Graeme and Ginny of nofixedaddress2011: The Clare Valley

Hi, we arrived at the town of Clare yesterday ( Monday ) in the wine growing region of Clare Valley, S.A. We are now about 130 kilometres north of Adelaide. This is a beautiful area, with stacks of historical buildings, vineyards, rolling hills etc. There are lots of other historical towns nearby. The township of Clare is beautiful, a very peaceful place with many heritage listed buildings. Tomorrow I will take some photos of the town & the caravan park where we are staying. It is one of the best parks we have stayed at, 26 hectares of beautiful bushland. Today we visited 2 wineries, "Annie's Lane" ( which I was dying to see as I love their wines) & Sevenhill Jesuit Winery. We had a delicious lunch at an old pub in Sevenhill- I don't think you could get a bad meal around here- like other wine areas local produce & fine food are abundant. We are booked for 4 nights, but are thinking of staying a extra nights as we love it here.

Winery museum at "Annie's Lane" Winery. Below, the cellar door.

Ginny having a taste of the riesling, delicious!

Vineyards

Old homestead at Annie's Lane.

About 20 kilometres from Clare is the village Mintaro. It was established in 1849 & is part of the state's heritage area. It has lots of small wineries surrounding it.

Drystone fence

Antique shop- where C.J. Dennis lived for most of his boyhood.

Historic " Magpie & Stump" hotel

We also visited nearby "Martindale Hall", the country seat of Edmund Bowman, the son of a wealthy pastoralist, built in 1879. Above is the coach house.

Martindale Hall

Below are photos of Sevenhill winery, established by the Jesuits in the 1850s. The Jesuits ( 2 Priests ) came to Australia to escape political & religious oppression in Austria, along with a group of 130 Catholics. They settled near Clare & purchased 100 acres in 1851. It is the oldest winery & vineyard in the Clare Valley.

St Aloysius' Church at Sevenhill Winery, completed in 1875.

Cellars below the winery, excavated by hand.

Inside the church

The College- Australia's first Catholic secondary school from 1856 to 1886.

Beneath the church is the crypt- the only one below a parish church in Australia, & is the final resting place for 41 Jesuits. The Jesuits still run the winery today.