Old farmhouse amongst the vines
Packed up and drove some 400km to the Clare Valley to do some serious wine tasting. We have been to a number of wine regions before, but never to the Clare. We drove via Renmark and Kapunda, much of which follows the flow of the Murray. We were surprised by how fertile the region is with massive distances being cultivated and under vines, grains, fodder Lucerne, hay, citrus, olives and more. All this makes the countryside easy on the eye and a pleasure to drive through. From time to time, when we opened the windows, we were overwhelmed by the fragrant smell of the orange blossoms. We booked into the caravan park at Clare and settled down for the evening. The park is a bit pricy at $ 39 night for a normal powered site. There is also a minimum of facilities for a place of such size and expense.
Great South Australian stone building
For the next two days we set about exploring the region. I have been familiar with labels like ‘Annie’s Lane’ for many years, but there are many less known labels around. The area is green and beautiful and Clare is a great little town. There are visible remains from a prior German era with some buildings displaying their heritage, see pics. I loved the architecture and the look of the sandstone in the buildings. Everybody knows of Hahndorf, but it is clear that there are many more towns where buildings have a German flavour. We saw this in Blythe where one local church building was marked by the sign ‘Kirche’ (church).There are many lookout points that offer panoramic views from vantage points. Other little villages have arenas for ‘Pony Clubs’ and other rural pursuits. Every now and then one runs across charming old cottages in vineyards.
You can see below
Old German Church Building
You can see 4ever
Old Farm Building
Cut Barley