Hawker
Postcode: 5434
Hawker is a town in the Flinders Ranges area of South Australia, 365 km north of Adelaide. The town population is about 300, with another 200 people in the surrounding district. It is in the Flinders Ranges Council, the state Electoral district of Stuart and the federal Division of Grey.
The main economic activities in the area are tourism and pastoral runs of sheep and increasingly cattle. Due to the arid environment, the stocking rates are low, at about one sheep per three to four hectares. Hawker is 55 km south of Wilpena Pound, a unique natural dish-shaped range of hills popular with tourists, as well as the spectacular scenery of the southern Flinders Ranges.
Hawker was a thriving railway town from the 1880s until 1956 as it was on the famous Ghan railway line, until the route was moved further west when the line was upgraded.
The town, population of about 300, offers visitors all essential services needed for their stay in the Flinders Ranges or for those venturing further into the Outback of South Australia.
Hawker is administered by the Flinders Ranges Council based in Quorn, another unique location which has so much to offer the visitor. A large variety of accommodation styles is available in the district at affordable prices. A number of establishments provide meals or takeaway food, and there are several stores to stock up on provisions for that short or longer stay in the north.