Valley Magazine Spring 2022

THE BROTHERS KOERNER

FRriEnE g Sp 2022

Nick Ryan’s Clare wine reviews accidental heroes of a FAMOUS front bar Bungaree’s marvellous milestone

M Flin a IN gA der SI ZIN s DE E

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Bold. Brash. Brilliant.

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I’m really warming to Ramona, even though it’s a bit strange to have someone help me…

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In our 65 years, we’ve learned a lot about getting older, and how a little help makes a big difference. Our short film series explores one family’s highs and lows, sharing those inner thoughts and fears that too often go unspoken.

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Spring, 2022

Valley Magazine

THE BROTHERS KOERNER

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INSIDE:

FREE Spring 2022

Bold. Brash. Brilliant.

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The accidental heroes of a famous front bar Bungaree’s marvellous milestone Nick Ryan’s Clare wine reviews

M Fli a n IN gA de SI Z r D IN s E E

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Nicola’s noble commitment

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Front page – Jono and Damon Koerner Photo: John Krüger

Marnie’s cellar door drum rolls

Valley Magazine Spring 2022 Volume 2, Edition 2

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Project Manager Renee Bennett Editor Paul Dowling Publisher Andrew Manuel Contributors Paul Dowling Gabrielle Hall Nick Ryan David Sly Mel Kitschke Nan Berrett Rebecca Sullivan Jennifer Johnston Photographers John Krüger Gabrielle Hall Mel Kitschke Design James Manuel Illyse Mendoza Advertising Renee Bennett Louise Tobin Leanne Mashford sales@plainsproducer.com.au 08 8842 1427 Published by Papers & Publications Pty Ltd 274 Main North Road, Clare SA 5453 Phone: 08 8842 1427

Forces of nature V

alley Magazine has featured this trailblazing pair in the past and we are delighted to check in again with two of our region’s most influential women.

There’s Marnie Roberts of Matriarch and Rogue Wines, a woman of boundless energy who annually powers her way through one of the longest vintage processes in the region and, in her ‘spare time’, vigorously promotes the Clare Valley in a range of other roles.

And star chef Nicola Palmer, always pushing the boundaries of her profession, a ‘no-waste warrior’ when it comes to working with what nature offers in her kitchen.

Check out their latest moves – Marnie shaking up the traditional cellar door

experience, and Nicola sharing her philosophy and a couple of her treasured Watervale Hotel recipes - inside the spring edition of Valley Magazine.

Also inside, we get to know the fabulous Koerner brothers, the young guns of the Clare wine world making their mark on the world stage, we share the latest chapter of Bungaree’s storied history and spend an enlightening hour in the front bar of the famous Sevenhill Hotel.

And don’t forget our focus on the fabulous Flinders Ranges, starting on page 45.

Cheers

Sevenhill’s favourite front bar canine

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From farm to fashion Paul Dowling Editor

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Valley Magazine

Familiar faces

What’s the best thing about working at Cafe 1871?

Besides free coffee, it’s the people and personalities which any good coffee shop attracts, from the customers to the staff. It’s always a pleasure getting to know all kinds of people … I think an inviting space like 1871 is a great asset to a community.

What’s the best thing about living in the Clare Valley?

It’s taken me some time to appreciate living in a small town. Like most young people I want to travel and live in the hustle and bustle of a larger city. While I’m yet to scratch that itch, I’ve grown to appreciate the more laid back and slower pace. Not to mention living in a wine region has its own benefits - the talented chefs, winemakers and creatives it attracts creates a diverse and developing community.

Were you born in the Clare Valley or have you come from elsewhere?

Henry Dunstan aka Henry VIII

I was originally born in Dalby, Queensland. I lived there until I was seven and moved to Clare with my mother, who grew up on a farm in Hoyleton and wanted to come home after spending 20 years away raising her nine children. I’m number eight, hence the name Henry.

Manager Cafe 1871

Coffee or tea?

That’s a hard question. Although I drink more tea than coffee, coffee can go a lot deeper and I enjoy getting the perfect extraction or experimenting with different brewing methods. Recently, I’ve been trying coffee from different parts of the world, single origin beans that have distinct flavours and roast profiles depending on the climate and production infrastructures in the country of origin.

With specialty coffee becoming more mainstream, there’s a lot of different flavours being experimented with. Right now my favourite is a coffee that has been infused with passion fruit liquor from Brazil, the flavours are subtle but very surprising.

1871 toasted sandwich or 1871 toasted croissant?

While I could never say no to a toastie from work, especially paired with our awesome mustard dipping sauce, the croissants we make are one of a kind and have been compared to what you would find in Paris. Plus, with croissants you can have it savoury with ham and cheese or plain, but my favourite is toasted with jam and cream.

What’s the strangest coffee order request you’ve had?

I try not to judge coffee orders as everybody has their own tastes and I must admit my own order is quite odd for a barista, being a small half shot almond latte. There is one, however, that stands out which belonged to a lady named Tanya - one large cappuccino with four shots of coffee, extra hot milk, vanilla syrup and eight sugars. This order still haunts me to this day.

