Australia Day

Kingoonya is town is on the east-west and north-south railway line and that used to be on the Stuart Highway, until they moved the highway that is. It was a railway service town that once boasted a large population, however with the advent of modern railways service towns are no longer needed and when they shifted the highway 40km east Kingoonya became a ghost town.

Then about 6 years ago Maria and Colin saw potential in the old Hotel building that was full of rubbish and in bad need of repair. Someone had purchased the land but was not doing anything with it so they rented the property and proceeded to do it up. Kingoonya was back on the map.

Kingoonya became a popular place to stay for those doing the four wheel drive adventure track called "Googs track". It was also a popular stop with those who were travelling from Western Australian to Northern Australia as the dirt road through Kingoonya cut off hours of driving. On top of this station staff from surrounding Sheep and Cattle stations frequented the Hotel.

Unfortuately Maria's partner died last year in tragic circumstances and as there was no will the Hotel was forced to close. The current land owners have made things extremely difficult for Maria and she is unable to find a way to keep the Hotel going. This means that the towns people about 10 in all will now also lose the support of Government funding for important infrastructure such as water.

It looks as though this town that was so recently re-born will now soon face becoming a Ghost town once again.

You can purchase your piece of history of Kingoonya by clicking on the photograph here. Current sale of T-shirts, post cards and magnets are available for a short time.

On Australia Day we like to honour those who help to make our Nation great so each community usually has a celebration and award giving ceremony. In Quorn - Flinders Ranges South Australia we start the day with a big BBQ Breakfast of sausages, bacon and eggs. This is held at our local swimming pool because it is usually very hot here in January.

The flag is always raised at the beginning of the celebration and an acknowledgement made of "Country" (where we recognise the indigenous original inhabitants of our area - the Adnamatna people). Then we have breakfast. After the meal the Australia Day awards are handed out to honour local citizens who have made great contributions to our community.

Then all the big and little kids hit the pool until early afternoon. There are also ceremonies for people who wish to become Australian Citizens held around our country on this day.

In South Australia there are several major people groups:

- The Western Desert Cultural Region
-The South Australian Gulf Cultural Region
- Lake Eyre Cultural Region
- Murray Darling(Part of Riverina) Cultural Region
- South East Coast Cultural Region

The cultures in these regions are often very similar with only slight variations in lifestyle and dialect. It was common for these groups to trade amongst them selves which enhanced the similarities among the groups. However I present the Adnyamathanha people because it is in their country that I currently reside and I have been able to learn a little about their culture.

Rather than put their story into my words I will put a link to one of their sites so you can learn a little more about them and their culture. Just click on the photograph of the barking Gecko in this section to go there.