According to Great Southern Rail, The Ghan is one of the world’s greatest rail journeys. SBS has even made a TV show about it. The Ghan now runs from Adelaide through Tarcoola and then roughly follows the Stuart Highway up to Darwin. But originally, the Ghan followed explorer John MacDouall …
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Imagine following a 500km cattle trail over dunes and across stony gibber plains, without meeting another soul. In the 1930s, before phones and portable radios, Tom Kruse did just that. Once a month, Tom delivered supplies and mail from Marree to Birdsville, along the Birdsville Track. The Track wasn’t yet …
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Lyall Oldfield has been dubbed ‘The Mayor of Marree’. In fact, Marree doesn’t have a mayor because there’s no council. I think it’s under the jurisdiction of the Outback Communities Authority. Marree has a progress association to take care of town business. Lyall is descended from one of the first white …
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Before 1974, Marree was so segregated that even the cemetery was separated into European, Afghan and Aboriginal areas. The cemetery’s full of interesting grave stones. You can pick a map up from the Marree Telecentre and go and take a look …
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I love this mosque. It isn’t a real one – it’s actually a replica, dedicated to the Muslim cameleers (often called ‘Afghans’ even though they weren’t!).Outback towns like Birdsville relied on the cameleers. You see, horse hooves sink into sand dunes so they tire very quickly. It took many changes …
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