PHOTO: Gabrielle Hall

What time does your alarm go off and how does your typical morning unfold?

My typical morning starts at 4-5am.

I don’t usually start work until 7am so I like to go for a run or visit the gym before heading in to work as it gives me a great energy boost prior to my first coffee.

Then from there the first hour of work involves baking fresh croissants and muffins while taking care of the first few customers of the day who are typically tradies. The morning rush doesn’t usually start until around 8.30am when parents are taking kids to school and the locals are getting ready to go to work. From there we will typically stay busy until around 11am.

Your idea of the perfect weekend in the Clare Valley?

I’d start with a coffee at Cafe 1871 or the Olive Bus, Breakfast at the Watervale General store, followed by a hike up to Spring Gully Lookout for the best views in Clare. Lunch would be a toss up between Pauletts and Pikes, both providing great food and scenic drives either way. I’d have to get in some tastings as well, my go to being Grosset, Mt Horrocks or Shut the Gate. Finally, dinner at the Watervale Hotel or Terroir.

This sounds like a lot of eating and drinking but I think broken up with some

art galleries, bike rides and short hikes.

This really lets you take in what Clare does best and that is amazing service and produce wherever you go all rolled up in this beautiful valley on the footsteps of vast farmland. There aren’t a lot of places like Clare.

Favourite place to eat?

As well as the restaurants above I really like Ragu and Co, formerly Umbria.

It has such a cool atmosphere with very welcoming staff and the comfort provided by Italian food. There is no better combination when catching up with friends and family. Also getting takeaway and enjoying a cosy night in during the colder months is a real treat.

Favourite place to chill out?

Taking my Border Collie Jessie for a walk along the riesling trail is how I let my mind rest after a big day at work.

Last movie streamed? Was it any good?

While I’ve never been a true fan of the James Bond films, I recently started watching the newer films starring Daniel Craig, and Casino Royale has quickly become one of my favourite films. I love the grittier take on the Bond character.

Craig is less of a smirking joke cracker, more of a serious spy/assassin and

Casino Royale does that best out of all the spy films I’ve seen.

Favourite musician?

I listen to a lot of different music from classical to orchestral and even metal or heavy rock. But one genre that fills up a lot of my playlists is alternative indie rock. Some of my favourite artists are The Killers, The Bravery, Pixies and Cage the Elephant.

What car do you drive?

I have a very distinct car that has become a bit of a joke with my friends and family. It’s a Red Toyota Hybrid with a HENRY 8 number plate – thanks to my mum.

If you could do someone else’s job in the Clare Valley for a day, what would it be?

This is an easy one! While I don’t think the job would suit me as a profession, I’d love to see how a winemaker uses the process of choosing the right grapes to suit their label and how different vintages can affect the wine making process. Also, what it is like when everything in the process goes right or wrong and how that affects the end result, I think that would be very fascinating to be a part of.

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Valley Magazine

Trials of a workaholic wine man T

here’s a bunch of things people don’t understand about my job.

That it’s actually a job at all is just one of them.

When people find out I taste wine for a living they usually respond with a mix of incredulity and contempt.

I’ll concede 99% of the employable population put in harder yards than I do.

It’s really only the Vatican City obstetrician who has a cushier gig than me.

But there are days when I get to the early evening drained and spent, the palate fatigued and the brain in need of a comfy seat.

Recently I had a couple of them back to back as part of the annual post vintage classification tastings at Taylors.

Every serious winemaker will go through vintage keeping everything as separate as possible.

Multiple ferments from multiple sources, all kept apart so individual characteristics can shine and winemakers have the widest array of options when it comes thinking about the finished wines.

In a large winery like Taylors those options number in the hundreds and it’s vital that they’re all assessed, analysed, discussed and dissected.

Each year in August, Chief Winemaker Adam Eggins assembles key members of his winemaking and vineyard teams to do just that. They’re joined by Mitchell and Clinton Taylor and Neil Hadley MW, the company’s Export Director.

To avoid the kind of group think people in the wine industry call ‘a cellar palate’, a couple of outsiders are brought in to bring a different perspective. This year it was industry legend and old Clare boy Brian Croser AO, and, in the absence

WINE TALES Nick Ryan of countless better options, me.

It’s an exercise as fascinating as it is challenging, working your way through dozens of nascent red wines, all quite raw and some not even finished fermentation.

Some will already have their best foot forward, others will be more reticent and the job becomes a form of fortune telling, an attempt to look in to the future and see what the wine will become.

The wines are scored and vigorously discussed with all the light and heat that creates recorded in a complex matrix

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that will be used to inform decisions the winemaking will need to make over the coming months.

Openness and honesty in the process is key, as is an understanding of what characteristics are needed for wines that will play in the highly competitive entry level of the market and what’s required for wines that satisfy the punter who parts with several hundred dollars a bottle.

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DIFFERENT AND LO Valley Magazine

Anthony Koerner (left) calls for calm as Damon and Jono Koerner settle into one of their beloved long lunches.

