So my last entry, titled “Back on the Road Again”, stated I had been on the road for five years… That was true at the time. I now have to shamefully admit that at the time of this posting, I have been on the road for eight years!
I mean, I haven’t stopped moving around, I just fell out of the habit of posting about it, which only means I need to get my act together and get back into the habit of writing about my experiences again.
So, here at least is something about the experiences I have had in the last three years and then the website is all up to date, ready for the next post!
Flinders Ranges – Hawker
Hawker was once a thriving town, established in 1880 to service the then new narrow-gauge railway heading north into the outback. This was the original Ghan railway line, which proceeded onto to Marree and eventually on to Alice Springs.
The wonderfully preserved station building, pictured above, was built in 1885, after the original timber structure burnt down.
In the early days of the Ghan, there was no meal services on the trains, so Hawker was a major stop for hungry passengers. The town pub provided much needed meals and passengers either walked to the hotel from the station or accepted lifts from the locals in horse-drawn buggies.
This led to a dirty trick played by the train drivers on the passengers as they reached the hotel. The drivers would purposely blow the whistle indicating the train was ready to depart. The disgruntled and still hungry passengers would all rush back to the station, thinking they were going to miss the train, which of course was not due to depart.
Much to the amusement of the train staff! I’m guessing the passengers were less than amused…
The original Ghan rail line closed in 1970 and Hawker station fell into disrepair. In 1989, it was beautifully restored and now serves as a wonderfully atmospheric restaurant and art gallery.
The water tank and filler for the steam engines still stands in town, near the station.
This part of South Australia has many old ruins, which are a reminder of days long gone. This is a remote area and life for the pioneers would have been hard. But the views are totally amazing.
The old Station Masters cottage at WIlson, built in the late 1870s, still stands, although it is definitely a ‘fixer-upper’. Sadly, the town itself, that this beautiful little building served, has mostly disappeared.
Detail of the beautiful brickwork within the old stone built cottage.
The country around Hawker is a beautiful part of South Australia and the town is not far from the Flinders Ranges.
