Wineries and Friends

This entry in our blog is divided into two sections: touristy things we did in the area and the family gatherings.  So if you are not interested in the family catch ups we had here you need only read the first bit.  However you are more than welcome to read the lot if you so desire.

Touristy stuff

From the Limestone Coast we travelled to Victor Harbor, south of Adelaide, via the Coorong River.  This involved a trip across the River Murray on a ferry at Wellington. Marty loves the idea that in this day and age when bridges are everywhere that ferries still operate.  It provided a quaint break in the trip.

Crossing the Murray river by ferry

Victor Harbor is a lovely spot.  Marty’s family used to holiday there when he was a kid so it brought back memories for him.  We started our time there by going to the mouth of the Murray on Hindmarsh Island.  It is where the river joins the Southern Ocean.  We waded out as far as we could.  It was really interesting so to see where the might Murray finishes up.

the Mouth of the Murray river

Encounter Bay - Victor Harbor- Granit Island in the background

Victor Harbor from top of the Bluff

Marty has lots of memories of climbing “the Bluff” as kid.  His family also have memories of his climbing the Bluff as well but the memories are not as pleasant as they involved rocks being thrown down and him hiding.  So we had to climb the Bluff, which is a large rock formation going out from the town in to the Ocean.  The views across the harbour made the climb worthwhile.   Pity it also involved hiding and throwing of stones.  Some people never grow up.

looking south from the top of the bluff

Wherever we go Marty tries to get a copy of the local phone book to see if there are any Alsfords in the area.  This time he found an Alsford family he had not met before so invited us around for a BBQ.  It was a lovely day and Keith and Pat and us decided even if we weren’t related we should be.

Keith and Pat

We also spent some time in the Inman Valley where my forebears originally settled in Australia.  We found out that John and Jemima Hancock were one of the first 20 families granted land in the Valley. We found Hancocks Road and then a little church and graveyard where John and Jemima were buried.  A point of interest was Glacier Rock one of the largest glaciers in Australia and the location of the original Hancock farm.

Glacier Rock- said to be the first recorded discovery of glaciation in Australia

Next stop was the Barossa.  After setting up at Nuriootpa we decided to go on a wine tour. We had done a similar tour in Margaret River in WA so were keen to compare the two.  On the tour we went to Seppeltsfield, Whistlers and Schild Wineries.  We tasted and purchased a few nice wines.  A highlight was having our photo taken with a bottle of 100 year old port.  It was a little out of our price range though.  Whilst in the Barossa we decided to camp with our friends Pete and Deirdre who we didn’t spend enough time with when in Adelaide before Christmas. We arranged to camp in the Mt Crawford Forest. After packing up and travelling to the forest we found out that it was closed for camping until the end of March so we all finished at Williamstown on the edge of the Barossa.  Marty was in heaven as the camp site is co-located with a cricket ground so he could drink wine, gas bag and watch cricket at the same time.  With Pete and Deirdre we went to more wineries:  Henschkes, Thorn and Clarke and Saltrams as well as Domain Day in Williamstown.  We also went to the Whispering Wall near Williamstown.  This is a manmade dam wall which is built in such a way that a person can talk softly at one end of the wall and clearly be heard 100 metres or so away at the other end.  No prizes for guessing who volunteered to do the talking.

Wine tasting at Seppeptsfield Estate, established in the 1850's is one of the grandest in the country.

Whisper messages at one end of the Whispering Wall near Williamstown.

cooling off under the sprinklers on a warm evening, wonder if they were using recycled water??

From the Barossa we said goodbye to Pete and Deidre and drove to Clare.  Our friends Grant and Donna recommended that we call in at Martindale Hall at Mintaro on the way and this was good advice.  The hall was once a stately home for local a wealthy family but is maintained with period decorations and is now used primarily for functions.  It is in the middle of nowhere but we may look at hosting a dinner there in the future if we can find enough interested friends.

Martindale Hall an 1879 mansion used in thr film Picnic at Hanging Rock



Mintaro -almost intact 19thcentury village, with many attractive stone buildings.  It was the first town in South Australia to be declared a State Heritage Area.



In Clare we visited the town of Auburn the birth place of the poet C. J. Dennis and the Annie’s Lane and Seven Hills wineries.  We chose these wineries because Annie’s Lane wines are favourites of ours and Seven Hills has an interesting history as it was established, and is still run by, German priests.

.  St Aloysius Church - Sevenhill

Sevenhill - Austrian Jesuit priests estabished the Clare Valley's first winery in the 1850's to ensure a steady supply of altar wine

We also climbed the Neagle’s Rock lookout to get a good view of the famed Clare Valley and did the historic walk in the town.

Lookout from Billy Goat Hill



Clare Valley from Neagles Rock



Family stuff

In the Barossa we caught up with my Dad’s oldest remaining sibling, Uncle Lindsay and his wife Merle.  We had a nice morning and lunch with them and once again looked at lots of old photos and heard lots of old tales.

As I have mentioned before on this blog my dad was one of 14 kids and I have a lot of relations scattered around SA.  During this trip I have managed to catch up with many of them but there were some who I missed. To tried to rectify this and with a little help organised a clan gathering at Freeling, just north of the Barossa.  I didn’t know if anyone would turn up but thanks to Uncle John’s efforts we got about 25 members of the extended family.  Many had not met previously or had not seen each other for many years so it was all very worthwhile.  A highlight was when one of Uncle John’s grandchildren saw Uncle John and Uncle Lindsay chatting and recognised Uncle Lindsay as a “mini poppy”.

After the gathering Marty and I adjourned to the Freeling pub with mine host cousin Brendan and had a quick tour of the pub.  After that we again went to Marty’s cousin Sue for the night.  We had stayed with Sue at Freeling before Christmas and once again her and husband Brad were kind enough to find a bed and a few drinks for us.