So our family and I have had a little school holiday excursion to the Flinders Ranges, in South Australia. We’ve had it planned a little while now, and in the midst of the Ballet Concert/end of school term hecticness, it got pushed further and further away from my immediate thinking. But in the background it was there, waiting – we were all very, very tired and in desperate need of a holiday and some regrouping time.
Last July we took the kids to Darwin, which is about as far away from us here as you could get. It cost us thousands, and I mean THOUSANDS to fly there – driving was not an option as it’s so slow and would involve days and days in the car, and I fear the children would mutiny if we tried that. When we got up there the bush at Kakadu was amazing and wonderful and everything we hoped it would be. All this year the children have been talking about that holiday, and how the best part of it was the bush.
Well, we have amazing bush all over South Australia so it was decided to do the Flinders. I’ve never been, and my hubby hasn’t been for many years, so it was the perfect destination. I mean, why spend thousands in flights when we have so much wonderfulness on our doorstep?
The drive there took us about six hours, which included many stops in many small, country towns along what used to be the railway line. The line has long gone, and the railway towns are still there, like a time capsule. Every town has a main street with a pub, regardless of how small it was. Every town had amazing ruins everywhere – the last remaining part of a lost time, I guess. I tried very hard but my husband wouldn’t stop so I could take a photo darn him I couldn’t take any photos of those wonderful ruins, so here’s a few I have borrowed from other people:
The one above is famous. If you’re a Midnight Oil fan, it’s the farmhouse from Diesel and Dust. The irony is that it could have been any one of hundred deserted houses, there are so many.
Gorgeous. I wonder what the story was. I think I probably know the story – the way of life died, the families moved on and the stone huts, handmade so many years ago are left to fall over. Some of them are remarkably sturdy though.
And some of them, not so much. This one was a mansion compared to some I’ve seen.
I’ve made it a mission of mine when I have some spare time (haha) to have a few days away so I can take proper photos of these lovely old ruins. It’s so close to me, it would be a lovely holiday.
I have dozens of photos on the camera, tomorrow I’ll start sorting them and share them with you. I was thinking of you when I took them! I hope you enjoy them.
See you tomorrow!
it looks something like the western parts of our states, isolated, old homes falling apart - the desolation is amazing when you think a family lived in those old small homes with no neighbors and no contact with others for many months on end and a trip to town might have been once a year and maybe not even that.
ReplyDeleteHi Karen
DeleteThankyou for your comment! I agree, there were many times I thought of how hard life would have been for the women. At least here, though, there was better land and not as many droughts. But where I come from, drought was horrid, the heat was immense, and I often think of how lonely those poor women would have been when their partners were out working. And those women who came directly from England - I can't imagine the difference in climate they would have dealt with! Strong, strong stuff, I think.