kiwibird: Clare Valley

We visited the Clare Valley, at the beginning of March, just before the Covit-19 virus caused a lock down in South Australia. Shops, cafes, museums were putting social distancing markers into place and the camping ground closed its office, and hand sanitisers were everywhere. We had a huge container of hand sanitiser in our caravan, and a smaller one in our car. It was a very nervous time, and people everywhere were on edge. At the beginning of the following week everything was closed, people were told to work from home, and those of us that were over 70, or vulnerable to infections, told to self isolate. Scary times.

When looking at the photographs I realised just how bright and sunny it was, now that we are in the middle of winter, with a low sun and dark hours. When we were in the Clare Valley it was early autumn, seems a long time ago.

It was also very hot there, with temperatures reaching more than 30 degrees, and extremely dry.

When I think of all the wine areas that we have visited, the Clare Valley would have to be our favourite. So far we have toured the Coonawarra area, which was very scenic, the Riverland, the Barossa Valley and the Clare Valley. The cold and wet weather did not help when we visited the Coonawarra and Barossa Valley. To be honest I am not sure why we liked the Clare Valley more, perhaps it was the fact that there were some fascinating places around there. And less touristy perhaps.

I like the wines from all areas though!

A view of an old stone building at the end of one of the side streets in Clare.

Now I cannot remember the names of these two old buildings. One was the court house, I think.

Our favourite cafe in Clare. Excellent coffee and delicious cakes.

We were lucky to be able to use a tent spot on the grass for our caravan, so we had an area to ourselves. The caravans on the handstanding areas were very close together. A lovely camping ground, set amongst eucalyptus trees and with excellent facilities.

There was an area on the other side of the dry creek which was very open, and lots of space for camping. Also a lovely space to take Piper for her early morning walks.

The park surrounding the camping ground. All very pleasant.

Although there are many good red wines produced in the Clare Valley, their main focus is on Riesling wines. One of the most fascinating wineries was the Sevenhill winery, a few kilometres south of Clare. This visit was definitely a step back into history. It was established by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1851, and was the oldest winery in the Clare Valley. There were vines there which were planted before 1860 and which still produce some of the best grapes. These vines were the same variety that were destroyed by phylloxera in France. New South Wales and Victoria.

The winery is still part of the monastery, and includes St Aloysius' Church, Crypt, The Marian Shrine, St Ignatius of Loyola Shrine, The Way of the Cross walk and two stone columns in recognition of the traditional custodians, the Ngadjuri people.

The college building was once the first Catholic secondary school in South Australia, and included a boarding school from 1856-1886, and a Jesuit training school during the same time. It is now used as a parish administration & retreat centre.

A view of the winery, cellar door and museum, with a spacious and shady lawn in front of it.

We visited Burra, one of the most fascinating places we have visited so far, although the temperature must have been in the mid 30s when we were there. And dry and dusty. But so much history, and places of interest, and being there for one day was not enough time to really absorb it all.

I have just re-read 'Discovering Historic Burra' and realised that we did not see all the historic sites that were in the town. So I think another trip is definitely needed, perhaps in cooler weather.

Burra was surveyed as a copper mining town in 1851, and it became Australia's largest inland town. The town was named after Burra Burra Creek, which had earlier been named by Afghan cameleers and was Hindustani for 'great great'.

The mine operated from 1845 until 1870, first in underground mining and then by the open-cut method. The people working at the mine were mostly from Cornwell, England.

Another interesting aspect were the number of small townships that make up the town of Burra, namely Kooringa, Redruth, Aberdeen, New Aberdeen, Llwchwr and Hampton. Each small township was started by different groups, sometimes the government, sometimes mining companies and sometimes land developers.

We paid for 'The Burra Passport' which gave us a key to the different historical locations We had to return the key when we finished the trail.

The Burra railway station built in 1883 (replaced a wooden one built in 1870) which has been restored. The rail services to Burra stopped in 1885 and the line closed in 1998. We sat on a bench on the platform waiting for a train that did not arrive to take us to Adelaide.

The only decent photograph (below) that I took of two buildings (enginehouse and winding house) at the Burra Burra mine. It was hot, dry and dusty. Luckily we could drive around the area in our airconditioned car.

The Paxton Square Cottages, built in 1849. They were originally built for miners, who were living in dugout homes in Burra Creek. They have been restored and used as visitor accommodation.

One of the cottages has been set up as a museum.

Another room in the cottage.

The floors were made of polished mud, and the photograph below showed the floor in the back room which needed urgent attention.

The dugout homes on the edge of the dry creek bed. They were very small and airless. At least it was shelter from the heat and cold. However the homes along the main creek bed were flooded in 1851, which must have been devastating for the people who lived in them.

Redruth Gaol was erected in 1856. When it closed in 1894, it was renovated and reopened as a Girls' Reformatory. The girls who were imprisoned there were a lively lot, from the description of some of their exploits.

And before I forget, the film 'Breaker Morant' was filmed in Burra.

We drove around the surrounding countryside which was interesting in itself.

For those people who may have watched 'Picnic at Hanging Rock, you will recognise the building below, which was used as the girls' school. Although the story was set at Hanging Rock, near Mt Macedon in Victoria, they filmed the school scenes at Martindale Hall, near Mintaro, in the Clare Valley.

The village of Mintaro was very pleasant. We had a short walk around it, and could have taken many photographs. The local pub.

The house/store opposite the pub.

We were reluctant to leave Clare, but realised that we needed to get back to Adelaide, as further restrictions were predicted to be in place by the following Monday. We will definitely return some day, and continue where we left off.