We discover Strathalbyn

Strathalbyn is a small town about 45 minutes north-east from our home. We stayed overnight there last year when we were on our way back from South Australia to Victoria, but the weather was miserable with rain and gloom and we left as soon as we could. So it was with high expectations that we set off last Saturday in sunshiny weather to discover what we missed out on.

The brochure we were given by the friendly people at the Information Centre told us that the area was first settled in 1839 by Scottish immigrants, hence the name: 'strath' being Gaelic for valley, and 'albyn' a corruption of the ancient name for Great Britain. It is nowadays famous as an antique centre with lots of the heritage buildings converted into attractive antique emporiums. But as I'm no longer on the lookout for items from the past we bypassed them and concentrated on the houses and public buildings.

It was very pleasant to stroll around the town. Everything is very neat, clean and spacious. There are lots of beautiful old homes built of that lovely honey-coloured South Australian stone, with well-cared-for gardens.

Luckily for today's tourists most of the old buildings from the 1850s were not demolished and have been beautifully restored, giving Strathalbyn a pleasing character and ambience that is so often missing from country towns. There are said to be over 30 buildings on the Heritage Register. Our brochure outlined the history of many of these on our walk.

Built in the 1860s this was a general store
 then became a butchers shop.

Simple and restrained architecture yet full of character.

Sweet-smelling lavender is a lovely foil for the stone work.

A native hibiscus in full bloom

The Heritage Centre displays machinery from the early days.

The Town Hall

 

Charming vistas around every corner. 

The former John Wesley church is now the Chapel Theatre.

We strolled by the river...

 ... sat on a bench to view the grand St Andrews Church across the river ...

...then ventured over the river for a closer look.

We also came across this wonderfully dilapidated building ripe for restoration.

I love seeking out details, especially now I have a super-duper lens on my camera.

We had just finished our walk when I spotted these clouds with the sun shining through.

A lime milkshake for me, a coffee for Steve and a shared frangipane tartlet at the Bean Machine cafe ended a most rewarding day in Strathalbyn.

An interesting installation

Near the carpark opposite Warland Reserve in Victor Harbor is an intriguing monument.

The installation consists of three poles and is called On Occupied Territory. It was built in 2002 to mark the 200th anniversary of Mathew Flinders' meeting with Nicholas Baudin in Encounter Bay; the title recognises the fact that the land was occupied at the time of the meeting of these two explorers. The poles symbolise the association between the French, the British and the Aboriginal cultures.
On first looking at the poles you see lots of wires and sculptured objects on the top of each pole. It all makes sense when you read the interpretation plaques and learn what each aspect of the sculpture represents. The following information is adapted from the plaques.

• The pole on the left in the photo is in the colours of the French flag and is topped by an anemometer and billowing sails symbolising the scientific achievements made by the French. Evidently the wavy effect on the sales is a reference to the bending of the earth's magnetic field, an important consideration when drawing accurate charts.  The wires on the poles symbolise ships' rigging.

• The central pole is in the colours of the British flag and is topped by a cartographers arrow which points to the meeting site in Encounter Bay, and an octant which commemorates Flinders' navigation skills. 

• The third pole in green and yellow represents the Aboriginal people. Atop the pole is a sculpture of the knobby club rush, a common grass that grows along the coastline, bending but never breaking under the force of the prevailing wind. It represents the endurance of the Ramindjeri Ngarrindjeri people.

The installation is the work of South Australian artist and designer Margaret Worth, whose work appears all over South Australia and the USA. Her work reflects the connection between people and places. To find out more about the artist look up margaretworth.com

I was impressed with another plaque erected by the local council that provided '... an expression of sorrow and an apology to the local Ngarrindjeri people'.

A little ways along the coast is a sign describing the meeting of Flinders and Baudin.

I took this photo of the installation facing the sun so it looks rather dramatic but in fact it was a very pleasant sunshiny day and not like this at all.

Four go adventuring again

It was with great pleasure that we welcomed Colin and Lorraine, our good friends from Perth, to the Robertson's retirement villa in Encounter Bay this week. Driving from Adelaide, with a detour to investigate the charms of Happy Valley and the Happy Valley Reservoir, the Potts arrived in good humour, ready to take on the challenge of the packed itinerary we had planned.

First up was a visit to the Langhorne Creek wineries. We love this area as it seems less commercial than the more well-known McLaren Vale to the north. There are only eight or so wineries here but each one has its special flavour.

Here is Vineyard Road cellar door, a fascinating mix of wines on one side, and olive oil soaps and cosmetics in the adjoining area.

Bremerton Wines is housed in marvellously restored stables.

An intricately carved gate at the entrance to Bremerton's cellar door.

Bleasedale Winery was founded by Frank Potts in 1850 but despite a lot of research Colin has failed to find any connection with his own family.

As with most wineries the roses always provide a good display (even thought this was winter and these hadn't been pruned yet).
 

We lunched at a microbrewery where Steve had the best butter chicken ever, I could stand my spoon upright in the pea and ham soup (which had huge pieces of succulent ham straight off the bone), Colin's Coorong mullet was pronounced delicious and Lorraine bought an order of these amazing curled chips - we couldn't work out how the chef got them this way.

Last stop of the day was at Rusticana. Here their specialty was zinfandel, durif .... and horseradish, as well as other delectable relishes and jam. I'm a pushover for fig jam and the one I bought had the added allure of ginger. The cottage on site was charming, framed by a blossoming almond tree.

Here is the paddock newly prepared to plant the horseradish.

On the way home we stopped at the old Milang Railway Station, now a railway museum. Both Colin and I share a love of all things train-related (though I can't say I've ever done any train spotting as Colin has in his native England).

The orange carriage was built in 1949.

We stopped by the enormous freshwater Lake Alexandrina, named by explorer Charles Sturt after Princess Alexandrina (who was later to become Queen Victoria) ....

... passed a smaller lake ...

... and then saw this rainbow.

After a well-earned rest back home, we set off to do the obligatory Encounter Wetlands walk just near our home; Colin gently corrected me that the ducks were, in fact, coots and the egrets were ibis.

The following day was Steve's birthday. After the celebrations and
opening of presents, we set off for Port Elliot, 10 minutes down the highway.  En route we stopped at Victor Harbor for a quick walk down the main street, browsing in the shops (we loved the Kiri Kiri Aboriginal shop), and for some posing by the whale tail fountain.




We love taking people to Port Elliot, a tiny seaside community of honey-coloured stone cottages, boutique shops, yummy cafes and wind-whipped coastal scenery, though on this day the wind was very well behaved.  Here Lorraine and Colin are reading one of the Whale Trail signs that Steve helped prepare for the Council; a set of 14 has just been installed all along the coast.

Back home, we walked along the nearby Encounter cycle path, but the weather was looking threatening so we turned homeward.

The following day, we arose early and headed for Granite Island. We cross the causeway, then it's a 1.5 kilometre walk around the island.

More posing...

More photographing ...



... and more exploring.

We met some locals who offered to take our photo for us, so we posed before another of Steve's Whale Trail signs. 

It was the end of a few days of fun and friendship. Thanks Lorraine and Colin for sharing our home and letting us show you some of the delights of the Fleurieu Peninsula.