12 April 2014:
This morning we left Balaklava and made the “long” journey of 30 kms to Auburn. We did this because it is just a bit closer to other places. Auburn is beautiful and many of its buildings are on the NATIONAL and State Heritage registers. We had morning tea as we were too early to book into our campsite, another sports ground with camping facilities. Kurgan enjoyed a run on the old grassed oval this afternoon. Here we are having morning tea in a little park in Auburn. The pavilion there was dedicated to CJ Dennis, one of Australia’s most famous poets. His most famous publication was a verse novel called “The Sentimental Bloke”, published in 1916, He was born here in Auburn where his father owned hotels. Seeing the beauty of Auburn you can understand why he wrote poetry.
Before I go on I must mention that we were driving up the EAST coast of the peninsula, not the west. That’s what happens when you live on the west coast.
After an early lunch we decided to go see Mintaro because the Martindale Hall, a Georgian style mansion near Mintaro, appeared in the film “Picnic At Hanging Rock”. It was $10 entrance into the hall so we just decided like many others to walk around the building.
On our way to Mintaro, we saw hectares of vineyards mixed in with farmland and many sheep. Mintaro is now part of a State heritage area and CJ Dennis lived in a still standing building for most of his childhood.
The buildings in Mintaro are reminiscent of many we have seen in England and Scotland. The hotel was built in 1851 and still being used as a hotel. I just loved the name – “The Magpie and the Stump”. Here it is:
Some places are marked on the map but when you get there, it is almost a ghost town. It was a bit like this we decided we just had to stop and look at Farrell Flats. I photographed the tiny pub but it had closed and was for sale. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to buy a closed hotel in a town where the only shop, the CAFE now has the liquor licence.
At the end of the street were the only two humans we saw in Farrell Flat. 3 dogs in a ute, so I got out and asked if I could take their photos. They were posed beautifully as I got out of the car but as soon as I focused the camera on them they started to play around.
From here we drove to Burra, a former copper mining town. There are still a lot of the former miner’s cottages are still being used. We looked around the old “Monster Copper Mine” and some of the remaining buildings still standing. The Morphetts Engine House in the Monster Mine is believed to be the only fully restored Cornish engine house outside of Cornwall.
Tomorrow we are going to drive to Clare, the heart of the Clare Valley Region.
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