Breakfast at the pub then down the highway to the Farina ruins. This is another Ghan/Pastoral historical site. The stories provided on the information boards are really worth reading. One story talks about shearers getting off the train at Farina collecting their bikes and then riding off to the remote stations far afield to shear. Any manager who made their staff do this today would be jailed. As for their bikes we want one, any bike that can survive the acres of nasty 3 cornered jacks (burrs) and rough roads must be a brilliant bike.

We move on to look at an aboriginal ochre quarry. Who mentioned Terra Nullis? These people traded the material far across Australia, sounds like a functioning economy.

We stop at the brown coal mining town of Leigh Creek for coffee.

Then onto the rugged Gammon Ranges stopping at Arkaroola. It’s great for wildlife, beautiful scenery and 4WD tracks. There is plenty historical mining sites and aboriginal culture to learn about. Evidence of copper mining and smelter infrastructure still exist.

We see wallabies, Eagles, Echidna and small bushland birds. Yellow-footed rock wallabies have a stronghold here. The South Australian Government tried to open this wilderness for mining, thankfully it was stopped by people power. This is truly a place worth protecting.