A picturesque ruin

On an overcast and chilly day we drove about 40kms along the southernmost section of the Fleurieu Peninsula to a destination Steve had visited with his photography group and which he wanted to show me. It was the ruins of a cottage known simply as Rose Cottage. The site itself is unmarked and you just have to 'know' where it is. It is not a protected site and there are no signs or any explanation about its history. 

The drive through the countryside was lovely and peaceful - rolling hills, black cattle munching on the incredibly green grass, sheep with frolicking lambs, and no traffic.

A little digging online in the Yankalilla Historical Records before we left and I discovered that Rose Cottage was built for John Putland Jnr, the son of an early settler in the Yankalilla district. John acquired land at nearby Hay Flat and built the cottage, probably around 1880s but may have been earlier.  The surrounding land is still farming country but also abuts onto a pine planation.

We turned off the main road onto Hay Flat Road and continued on for a few ks. All Steve remembered was that it was close to the turn-off to Ingallala Falls and there was a clearing for parking the car. Phew. We eventually found the clearing, off which was a dirt track.  We walked about a kilometre along the track and there it was...

Whenever I look at ruins such as these I try and imagine what it must have been like when newly constructed - the hopes and dreams the owners shared as they set about making their new home. Were there roses around the door or was it the name of John's wife? It was obviously a modest building and I needed a bit of imagination to work out a floor plan. Nature has certainly taken over and, as you can see, many of the walls are consumed in greenery. 

Time to explore...

I scrambled over rocks, through soggy grasses and along a barely discernible path until I could take in the 'house' as a whole. Steve spotted me! 

I marvelled at the construction, thinking of the builder selecting the stones and placing them just so. Today, with weathering and age, the colours, shapes and sizes make delightful patterns as well as provide a testament to the builder's craft.

Remembering the photography tips I had recently learnt, I looked for different angles and subjects for my camera. Here are some of my results. 

Steve, of course, was engrossed in finding different angles too.

Here is one of his photos.

After a while we felt we had exhausted all possibilities. Steve took a well-earned rest...

... while I found a pretty flower and a bit of a fungus.

We decided to visit Ingallala Falls, even though we've been there a number of times.  I love the walk to the falls that follows the stream that the falls cascade into. The sound of the water meandering its way around rocks and tumbling over the bigger ones is so soothing. 

These photos really need the soundtrack of the water!!!

There are two falls - one requires scrambling up the cliff face to view it, so no, we made do with the smaller of the two, which was just fine, as the water was gushing and spraying impressively. 

A lovely end to a day of exploration, serenity and a thoughtful retrospective on past lives.

A beautiful day

What a lovely day I had on Sunday.  It was Mothers Day, a day I think is silly because I reckon Sharon and Kate are always good to me so I don't need a 'special' day. Anyway they both called me for lovely chats, but because Sharon is in Perth and Kate in Melbourne, Steve decided to give me a treat.  

He whisked me off to McLaren Vale to do some wine tastings, then booked for lunch at a mystery destination. This wine region is always lovely to visit and it was especially appealing today with the vine leaves glowing vivid red, gold and amber in the autumn sunshine. 

It was so peaceful driving through the hills and valleys but, this time, instead of stopping in McLaren Vale itself we drove on further east to McLaren Flat where the wine region abuts onto the Adelaide Hills. Here you can see how close the hills are. 

First stop was at the delightfully named The Confessional. Here, we were greeted by Maisie, a gorgeous labrador cross, who was more interested in the grass than my camera, Steve being otherwise occupied.

On we drove though the countryside, revelling in the perfect day of sunshine, no wind, a blue sky speckled with white clouds - and a gentle warmth.

Another winery, then it was backtracking to McLaren Vale township for lunch. Steve couldn't have chosen a better place. What a surprise. Not only was it a Japanese restaurant, but it was in a converted railway carriage - both favourite destinations of mine.

It was so much fun to settle into the 'carriage'. The lemon, honey and mint tea was delicious, as was the teriyaki salmon I ordered. (I've gone a bit Instagram-ish here but I want to remind myself of this really lovely meal).

It was a bit disconcerting to see that, under the glass-topped table, the owners had placed train tickets, coins, paper money and customers' comments. Hmm - a very busy table decoration indeed; I had expected more of a zen environment. But the service was great and the staff friendly.

Feeling deliciously full, we wandered back to the car to visit a couple more wineries in the McLaren Flat area. Most of the vines here are very old and the trunks are thick and gnarled.  

You can see how close we were to the edge of the region. I loved the setting of this winery as it was surrounded by gum trees. This is one of Steve's photos.

Not sure what I'm doing here - possibly looking for a fallen leaf. Or more likely Steve thought it amusing to get me in an unguarded moment when I wasn't posing for the camera. But it was so quiet and peaceful wandering near the vines, made especially relaxing with the warmth from the sun - a warmth we haven't felt for many weeks now.

On the way home we stopped at a section of the Onkaparinga National Park for a calming walk through the bush.

A perfect ending to a perfect day.

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