SINGLE: Afghan Express – © Copyright 2019

Performed by: MOSS

Written By: LYRICS: Susan Craig, MUSIC: Mark Simpkin and Ian (NED) Kelly

Produced by: Gabs Agostino and Mark Simpkin

Watch the Afghan Express Video:

ABOUT THE SONG — Afghan Express
Long before road trains and sealed highways crossed the Australian interior, it was the Afghan and Pakistani cameleers who opened the heart of the outback.

Arriving through Port Augusta from the mid-1800s, many settled in remote “Ghan towns” across inland Australia, including the historic settlement of Farina. Principally from regions around Kandahar and beyond, these cameleers became the lifeblood of the emerging inland communities.

For more than fifty years, long camel trains, sometimes stretching to seventy camels, carried supplies deep into the unforgiving interior where horses and wagons could not survive. They transported food, water, mail, medicine, building materials and railway equipment to isolated stations, mining camps and frontier towns, returning with wool, minerals and the products of inland enterprise.

These camel teams helped build the nation. They played a vital role in the construction of the Overland Telegraph and the railway line between Port Augusta and Alice Springs, the line that would eventually become known as The Ghan, originally nicknamed the “Afghan Express” in honour of the cameleers who made inland expansion possible.

Yet despite their enormous contribution, the Afghan cameleers remain one of Australia’s most overlooked pioneer communities.

Afghan Express is a tribute to these forgotten pioneers, a song that honours their resilience, sacrifice and enduring legacy in shaping the Australian outback. Through story and song, we hope to shine a light on a remarkable chapter of Australian history that deserves to be remembered.

Mix: Gabs Agostino