How far would you drive for a scroll?
Nearly seven hours due north of Adelaide (and just a cool 15 from the next nearest capital, Melbourne) the ghost town of Farina hasn’t had a single permanent resident since the 1960s.
In summer on the Lake Eyre floodplains, temperatures can easily crack 45°; while desert winters drop close to freezing. For 9 months of the year, the only regular visitors are likely to be red kangaroos and 4WDs troupes exploring the Flinders Ranges.
But every year come May, the fires are stoked for the winter season of Australia’s most distant underground bakery.
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Run by the Farina Restoration Group Inc, Farina Bakery bakes for just three months every year, from May to late July. As other volunteers work to restore original sandstone buildings from the 1870s, when Farina sat on the original Ghan line, others are busy baking up everything from hedgehog slices to chunky beef and bacon pies for hungry roadtrippers and campers.
As head baker Kerry Storer oversees the rising of sourdough and golden progress of pies in Australia’s oldest underground Scotch oven, his team run the above-ground bakery, where a line is often seen snaking out the door. Online reviews rave about the fruit loaf and fresh-baked scones, with some having driven hundreds of kilometres just to get there. All funds go back to restoring the original township, which at its height included a school, pubs and a police station.
The volunteer bakers keep the fires burning in the original 1887 oven all season long, coming from all around Australia to spend a shift with other history buffs. It’s timed perfectly to coincide with wet season in the famous bird sanctuary of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre National Park, creating what is as close to peak season as you’ll find this far from anywhere.
In case you won’t be able to burn rubber to get there by July 19, you’ll have to wait until May 2027.
During its season, Farina Bakery is open every day from 8:30am to 3:30pm. Follow the Facebook page for updates. Mulgaria Rd, Farina SA
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