OVING IT

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Wine is in the Koerner brothers’ DNA; they grew up on a vineyard, grape juice coursing through their veins. But having served their apprenticeship under the watchful eye of their viticulturist parents, Damon and Jono are doing their own thing now. And when you’ve won a national Young Gun of Wine award and a highly respected wine critic calls one of your wines “one of the best sangioveses in the country” it’s little wonder people are taking notice.

Words: Paul Dowling Pictures: John Krüger

W

e find Damon and Jono Koerner - lovers of the long lunch, committed seekers of fun, the young upstarts of the Clare Valley wine world - sitting comfortably in their brand new cellar door.

You can just imagine it. Polished floors, big open spaces, a merchandise shop and a restaurant - your typical 21st century cellar door.

Yeah, not quite.

The brothers Koerner have always delighted in being different.

When they first started making their trademark lowintervention wine in the Clare Valley, they didn’t choose the safe and noble riesling grape, they used the Italian variety, vermentino.

To ferment and age their wines they’ve always preferred concrete, steel or ceramic vessels to oak. They stick stubbornly to cork closures while the rest of the Valley embraces the screw cap.

And, now, as more and more wineries look to transform their public offerings from the quaint cellar doors of yesteryear into large scale tourist destinations, the Koerners have gone unapologetically old school, creating on the family’s Leasingham property a tiny, intimate space in which you can barely swing a wine bottle.

“It’s simple, it’s classic and I think it reflects everything we do,” says Jono, proudly surveying the several square metres of wine tasting space.

“It complements our brand and it’s refreshing for people when they walk in here because they’ve probably come from a big establishment back to some grass roots.

“It’s easy going, it’s cosy, there’s a good vibe, and there’s always some nice tunes playing as well.”

The Koerner cellar door is nestled among the seven hectares of revered Gullyview vineyards owned and expertly managed for the past 40 years by the brothers’ parents, Anthony and Christine.

Christine famously described her sons’ first attempt at riesling as tasting “like flat beer”. But, through a combination of Damon and Jono fine-tuning their craft and their parents becoming more understanding of their new school approach,mum and dad now have a genuine appreciation for their sons’ work. As does leading wine writer and Valley Magazine contributor Nick Ryan, who last year in these pages described the 2019 Koerner Nielluccio as “one of the best sangiovese-based wines in the country”.

“Our style of wine is very different to what the norm is up here,” Damon says. “Not different on a world scale but on a local scale we’re perceived as being quite different.

“It did take mum and dad a while to come around to what we were trying to achieve - and it took us a while to understand why they wouldn’t give us their best blocks of grapes to start with!”

The boys had to “earn our stripes”, as Jono puts it, proving to their parents they were prepared to work hard to perfect their craft before they were granted access to the more premium growing areas of the famous family vineyards.

Wily veteran Anthony Koerner admits he initially struggled to understand what his sons were doing.

“To be quite honest with you, I just couldn’t see it at the start,” he said.

Continued over page

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The Koerner brothers inside their tiny new cellar door.

More Than an Information Centre Nestled in the gum trees at the southern edge of Clare, a mere stone’s throw from the Riesling Trail, the Clare Valley Wine, Food and Tourism Centre is the perfect place to gather for drinks and nibbles.

A tourist information centre that offers much more than general advice, maps, and souvenirs.

Here you will find quality information regarding what is on in the region, accommodation, family friendly activities, cellar door lists, walking guides, history information and locally made produce.

opportunity to buy exclusive Christmas gifts for your loved ones while sipping on a Clare Valley Wine.

For residents and visitors wanting to know more about history, come and browse our history nook, which contains a selection of books for sale. We also offer brochures of self-guided walks around our quaint historic towns, pointing out the landmarks of note.

The Centre’s deck is an excellent location for a midday coffee, or glass of wine, locally

Open seven days a week, the Clare Valley Wine, Food & Tourism Centre is a one-stop-shop for local goods; whether it be art, produce, accessories, or their 175 wines available at cellar door prices.

As well as locally produced gin and boutique beers.

An array of regional producers items are for sale, such as; the heavenly soaps, • Visitor Information, including maps and brochures face cream and balms from The Naked Soap Company; unique and textural • Accommodation bookings • Local Wine sales and tastings macrame gifts from Raw & Knot Co; delicious • Barista Coffee and locally made biscuits • National Parks Passes Corumbeena pistachios, Indian dukkah and • Regional Produce sales • Regional Artwork sales desert lime marmalade; The Curly Goose’s • Sealink Bookings • Wine and Food Tour Bookings • Wine Packs new product Sawmill Gin from their very own • Public Toilets • Book Exchange • Friday Night Drinks • Cheese Plates distillery; a variety of honey from both Light • Plenty of parking for cars & long vehicles, including caravans & camper trailers River Honey and Bryksy’s Honey, and how can we forget the beautiful quilting work of MARKET DAYS OPENING HOURS: Sandra White. This is just a small example of Morning Market Weekdays 9am to 5pm; Weekends the extensive range of products on offer.

