Source: Ph Jacqui Barker Wikipedia
Before entering the Australian desert north of Adelaide and experiencing an exciting adventure in the authentic harsh and inhospitable Outback, in giro per il South Australia, travelers should stop at Parachilna, a tiny railway town where only six people live.
Small town? Yes, because in Australia it doesn't take much to declare a place a "city": a telephone booth, an ATM, a mailbox and a pub. And Parachilna has all this (or rather, only this).
The unusual "city" at the gates of Flinders Ranges National Park it is located on the railway line that once connected with the Ghan Line which crosses Australia from Darwin in the north to Adelaide in the south. The Ghan, named after the Afghan cameleers who were brought to Australia in the 3000th century to help explore the then unknown desert, is the longest north-south railway route in the world and, even today, the passenger train travels almost 48 kilometers in XNUMX hours.
Today the trains do not stop in Parachilna but the tiny old station still remains, like an ancient bastion before the arid and boundless red lands.
The unusual town is excellent starting point for daily excursions into the desert, to discover mountain ranges and hidden gorges, 4WD adventures, trekking, panoramic tours on foot, on horseback or by mountain bike and experiential trips in contact with Aboriginal communities.
I breathtaking views which can be admired from here, and which enchant especially at sunset, are those of the gods Monti Flinders, a series of discontinuous and jagged chains that extend for about 500 km, and boundless plains towards the Lago Torrens, large ephemeral salt lake which, after heavy rainfall, flows through the Pirie-Torrens corridor towards the Spencer Gulf.
Parachilna's undisputed attraction is then il Praire Hotel, the last accommodation facility before the desert which was renovated in 1997 while maintaining the original historic building unchanged. The pride of the Praire is the so-called "feral cuisine": in fact, the hotel restaurant serves it authentic native Australian cuisine, Flinders Feral Food, and allows you to try local products that are often unknown to foreign guests.
Any specialties? Camel fillet, croutons cooked in ash with emu pâté, emu and cheese salad but also pizza and stuffed sandwiches.
The town at the gates of the Outback is, in short, an oasis of refreshment before exciting adventures.
