This morning we were off as soon as the lamb shanks were settled in the crock pot and lunch in the eski. We popped back up to the centre of town, nearly three kilometres north of the caravan park, and picked up the newspaper, a sugary bun and refuelled with diesel, yet again. And then we were off, down the Main North Road the twenty or so kilometres to Auburn, the gateway to the Clare Valley for those travelling from the south.
We passed through Penwortham which was the settling place for John Horrocks, who took up land here in 1842. However his feet were never too firmly on the ground, he was forever setting off on expeditions into the interior and so it is that the pass over the Southern Flinders, east of Port Augusta we drove up over a few days ago bears his name. A small entry on our area map notes that “he tragically died young in 1846 following an accident”. Our Clare region brochure expands on this explaining that “ he and his party were exploring north of Port Augusta when Horrocks stopped to shoot a bird and his camel ended up shooting him”. And that is the end of the story which is of course too tantalising to leave at that. We stopped at a memorial cairn that gives tribute to John Horrock as a pioneer and explorer, but offers no further reference to any camel. It is such that drives one to Google, and so I did where I learned that the camel has been unfairly remembered in history.
It turns out that the kneeling camel moved while Horrocks was reloading his gun, catching the cock. The resulting discharge removed the middle fingers of one hand and a row of teeth. He ordered the camel to be shot and was taken back to Penwortham where he died twenty two days after the accident, probably of septicaemia. Poor camel!
We drove on through the picturesque valley, widening a little as we closed in on Auburn, but still busy with vineyards, the vines all pruned neatly in rows like lines of hieroglyphics or Arabic writing in an ancient script, and there we parked up and spent some time wandering around this charming village just full of ancient well maintained and occupied buildings. Those that were in a poorer state, were all having work done to them, with tradesman busy all about, readying the village for the onslaught of the summer visitors. Most of these buildings are constructed of bluestone and most are listed on the National or State Heritage registers and most offer bed and breakfast accommodation.
The town was first settled in 1849 and served as a provisioning centre for those travelling to and from Burra. Today there a few café / restaurants serving the tourists who wish to seek refreshment after wandering about this delightfully peaceful and picturesque place. Instead we wandered along the Wakefield River, or rather, creek, enjoying the numerous birdlife, catching sight of a blackbird, a bird so common in New Zealand and in the cities of Australia but entirely absent from the areas we have travelled most of this year.
Auburn is the birth place of C J Dennis, born in 1876 in the back room of the former Auburn Hotel. While CJ Dennis is a quintessential Australian poet, for me I was reminded of my delayed and all too brief acquaintance with my grandfather who presented me with a rather worn copy of The Sentimental Bloke, a publication which may have been one of the earlier editions, the first having been in 1917.
From here, we retraced our route back up the main road and turned off at Leasingham to Mintaro, eleven kilometres to the north east. Soon after leaving Leasingham, the road rose up out of the valley and over rolling green hills with superb sheep country stretching as far as the eye could see, with just a few pockets of vineyards, and a few more of cropping. Such a sight gives me great pleasure, more so that a row of boutiques or a shopping mall.
Arriving at Mintaro we pulled into the little rest area and sat under blooming cherry trees to eat our lunch. We were soon joined by a couple travelling in their motorhome who had been travelling about for five and a half years, bettering us by nearly three years. They are traveling with their little lap dog, quite a cutey, and we were soon discussing the pros and cons of travelling with canine companions. I have voiced our opinion on this matter several times in the past, so will not repeat them here. It was therefore quite curious to realise that a dog is more often than not, a conversation starter, as are children and of course, here we were doing just that. It seems that there are a whole lot of dog owning nutters who are all happy to baby sit other people’s dogs so they can go off and enjoy the non-dog friendly National Parks. So it seems our arguments against traveling with dogs have been blown out of the water. Keith and Beverley were the sort of folks we would have been happy to have a whole lot more to do with but travelling is a transient business, and so this encounter was but fleeting.
Keith, who had travelled the area in his working past life, insisted that Martindale Hall just up the road was a must see. This Georgian country residence was portrayed as the ladies college in the 1975 film Picnic at Hanging Rock which I do remember, although not the building itself. We set off with no intention of paying the money to look through the property and parked on the road outside considering the signs. Chris was not excited about calling in and when we peered through the trees and across the paddocks, a scene from afar very pretty indeed, were not drawn, and so left with only photos.
We returned to Mintaro, parked exactly where we had lunched and walked from there all about the township. Later we were to find “all about” was not correct, however the streets we did walk were those occupied by the public buildings and those open to the public. What a charming place this is! The tourist brochure suggests that this is to be likened to a village in the English Cotswald or Dales, and although I personally have never visited those English gems, I can well imagine that this is an excellent comparison.