& Public Holidays 10am to 4pm (Closed Christmas Day & Catastrophic Fire Days)

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There are simply too many delightful and locally produced goods to list, and the friendly staff can curate hampers for corporate or personal orders.

The Market days (Saturday 24 September and Friday 25 November) offer an opportunity to meet the creators of locally made goodies at the Centre’s landscaped carpark. Our highly successful twilight market held in November every year are licensed and is the perfect

made treats are available or you can create your own cheese platters to accompany your wine or coffee.

Purchase a bottle or a glass from the winery highlighted at our Friday Night Drinks from 5 to 7pm A perfect day can be spent looking at the ever-changing art exhibitions, going for a walk or bike ride on the Riesling Trail before returning to the Centre for a barista-made coffee or wine whilst selecting your next novel from the book exchange.

Plentiful and spacious parking for standard and long vehicles alike is available.

For more information on the Clare Valley Wine, Food and Tourism Centre visit www.clarevalley.com.au

Spring, 2022

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Shaking up the establishment “I was quite sceptical. But they saw things that I didn’t see. They could see the future and that’s a credit to them.

“The younger generations are loving what the boys are doing. The days of the big shiraz are numbered, I think - that’s becoming an old man’s drink.

“They’ve always been very focussed on the natural style of wine and they still are, but they’ve improved their methods and processes.”

“We do enjoy being different,” Damon says.

“It would be boring if everyone was the same wouldn’t it?”

“You don’t go home and watch the same movie every night,” says Jono. “So why go home and drink the same wine?”

“We do what we do, we do what we love,” Damon says.

“But, at the end of the day, we’re making wine, we’re not saving lives, so we try not to take it too seriously.

“We like to travel. We like to have some fun. And we like having long lunches drinking French wine, while wearing comfortable stripey shirts.”

In fact Jono says Damon’s love of the striped shirt is so strong that he’s earned the nickname “Stripey” among his industry peers.

The Koerner wine signature is fragrant, fruit-forward freshness, bracing acidity, purity and texture, with a genuine emphasis on terroir. It’s a philosophy inspired by their travels some educational, some a little reckless - in the premier wine regions of France and Italy.

It was in France that Damon, 35 - the chief winemaker in this partnership who leaves much of the sales and marketing to Jono, 29 - learned to combine the science and numbers of his oenology education with individual freedom and artistic expression.

“My time in France was a massive eyeopener for me,” Damon says.

It was also where he spent some time with the head of a Corsican winery and

fondly recalls the pair “doing donuts in the mother’s golf cart” on the front lawn of the Chablis Chateau where they’d just finished a late, late dinner.

Jono would eventually do a vintage at that Corsican winery and the Koerner’s Sciacarello, a variety indigenous to Corsica, is a vibrant testament to that experience. As is the brothers’ embrace of stainless steel, concrete, ceramic and large format oak.

“We keep on tasting our reds and as soon as we see any sort of oak character we want to pull them out,” Jono says. “We want to let the varietal characteristics and terroir shine.”

The Koerners have also been touched by the techniques of the winemakers of Sicily, where nero d’avola and nerello mascalese thrive in the volcanic soils of Mount Etna, and where Damon and Jono were lucky enough to spend a day with cult winemaking figure Frank Cornelissen.

“He’s Belgian but he reminds me of the Russian from the movie Super Troopers and he is totally out there,” says Jono.

“A pioneer, one of the first three people to grow grapes on Mt Etna, and we were lucky enough to spend a lazy 13 hours with him.

“Walking around in thongs on the slopes of Etna, then in his winery where we tasted 15 different single-site nerello mascaleses - and then he took us out to dinner. His private cellar was next door to the restaurant and he kept ducking out to get more wine.”

Later, the Koerners would also visit other famous Sicilian wineries like Occhipinti and COS, whose assistant winemaker, impressed by the Koerner offerings, would eventually come to Australia to do a vintage with them.

The Koerners, whose winery is in Lenswood, also make Adelaide Hills wine under the label Leko (Lenswood and Koerner).

But the Clare wines come entirely from the 7000 square metres of family

Damon and Jono Koerner: “It would be boring if everyone was the same wouldn’t it?”

vineyard and there is an unmistakeable flavour thread that runs through them all.

“We’re trying to make wines that really show this place,” Damon says.

“We know a lot of winemakers claim they make wines of place. I don’t want to speak for other winemakers but, perhaps, some others make wines to a certain style that’s going to sell.

“I think when you taste through our wines you can really taste the place. We’re mainly on limestone here and you can really taste that texture and minerality.

“And that was the aim when we set out. We’d like to think that no matter where you are in the world, drinking this wine, hopefully you’ll be able to pick it as a Koerner.”

The Koerners use ceramic egg fermenters (above) and large format oak (below).

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Valley Magazine

New generations, same remarkable history More than 100,000 sheep roamed across Bungaree station in its heyday, the property a bustling town. And while the fourth, fifth and sixth generations of the famous Hawker family are running a more modest operation today, the area’s rich history looms large and constant, providing visitors with a fascinating glimpse into yesteryear.

