Clare Valley

So it's goodbye to Adelaide and all the hopelessly well groomed people there. It's grown so much since my last visit and has really turned into quite the vibrant city. I jumped in a couple of cabs and they darted in and out of traffic with reckless abandon. The restaurants and bars were pumping and the shops were all well patronised. Its the kind of place I would be happy to live. There's just this one thing I have to mention. They have this one way freeway. It doesn't make any sense. In the morning it goes one way and on some evenings it goes another. If you are going against the traffic, bad luck take the highway with all it's 50 kmh zones and traffic lights. At unspecified dates and times the freeway runs in whatever direction it pleases. I believe the direction is chosen using the South Australian Premier's (Jay Weatherill) astrological charts, that would make as much sense any I suppose.

I headed out of Adelaide for the Claire Clare Valley. Like many of the other South Australian wine regions its ridiculously close to the capital. I left at 10.00am and after even stopping for coffee at Auburn I was still on its outskirts by 11.45am. Autumn was putting on one last flash of colour with the trees and grape vines bathed in a sea of gold and red. 

Auburn is nothing like it's Sydney namesake being dotted with  rustic old cottages and fine examples of Victorian stone work. It was really geared for the wine tourist with antique shops, galleries and cafes along it's main thoroughfare. It was all done with taste and decorum and there was nothing in your face about it. Clare (the town) was only a further 24 kilometres down the road so I pushed on to see what it had to offer. The scenery was magnificent. Old disused stone farm buildings stood photogenically by the road, abandoned farm machinery rusted artistically on the hillsides, all very beguiling.

Clare itself was a pleasant enough town and was clearly the commercial centre of the region but it was unremarkable in itself and was essentially a hub for the region's wineries. It was too early to stop for the night but I knew there wasn't a lot past Clare of any great interest so I decided I would treat myself to a nice lunch in a winery with a decent view. That proved harder than it sounds. I spoke to the lovely woman at the visitor centre and she gave me a choice of 4 or 5 options that were supposed to meet my criteria (winery, view, good food). 

Having made my choice I doubled back about 5 kilometres to the turn off for the town of Mintaro. This is one of those historic towns where every building is made of stone, there is a not a neon sign in sight and where the "ye olde worldle" charm has been cranked up to the max. It even has an old English hedge maze. I presented myself at Reilly's Winery/Restaurant/Cottages and asked for a table. It ticked most of the right boxes, winery (tick), restaurant (tick), view (stone wall). The food and wine was excellent as was the service therefore I forgave them the lack of view. The only small disappointment was the coffee but hey you can't have everything. 

Reilly's Restaurant and Winery

I motored on to the town of Burra where I had decided to spend the night. Its about 3 hours to Wilpena Pound from Burra so I should be able to get to the Flinders Ranges around lunch time. Its a really odd little town. Its less than 30 minutes from Clare but in reality it's a world away. Founded in the 1850's as a mining town, the population couldn't be very big (about 1,000 according to Wikipedia) but it's spread over five separate but loosely connected areas. This all harks back to when different companies established their towns within the bounds of their individual mining leases. Having said all that you can't go anywhere without tripping over some hopelessly quaint old bluestone cottage or some significant building constructed in mid Victorian style out of some impressive local materials. The place is littered with interesting old buildings in various states of use and disrepair. Its a wonder the entire town isn't heritage listed. 

According to a real estate window you could pick up a four bedroom bluestone home on a quarter of an acre for under $200,00.00, another $100,000.00 gets you one fully renovated. Sadly many of the shops are empty and some of the ones that remain have For Sale signs out the front. A town this interesting and this close to the wineries should be swimming with tourists and all the accoutrements that come with them. Right now it's main point of interest is a long closed copper mine. Interesting yes but not enough to make the town a success.

I finished the day with a meal at the local Burra Hotel. It was pleasant enough but like many things in life it promised more than it delivered. The publicans were clearly giving it a red hot go and should be commended for their efforts. It just lacks the polish of their cousins to the south who have set a pretty high standard when it comes to servicing the tourist market. I think I found the pan pipe music playing in the background a little off putting. It made me feel like an extra in "Picnic at Hanging Rock" and I kept looking around for lost Victorian school girls.


So its on to the Flinders Ranges next. They weren't even on the itinerary when I set out, but the path less taken is often the path more interesting (my god that sounds profound!). I'll have to let you know.