This underground bakery could be home to Australia’s most remote meat pie
The pies are wonderful, and the fruit loaf is to die for. The Farina bakery is the perfect excuse for an Outback road trip.
In the deep reccesses of Outback South Australia, there is a hidden gem for road-trippers and pastry enthusiasts alike.
And if you happen to have a foot in both of those camps, this little-known spot could quite easily be heaven on earth.
Six hours drive north of Adelaide, hidden amongst ruins and surrounded by rough gibber plains, lies Australia’s most remote underground bakery.
And when you drive past, you could easily blink and miss it.
The area is called Farina, ruins of a town that dates back to the 1870s. At its strongest, Farina had a population of over 300, and was an important stop on the inland railway line. There were two breweries in Farina’s heyday, along with two hotels, a general store, post office, Anglican church, school, a brothel, and an underground bakery.
And thanks to a dedicated team of volunteers, that underground bakery stays fired up for eight weeks of the year, serving baked goods from the same 140-year old underground wood-fired Scotch oven.
Save for the kilometre of unsealed driveway to the bakery, the entire 600 kilometre drive from Adelaide to Farina (and onwards to Marree) is bitumen, which was freshly laid in 2019.
For only eight weeks of every year, teams of volunteers descend upon Farina. They camp nearby, and use funds generated by the bakery to help their restoration efforts of the derelict town. They work to preserve and maintain the ruins, as well as improving access and information for visitors.
And we can report that the slow-cooked beef pie is very good, as well as the one kilogram fruit loaf, whose dense contents includes a half-kilogram of fruit.
The Farina volunteers come in stints, but a handful stay on for the duration. And one of those is Kerry, who is the baker at the centre of the operation and does the full stint of eight weeks at Farina.
Kerry hails from Hamilton in Victoria, has experience with old-fashioned wood-fired Scotch ovens, and calls baking his life’s passion.
And for Kerry, part of the appeal of Farina comes from the remoteness of the location:
“It’s a totally different setting out here. The sunsets are spectacular, never see the same sunset. Sunrises are just out of this world.”
Steven Harding – Project Officer for the Farina Restoration Group – explains the groundswell of support from volunteers:
“There was a working bee one weekend. That grew to one week as people found out about it. They went to a fortnight, two weeks, four weeks and now eight weeks and we have 200 volunteers,” he tells Drive when we visited Farina during an epic road trip.
“So the bakery provides the income for those eight weeks that we’re open. And without the bakery running now, we couldn’t do half of what we do.
“If we have our sign out the on the road, we’re open. And if you look for those eight weeks on our Web page or Facebook, you’ll see our dates this year.
“We’re open until the July the 24th, which is a Sunday.”
Getting there: Farina Bakery
Farina is located along the Outback Highway in northern South Australia, located between Lyndhurst and Marree. It’s around 600 killometres north of Adelaide, and fifty filometres south of Marree.
It’s in a remote location, but the road is tarred and in good condition. Fuel is available in Marree, Lyndhurst and Leigh Creek.
The Farina Bakery opens for eight weeks of the year while volunteers undertake restoration works, which is operated by the Farina Restoration Group. For more information about the restoration projects or volunteering, head to their website: www.farinarestoration.com.
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