In safe hands: three generations of the Hawker family, George and Sally Hawker, Mark and Vicky Stewart, Ed Hawker and partner Phoebe Tanner and two of their children Wilfred and Albert, in the historic Bungaree shearing shed.

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Grand old Bungaree reaches new milestone Words: Gabrielle Hall Pictures: John Krüger

A

s the shearers roll in, the yards all abustle with sheep, shed hands and family at the ready, the whir of the shearing plant starts up and the anticipation builds.

Upon the same boards that once held 52 blade shearers in its heyday, all is set for Bungaree Station, just north of Clare, to notch up its 180th shearing in October.

It is a historic moment, another page in the bountiful history of the station, itself now in its 181st year, and all part of a busy, working, sheep, cropping and tourism business.

It is also a milestone not lost on the fourth, fifth and sixth generations of the Hawker family who now run Bungaree.

Parents, George and Sally Hawker still live on the property but have largely handed over the reins to son Ed and partner Phoebe and their four children, who run the farm enterprise, and daughter Vicky and husband Mark and their two children, who have taken on the tourism arm, with another daughter, Wyn, who lives overseas.

These days, about 5000 sheep are shorn annually on the property, most of them from a core flock of Merinos bred to the same esteemed standards for which the Bungaree name has become known since the property was established in 1841

by George C Hawker and his brothers, James and Charles.

“Every time I walk over those boards and I think about the number of shearers who have shorn there over the years, if walls could talk that building would certainly have some interesting tales to tell,” Vicky said.

“There were 100,000 sheep on the property in its heyday, having grown from 2000 sheep to 100,000 by the turn of the century.

“The wool shed is a beautiful, old shed. It was the first building built on the property, using sandstone from our quarry with only the shearing board originally roofed to keep the sun off the shearers.

“As the flock size grew, so did the shed to accommodate a bigger wool clip, and shearing could take four to six weeks.

“In those days the property here was

The grand Bungaree homestead. The family says it has never felt “empty”, with the welcome mat always out for family and friends. about 267 square miles, but as the rest of the state opened up, the brothers took out two other pastoral leases – one was Parallana, in the Flinders Ranges, and another was Carriewerloo near Port Augusta – and they used to walk the sheep between the three properties.

“So, with the sheep being walked those distances, often being diverted off the track to get to water and feed, the Bungaree sheep became known for being these big, hardy animals that cut plenty of wool.”

Famous colonial artists and photographers including S T Gill and Samuel Sweet captured some of those early scenes on the property, and a flock of Bungaree sheep also featured on the 1000 pound and 50 pound banknotes.

“That mob of 1960 wethers had just been walked some 300 miles from Parallana to Bungaree for shearing in 1906,” Vicky said.

“A copy of that photograph and some wool samples from those same sheep are displayed in our shed today, a testament

HAND STAMPED JEWELLERY

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to the characters that helped make our flock a success.

“S T Gill also created some beautiful paintings of the property in its very earliest days, including the simple slab hut the Hawker brothers originally lived in, and pastoral scenes.

“Later, Samuel Sweet took a fabulous collection of photos in the 1880s, of not only the buildings, but the people.

“There were 50 blades on the board so when you see the team outside the shed – the blade shearers, the stockmen, the piece pickers, the roustabouts – it’s pretty impressive, and Samuel Sweet has captured that all in a photograph.”

But in its early years, Bungaree was more than just a sheep station.

When settled on Christmas Day in 1841 by the Hawker brothers, it became the state’s most northern settlement and the property was like a bustling town, with a store, church, school and other services – many of which are all still maintained today, and part of the property’s successful tourism business.

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The police troopers were based at Bungaree for eight years before moving into Clare, which had by then become a thriving township.

The Hutt and Hill River Council chamber was then built on the site of the trooper’s slab hut and was also used as a school building, later becoming the jackaroo quarters, and today is used as tourist accommodation.

There is a station store where staff once collected their rations and purchased anything they needed, from household items to clothing, medicine to horse tack.

It was also a stop off point for explorers wanting to replenish supplies, and today’s travellers can still visit to purchase farm produce, local wine or an espresso coffee rather than billy tea.

Many of the other heritage buildings are also available for guests to stay in.

Most recently, a ‘swaggies hut’ on the property has been transformed into guest accommodation.

“It’s one of the only swaggies huts left that we know of,” Vicky said.

“It housed itinerant labour that came through, the iconic swagmen who used to travel the country in search of a bed and feed for the night in exchange for manual tasks.

“We’ve stabilised it and added a bathroom and kitchen – a little bit more comfortable than perhaps those swaggies had it.

“I was talking to my uncle the other day and he remembers the last swagman coming through in the late 1950s-early 60s, which reinforced to me that swaggies didn’t just exist in the horse and cart days. After the wars and during the Depression, a lot of people took to the roads, whether they were homeless, unemployed, had post traumatic stress or any other reason, the swagman was a relatively common feature on the roads up until the 1950s.”

Even in its renovated state, the Swaggies Hut is a contrast to the main homestead built from sandstone quarried on the property and now occupied by Vicky and Mark and their children, in eight sprawling bedrooms, which Vicky says are regularly filled with family and friends.

