is even a gin distillery here.       

We parked on the side street in Quorn.    All ready to head north east, and with plenty of fuel.    Plenty of blue in the skies too.

Just before Hawker we stopped at a place which used to be called Wilson.    And for a couple of years in the mid 1800s it was a prosperous place, with people growing crops and generally living well.    That is until a drought hit, and people realised the land and climate was not suitable for farming.   Now there are just ruins and a cemetery. 

The old station master's house, I think.    A railway line ran through here, from 1880 until 1981.

Now we are in a friendly and beautifully maintained camping ground in Hawker, and ready to explore the local area.

While on the subject of drought and fuel I would like to mention Orroroo again.    We stayed there five years ago when the land around was very green, and despite Covid, the town was buzzing with activity.   Now they are in the grip of a drought, with top soil and seed blown away.   And they are unable to buy fuel in town due to the leaking underground tank, which will takes months to fix.  They will have to travel 50 km or more in order to fill their vehicles with fuel.     And no alternative transport either, no trains or buses or cycling paths.  Life in country Australia.