Autumn in the Barossa Valley

We have just spent four days in South Australia's premier wine-growing area, the beautiful Barossa Valley, a three-hour drive from our home. We were celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary. First stop was Nairne, a small village in the outer Adelaide Hills where an old mill caught my eye.

 Then we reached Eden Valley, a wine area just south of the Barossa heartland.  Here the autumn colours were in full swing.

And onto the Barossa.

For those who love to know why things are so-named...

Colonel Light, Adelaide's first Surveyor General, visited the region in 1837 and named the valley Lynedoch Valley after his friend Lord Lynedoch; he named the surrounding hills the Barrosa Ranges because they reminded him of the area in Spain where he and Lynedoch had fought in the Battle of Barrosa. Misspellings occurred, and eventually Barossa was the name applied to the whole region, and Lyndoch, to a small nearby settlement. 


The valley was settled largely by German Lutheran immigrants in the 1840s, and there is still a distinctive Germanic feeling in the area, as evident by this imposing sign.    

We visited the major towns of Angaston (named after London merchant George Fife Angas who encouraged the German Lutherans to migrate to South Australia to escape religious persecution)  and Tanunda (an Aboriginal word meaning 'water hole'), both full of good food places, lovely old houses and heritage buildings.

A 1930s house in Angaston

A typical Tanunda dwelling

The home of Johann Rieschiek, a shoemaker, this is one of the oldest houses in Tanunda. 

This next photo is cheating because we never actually went into this building in the Tanunda Recreation Park; the photo was on an interpretive panel. It was closed when we were there, but I loved its story which is why I have included it. It is a kegelbahn or skittle alley. The game of kegel was a forerunner of 10-pin bowling and the Tanunda club was formed on 1858. It is the only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

Quirky roadside art in Angaston.

Then it was off for some serious wine tasting. 

We visited Jacobs Creek, one of the biggest wineries, in a lovely setting surrounded by gum trees.

A favourite of ours was Bethany Wines in the tiny hamlet of Bethany.

Bethany was  the first village in the Barossa settled by Prussian immigrants in the 1840s and the main street is full of old cottages, barns and age-old gardens.

The Bethany cemetery was the last resting place for many of the German settlers; the children's section was heartbreaking as the headstones recorded stillbirths, day-old children and not many past one year old.

A more pleasant diversion was a visit to Pheasant Farm and the farm shop of well-known South Australian foodie Maggie Beers where I swooned over fig and fennel paste, raspberry jam, beetroot relish, pate, Seville marmalade, and much more.  We walked around the lake.

The gentle views made for a relaxing visit. 

 Back on the wine trail and we loved the ambience (and the wines) at Rockford Wines.

A food platter at Grant Burge Wines.

One morning we decided a bush walk was in order after the food and drink we had been consuming.
The Kaiserstuhl Conservation Park is part of an old remnant Barossa forest, little of which remains today. There were stirngybarks, red river gums,grass trees, banksias, wattles and heaths and granite outcrops.

I loved looking for details.

The Barossa Saturday Farmers Market in Angaston was fun. Lots of wonderful aromas and amazing food (thick, juicy slices of Barossa bacon; yummy blueberry and custard buns; wholesome porridge; cheeses; Italian almond and wine biscuits... )

Another diversion took us to a lookout and a sculpture park, displaying the works of six sculptors from Australia, Japan, Belgium, France and the USA.

I think this was called White Cloud. 

And so ends our trip to the Barossa Valley.  Lots of lovely memories of golden vistas...

...  rows of vines stretching to the horizon...

and, back home, part of our horde displayed on the kitchen bench.

A beach walk

On another lovely autumn day we drove to Parsons Beach, about 15 minutes from home.
Initially it didn't look very promising.

But we were there for a walk, not a swim, so I relaxed and surveyed the vast expanse of sand and water stretching for miles before us.

It was a steep walk down. I think Steve thought this next shot was an amusing photo.

Once down on the smooth, hard sand it was an enchanting vista - both ahead of us and behind.

There were not many people about save for a family and later, some backpackers walking the Heysen Trail, of which this beach forms part.

A lunchtime snack...

 ... some more sea-gazing...

 ...then the climb back to the car.

A peaceful autumn interlude.

An autumn walk

I love autumn with its subdued light, gentle warmth, a hint of a breeze, golden crunchy leaves underfoot.

A week ago we decided to have a picnic at a recently developed wetlands walk and sculpture park in Mount Compass, 20 minutes from home. The site sits incongruously behind the local IGA supermarket carpark.

On a small grassed area are two black granite sculptures by Hew Chee Fong, a Malaysian artist who has lived in Australia since 1980. An interpretive sign says he is attracted by the 'enduring nature and timelessness  represented by stone'. As usual Steve tries for an artistic shot.

This is one of them.

And here is one of mine from the second sculpture.

Nearby was a boardwalk that traverses a small section of swamp. Evidently the wetland used to stretch for many kilometres across this region. It is now recognised as a unique and endangered ecosystem and is protected by the government.

It was an easy stroll around the swamp with some lovely photo opportunities.

We then drove across the highway to another section of the swamp. The original ecosytem has been gradually denuded through land clearing so exists only in small pockets.

There were a lot of interesting plants that survive in the boggy conditions.

On the way home we called in at the husband-and-wife run Victor Harbor Winery.

A lovely autumn day out.