Continued over page

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About 5000 sheep are shorn annually, still bred to the same esteemed standards for which the Bungaree name has become known since 1841.

One of the next generation, Albert Hawker playing in the historic Bungaree shearing shed.

“The original homestead was a little, four-room cottage, which we think was on the main lawn of the gardens today,” she said.

“That was the hut that was captured by ST Gill in his paintings. My great great grandmother had 16 children, so very quickly they ran out of room.

“The new homestead was built in stages as the family grew, rather than to an architectural design.

“The last changes were made after the turn of the century by the next generation when they joined two wings together.

“Really the building of the homestead took place over 50 years.

“It’s funny, even as a child it never seemed big, it was built as a family home rather than a showpiece, so while it’s beautiful, it has always been busy and functional.

“Growing up, there was often a jackaroo living in the old housekeeper’s quarters or people on exchange from Europe or the UK staying and learning about farming in Australia.”

Vicky’s mother, South African-born, Sally, pioneered the tourism business at Bungaree having seen its potential and threw open the gates to visitors in 1986.

Initially opening it up on an Easter weekend, the family was blown away by the interest, with “a couple of thousand” visitors streaming through and calling for all hands on deck to guide a tour group and adlib some history of the property.

It grew to more formalised guided and self-guided tours, guest accommodation and when shearing is not in full swing, even the shearing shed is transformed for functions such as weddings and special dinners.

Sally’s foresight has brought longevity to some of the state’s earliest history.

“All the written records have been donated to the state library about 12 years ago,” Vicky said.

“My parents realised that records like staff pay, rations and old letter books were very important for the social history of our state, they really bring to life what jobs people had, what they were paid, and the kind of rations they received depending whether they were a single or married man.”

But it is the stories of the generations of family and staff of Bungaree Station that perhaps hold the greatest insight into early life in this chapter of the historical story of the settlement of South Australia.

And having returned to the property 12 years ago, with husband Mark in tow, and leaving behind international corporate careers to “just see how we went for 12 months”, Vicky is committed to passing the stories on.

“A place like this gets under your skin, so within a year we knew it was going to be longer, then blink and suddenly it’s been 12 years,” Vicky said.

“When we look back at the family tree and recall previous generations and their challenges, and hear the stories of the people who lived here, we do realise that we’re just a part of something much bigger.

“And there are so many stories to tell – like the romance between the studmaster’s son and the stonemason’s daughter, the adventures of children who attended the school, and even today our shearers are a local team, some who have shorn here for over 40 years and others who have ancestors who have shorn in our shed.

“It’s quite satisfying knowing that what we’re doing here is preserving this property for the future, not just our family, but for all Australians to learn about our past and see what was carved out of the bush.

“It’s an indication of the tenacity of those early settlers that stuck it out in conditions that I’m not sure many of us would today.”

Spring, 2022

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13

It’s a step back in time when you enter the Bungaree Station Store.

Sally and George Hawker with Ida the Jack Russell Terrier. It was Sally and George’s foresight that opened the gates on Bungaree’s successful tourism enterprise.

The latest accommodation offering on the property is a renovated and updated swaggies hut, thought to be one of the last in existence.

OPEN Friday – Sunday 11am – 5pm Bookings phone 0482171441

C E L L A R D O O R WAY 21 Main North Rd, Auburn SA

Spring, 2022

Valley Magazine

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The Hawker family with young Albert doing his own thing.

FRONT

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Simon Gaisford Parts Manager

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Our sales specialist, Filip Deluca, looks forward to introducing M 0439 037 629 himself and working T (08) 8828with 0600 growers in the SCODIX 14 Kennett StreetClare Valley Kadina SA 5554 Filip 0499 773 660 simon.gaisford@vater.com.au vater.com.au

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Spring, 2022 John Krüger PHOTO:

As the Valley Magazine went to print, William Joseph Winterford, one of the subjects of the following story, sadly passed away. He was 77.

We have decided to publish the story as it was written before he fell ill, as a tribute to “Billy”, whose old but friendly face and wicked sense of humour have charmed and challenged many in the Sevenhill front bar for many years.

Valley Magazine

RIP Billy.

William Joseph Winterford 1945 - 2022

15

Spring, 2022

Valley Magazine Trev

16

Cole

Spring, 2022

Valley Magazine

FOUR PLAY AT THE SEVENHILL HOTEL Shane

Billy

16

Spring, 2022

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17

Billy, Cole, Trevor and Shane, in their happy place.

Crap on tap in ‘Bullshit Corner’ The Sevenhill Hotel has won countless awards for country hospitality. It serves impressive pub grub, boasts a walk-in cellar with quality wine and hosts sophisticated functions. But its heart beats in the simple front bar, where eccentric characters frequently gather to ease the stresses of the day and build lasting friendships. Some of the words in the following article have been changed or omitted to protect the easily offended.

Eat. D rink. Experience.