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| Charm in Mintaro |
Back on wheels, we headed up the road to the Mintaro Slate Quarry which has provided slate for many of Australia’s most distinguished contemporary and historic buildings from 1861 right through to today. It is of course a working quarry and we did not expect to be allowed to enter and wander about; health and safety regulations were unlikely to allow such. From the road we were able to see stacks of slate lifted from the ground, quite an amazing sight given the relatively gentle contour of the ground.
We headed back toward Sevenhill, situated on the main road and passed through earlier in the day, completing a triangle of travel, just a further eight kilometres. Half way back along the northern access, we turned north toward the Polish Church Museum. This was not open today, in fact is only open on the occasional Sunday, but does have a couple of interpretative panels to explain the significance of the site. It was here that those Poles alluded to yesterday came in the 1850s.
We resumed our route, joining the Main North Road, and then turned east yet again up to the Sevenhill Cellars just a couple of kilometres off the main road. This is the site of the oldest vineyard and winery in the Clare Valley, as well as the most picturesque and unusual wineries in Australia.
A historical fact that is rarely considered by we in the Antipodes is that the Catholics were expelled from Prussia, later Germany, because they were seen as supporting the monarchy in the mid-19th century. Lutheran Germans had already successfully immigrated to South Australia settling in the Barossa Valley and so South Australia was seen as a perfect refuge for the Jesuits fleeing an unfriendly jurisdiction.
In 1848 two Jesuits Fathers immigrated with others of the same faith to Australia, to escape the religious and political persecution. Their role was as chaplains to a group of one hundred and thirty Catholics led by Franz Weikert, a Selesian farmer. They came to the Clare Valley, the furthest north of land available to them at the time and land offering fertile soil for agriculture.
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| Sevenhills Church |
One of the Fathers was stricken by poor health and returned to Europe, however was replaced in time by two others. The Jesuits initially secured one hundred acres of land in 1851 and named it Sevenhill after the Seven Hill district of Rome, symbolic of the beginning of the Catholic brand. After years of struggle, raising money from farm produce sales to those between there and Burra, they established Sevenhill Cellars, initially to provide sacramental wine to the emerging Catholic parishes around Australia. In 1854 the first Catholic secondary school was opened on site, operating as St Aloysuis College and providing boarding facilities from 1856 through to 1886. From 1886 through to 1884, it became a training centre for Jesuit religious. Today the college buildings are used as residence for the Jesuits and those who come to enjoy the peace and quiet of the surrounds as a retreat.
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| Sevenhills ruins beyond the vineyards |
The magnificent church was completed in 1875 and features Mintaro slate floors. The exterior is absolutely beautiful and inside, I was impressed by the high vaulted ceiling. Although the church’s presence was announced by the note on the map, I could not help but be surprised by this amazing structure right in the middle of this horticultural countryside. The church has another unusual feature, or at least unusual for this part of the world. There is a crypt below ground level, which houses the corpses of thirty nine Fathers and Brothers, all lined up and labelled like boxes of herbs in a pantry. There are three spaces left empty waiting for the next three to go, perhaps the last three left in residence on the estate.
There have been seven Jesuit winemakers at Sevenhill, the most recent of whom is Jesuit Winemaker Emeritus, Brother John May, SJ, who still works closely with the winemaking team and is a passionate advocate of Sevenhill and the Clare Valley. It seems however that the majority of folk working in the property are secular and most likely in the greater part, contractors.
It struck us that Sevenhills is a lucrative business venture run by the Jesuits, as is Sanitarium by the Seventh Day Adventists, and as a “charity” is not taxed. Hardly fair especially when the fruit of their gain here at Sevenhills has dubious results, especially if you are of a temperance mind.
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| Manicured vines of Sevenhill |
We wandered through the vineyards on the paths which welcome those like us, popped our heads into the church and down into the crypt, then called into the cellar door, which apart from offering a variety of the pickled grape juice and souvenirs to remind one they once called here, has a little museum and an excellent DVD explaining the history of the place. Tours are offered on specific days, but not today, so we made our own way down into the wine cellar and around the property and were delighted with the place altogether.
So delighted were we in fact that we bought a couple of bottles of wine as souvenirs. Did I write a few days ago that our next wine purchase may not be until Christmas? No … surely not! Anyway, a glass of red went very well with the lamb shanks tonight and I am sure we can find something to put with the rest of the bottle sometime during the next week. Perhaps the white can wait for Christmas?
There was still plenty left on the day’s to-do list however we decided it would be better left for a more leisurely pursuit tomorrow. We will extend our booking in the morning.
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