Day 67: Thu 20 Apr 23

Day 67: Thu 20 Apr 23 - Burra

April 20, 2023

Thu 20 Apr 23 - Burra

It was ridiculously cold overnight, just 1.3 Deg this morning feeling much less, and only reaching 15 Deg throughout the day. After a warming coffee, I stepped out into the cold for a morning walk around the hills behind the showground. It was beautiful in the sun, but damn fresh in the shade with the sneaky breeze. On return to the van, we had breakfast then headed off at 0900 for a 42km drive to the Clare Valley for the day. On the way we stopped at the very small township of Farrell Flat (22km from Burra) to look at the painted silos. We considered staying at a free camp there, but Burra won us over. We checked out the free camp at Farrell Flat, and would be happy to stay there in future too - it would be a good option to day trip around the region including the Clare Valley, but we are very happy with our stay at Burra this time. After a wonder around, we continued to Clare. First on the agenda, was coffee then Noel went off on her own leaving me to explore and take photos. Clare was quite different to what I expected. It's a nice enough place, but after a few hours, I decided that I'm even more happy that we ended up staying at Burra. The only reason I would want to come back to Clare is to ride a bike around the wineries and along the trails in the area. While here I took advantage of a carwash, and quickly removed half of the GVM weight in mud from the car that I had been carrying around since Edeowie. The car now looks shiny clean, but the van will have to wait until we get home. We set off from Clare towards Sevenhill, stopping at a bakery for lunch on the way, then we continued to the Sevenhill Cellars. We weren't interested in wine tasting today, but I chose this vineyard for its historic value. Sevenhill is one of the region's earliest settlements and the Clare Valley's first ever winery. Founded in 1851 by a young Jesuit priest, Father Aloysius Kranewitter, the winery is named in honour of the seven hills of Rome. It has a very interesting history. https://www.sevenhill.com.au/history

The Gothic St Aloysius' Church named after the Jesuit Priest is magnificent, unfortunately it was locked today and I couldn't go inside. After a good wander around the beautiful tranquil gardens, and through the aged cellars, we continued 12km to the small historic township of Mintaro for a quick visit, then returned to Burra. Here I visited the last stop on my Heritage Pass, the Paxton Square Cottages. Now a boutique heritage listed accomodation complex, it comprises three rows of cottages origninally built between 1849 and 1852 to fill the then need for accomodation for mine workers. People can now stay in these cottages to experience the character of yesteryear in modern comfort. There are 33 cottages, and one cottage 'Malowen Lowarth' is set up to display the typical cottage of the period. We eventually got back to the van at 1600, enjoying a brew in the last of the sunshine, before the cold air sent us indoors for the night. Tomorrow, we up stumps again, heading to Renmark for a three night stay.

Burra - Morning walk overlooking the showground caravan park. Limited power supply, even less water taps, but a nice spot, and definitely would stay again. Burra is a nice town.