Words: Paul Dowling Pictures: John Krüger

A

n electrician, a one-armed man, a farmer and his dog walk into a bar.

They take their seats in “Bullshit Corner” and, well, you can guess what begins to flow liberally from there.

Spoiler alert: It’s not just beer.

“We can get away with more things at this end of the bar,” says Mintaro sparky Shane Taylor.

“We tell many truths - and they’re R rated sometimes.”

Shane is quick to point out he is not the star of this coarse and strangely captivating show, which plays out most afternoons in the front bar of Sevenhill’s iconic hotel.

That honour is shared by the oddest of odd couples - decorated Vietnam veteran William Winterford - or “Billy One Arm” to his friends - and former accomplished builder, farmer and self-confessed “dumb bastard”, Trevor Wandel.

“He’s actually not dumb, he’s smart and he’s a jack-of-all-trades,” Shane says.

“It’s amazing talking to these two blokes.

They’re good, honourable men. I’ve learned so much from them.”

“Do you know how Trev lost his hair?” asks Billy, swigging his beer.

“He was always sleeping in a bed that was too short. And he kept banging his head against it!”

And the wizened, worldly-wise Billy breaks into a devilish cackle that will regularly punctuate the conversation for the next 60 minutes.

Cole, Trevor’s black kelpie, is perched on his own bar stool, happily playing a supporting role in this pantomime.

Trevor and Billy are trying to teach him the Australian national anthem and Cole’s actually hitting some pretty impressive notes before Jo, the bartender, politely informs us the dog can be heard by guests in the dining room next door.

Cole obediently drops it back a notch.

“Cole’s had three or four different owners,” Trevor says. “They all wanted to get rid of him but I saw something in him, how he works with sheep.

Continued over page

FOOD | WINE | CELLAR | FUNCTIONS | BEER GARDEN 7 DAYS A WEEK

SEVENHILL HOTEL MAIN NORTH ROAD, SEVENHILL 8843 4217 WWW.SEVENHILLHOTEL.COM.A U

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Valley Magazine

“He’s still got some learning to do but he’s doing ok. We actually clocked him at 55km per hour running alongside my ute one day. He’s just a really beautiful mate.

And he’s pretty spoiled. As long as the heater’s on and the right radio station’s on, he’s happy.”

“He likes country music!” declares Billy, who receives an affectionate lick for his trouble.

Billy toasts his late dog, Blade, who lived until he was 21, always enjoyed a beer and one day left a couple of wouldbe car radio thieves needing hospital treatment.

‘He had a criminal record and an arrest warrant, that dog,” Trevor says.

Billy nods in agreement.

Life has dealt all three of these men some difficult cards. Illness, injury and relationship breakdowns have challenged them. But no-one’s been able to take their sense of humour and, now, they’re eternally grateful for each other and the simple pleasure of a cold beer and bizarre banter at an idyllic country pub.

“Just a great pub,” says dedicated West End drinker, Trevor.

“The atmosphere here is beautiful,” says committed XXXX drinker, Billy.

“The staff go out of their way to help you.

And where else can you walk in and serve yourself?”

“And Longy (pub owner Paul Longbottom) is a great man,” Hahn drinker Shane says. “He always listens to you.”

“And then he just walks away!” barks Billy.

At 77, Billy is probably the most intriguing character of this peculiar trio.

A former section machine gunner in the Royal Australian Regiment’s 6th battalion, he is understated, modest and not particularly comfortable talking about his Vietnam war heroics, which earned him a Military Medal for bravery in battle.

“Just a little bit of a conflict,” Billy reflects, the understatement mastered.

“We were on patrol in Phuoc Tuy province. There were 21 of us. We moved out of our cover into an open area and two machine guns opened up on us. We’d walked into an ambush.

“My mate got killed. They tried to overrun us. I lost the plot really.

Apparently I got up with my arm hanging off and took them on. We only lost one man.”

Trevor is keen to stress just how important Billy’s courage was that day.

“He was one of the smaller blokes in that battalion,” Trevor says.

ABOVE: The eclectic decor of Bullshit Corner. RIGHT: War hero Billy as he appears in the online Virtual War Memorial. BELOW: Publican Paul Longbottom outside the Sevenhill Hotel.

“He’d been hit by a machine gun and had his arm blown off. But he kept his machine gun going. There were plenty of blokes there who wouldn’t have been around any longer if it weren’t for him.

“He’s got seven medals. But soon he’ll have eight because I’m going to give him one myself. We are very good mates. He’s probably told me more than anyone else about what went on over there.”

“I have the utmost respect for these guys, the older generation,” Shane says.

“These guys built this country.”

“Who are you calling old?” growls Billy, who is now starting to reflect on the beauty of the Clare Valley region he’s come to love.

“I love the people. I love the peace and

quiet,” he says.

Shane is quick to clarify: “You just love the birds and the kookaburras singing and the porcupines walking through your property and all that shit.”

“And you ARE old,” Trevor says.

Billy concedes both arguments with another cackle.

At this point, Shane begins a particularly passionate monologue that somehow links the supposed peculiarities of modern feminism to notorious criminal Chopper Read, and it’s all sailed well over Billy’s head.

