The Barossa Valley today. Only 25 km long, the Barossa Valley accounts for 21% of Australia's wine output. There are 80 wineries (local parlance) and the valley, which is about 60 km north east of Adelaide has a distinctive German heritage.
First stop was Tanunda and a well known sign;
It seems strange to be in a place formerly only known on a label! The original centre of the township was the ziegenmarkt laid out in 1842, and there are still some of the early cottages there, as well as a commemorative sculpture. (It's called Goat Square.)
Most of these towns have several Lutheran churches, and in Tanunda the Langmeil Lutheran Church is asssociated with Pastor Kavel who arrived in South Australia in 1838 and was the state's first Lutheran minister. As you can see many of the graves belonged to German families.
Some of these buildings look brand new, but all of them are built on the traditionally simple Lutheran style.
The third Lutheran church was open and I was presented with Easter biscuits and a card detailing their services. A lovely touch!
From Tanunda I went to Nuriootpa, which has some pretty parks and riverside walks, but the highlight of the visit if not of the whole day, was just outside in the hamlet of Light Pass. Here there is a dear little cottage built in 1846 of mud and straw for the teacher Mr Luhrs, and now a museum.
The interior was packed with artefacts from the period in all the different rooms,
and behind the cottage was the schoolroom,
and even the old lavatory,
The cottage was absolutely fascinating and there were so many things to see but the biggest surprise was that there was no one on duty there, just an honesty box for donations and a complete Aladdin's cave of antiques!
Instructions on the door just invited the visitor to go in...Amazing.
Whilst driving around there were a plethora of wineries and "cellar doors", and some beautiful scenery.
Bethany and Angaston, which has a working blacksmith's were two other villages I visited.
Just outside Angaston was the magnificent Collingrove Homestead built in 1856 by John Angas (Angaston), and now owned by the National Trust.
An informative yet very casual guide told me that all the furniture in the house had belonged to the original owners and had been bought by the NT. It was beautifully done and had a real period feel.
note the lack of taps; someone actually had to fill this copper bath with jugs of water...
From here I left the Barossa valley and entered the Eden Valley,
famous for the huge gum trees and high altitude wines, especially Reislings. Just outside the village of Springton is a huge river gum known as the Herbig Tree.
In the late 1850s its hollow trunk was home to Friedrich and Caroline Herbig who lived here with the first two of their sixteen children.
Then it was back across the plains to Adelaide.
A really good day, helped by total lack of traffic and my very worth Gps!
First stop was Tanunda and a well known sign;
It seems strange to be in a place formerly only known on a label! The original centre of the township was the ziegenmarkt laid out in 1842, and there are still some of the early cottages there, as well as a commemorative sculpture. (It's called Goat Square.)
Most of these towns have several Lutheran churches, and in Tanunda the Langmeil Lutheran Church is asssociated with Pastor Kavel who arrived in South Australia in 1838 and was the state's first Lutheran minister. As you can see many of the graves belonged to German families.
Some of these buildings look brand new, but all of them are built on the traditionally simple Lutheran style.
The third Lutheran church was open and I was presented with Easter biscuits and a card detailing their services. A lovely touch!
From Tanunda I went to Nuriootpa, which has some pretty parks and riverside walks, but the highlight of the visit if not of the whole day, was just outside in the hamlet of Light Pass. Here there is a dear little cottage built in 1846 of mud and straw for the teacher Mr Luhrs, and now a museum.
The interior was packed with artefacts from the period in all the different rooms,
and even the old lavatory,
The cottage was absolutely fascinating and there were so many things to see but the biggest surprise was that there was no one on duty there, just an honesty box for donations and a complete Aladdin's cave of antiques!
Instructions on the door just invited the visitor to go in...Amazing.
Whilst driving around there were a plethora of wineries and "cellar doors", and some beautiful scenery.
Bethany and Angaston, which has a working blacksmith's were two other villages I visited.
Just outside Angaston was the magnificent Collingrove Homestead built in 1856 by John Angas (Angaston), and now owned by the National Trust.
An informative yet very casual guide told me that all the furniture in the house had belonged to the original owners and had been bought by the NT. It was beautifully done and had a real period feel.
note the lack of taps; someone actually had to fill this copper bath with jugs of water...
From here I left the Barossa valley and entered the Eden Valley,
famous for the huge gum trees and high altitude wines, especially Reislings. Just outside the village of Springton is a huge river gum known as the Herbig Tree.
In the late 1850s its hollow trunk was home to Friedrich and Caroline Herbig who lived here with the first two of their sixteen children.
Then it was back across the plains to Adelaide.
A really good day, helped by total lack of traffic and my very worth Gps!
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