“Jeez you’re gonna have to finesse some of these words,” he advises.

“Because he’s f***ing lost me”.

Trevor seems to be the default director

of this production and he’s heard enough too.

“Hey Shane. You do know your V8’s running?” he says.

“You might just have to pull up two spark plugs for a minute. Go back to a V6.”

“All right, sorry Trev, I’m getting a bit mouthy,” Shane complies.

Trevor stands up and throws another mallee root on the fire, extols their virtues and asks, in his own way, if anyone present has ever had sexual intercourse in the Mallee region of South Australia and Victoria.

Trevor’s the president of the Sevenhill Anglers Group, which, of course, is mostly referred to by its acronym, SHAG. He points to the enormous head of a plastic marlin thrust into the wall overlooking “Bullshit Corner” and proudly labels it “undersized”. The fish is wearing a pair of glasses but Billy’s complaining because someone has apparently taken the cigarette out of its mouth.

On one of this motley crew’s trips to Balgowan on Yorke Peninsula, Trevor spent a fruitless afternoon trying to catch a fish.

“Then this one-armed bloke throws a line in and catches a double-header of whiting,” Trevor says, shaking his head.

Billy cackles approvingly.

“You just don’t mess with this bloke,” Shane says of Billy.

Relax in the Flinders in true style Crack open a locally distilled G&T and share a moment of rustic luxury with Flinders Gin

Spring, 2022

Valley Magazine

19

Cole captivates the crew with his rendition of the national anthem.

As one poor judge of character discovered in this bar on one memorable day.

The visitor was giving Trevor a hard time, disrespecting him. Apparently he even threw Trevor’s ugg boots in the fire.

“I told him to leave before he got hurt,” Trevor remembers.

“But he kept hassling me. Billy comes up to him and the bloke says ‘what are you going to do you one-arm bandit?’

That was not a good call. Three seconds

later he was on the floor.”

“He dropped him with one arm!”

Shane says excitedly. “He’s trained to Delta Force level, you know. He’s a humble man but not someone to be messed with.”

“I’ve quietened down now though,” Billy says sheepishly.

It’s getting dark outside and Trevor’s keen to head home to nurse the rib and shoulder injuries he suffered a week earlier when he fell off the tip tray on

the back of his ute. The ute had rolled onward for several metres with Trevor on the ground and a bemused Cole in the passenger seat.

Billy breaks into uncontrollable laughter. “You didn’t tell me about that,” he screeches.

“I f**ked up, ok,” pleads Trevor.

“Well it doesn’t surprise me,” says Billy.

“You left me with a bunch of stitches in me head when I was working with you one day.”

We say our goodbyes just as another front bar regular makes his entrance.

He’s wearing a stylish grey hat and his hands are plunged deep into the pockets of a long white trench coat.

But Richard “Dicky” Hawker is a story for another day.

Spring, 2022

20

Valley Magazine

s i r I n A bloom

It’s a far cry from the green pastures and north and east of Burra to the streets of b enterprising young rural woman, the two compelling farm-to-fashion story.

Emily Riggs is hitting her straps with her Merino wool fashion label, Iris & Wool. Photo: Nadinne Grace Photography.

Wines that express spirit of place and enjoyment I’ve been living and making wine in the Clare Valley district since 1998.

It’s safe to say that I love the region!

After eight years of managing the historic Leasingham Wines in the Clare Valley, I took what I had learned and loved about winemaking and established my very own label, Wines by KT. Specialising in my first-love, Riesling, and inspired by this uniquely beautiful part of the world, I’m working to create wines that express spirit of place and enjoyment. We love sharing our passion with fellow wine lovers.

The Wines by KT cellar door is open for tasting every Thursday to Monday 11am-4pm, long weekends and public holidays. Drop by sometime and say ’g’day’ to KT! Opening Hours: Thursday - Monday 11am - 4pm Located: 20 Main North Road, Auburn SA 5451 For appointments or enquiries contact me at: kt@winesbykt.com or phone 0419 855 500 www.winesbykt.com

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Spring, 2022

Valley Magazine

al Law

21

Farm to fashion

ms

Words: Gabrielle Hall

d expansive pastoral country bustling Sydney but, thanks to an o are becoming intertwined in a

Emily Riggs’ vision is taking Merino wool right to the heart of consumers across the country and catching the attention of influencers far and wide.

Her Iris & Wool brand is a farm enterprise fast gaining momentum for its beautiful, natural and sustainable designs - statement pieces created from 100 per cent Australian Merino wool and designed to last a lifetime.

As mum to two young children and wife to husband Tom, Emily is the quietly spoken, modest founder and designer behind the brand, who admits she has a fierce stubbornness to chase what she wants.

It is that same drive creating her success story, one that her consumers are falling in love with.

“People are becoming more aware of buying natural, sustainable fibres and Merino wool is the perfect choice for that, being made from a sheep and air, grass, sunshine and water,” Emily said.

“It’s an incredible fibre really and we can turn that into something we can wear and it will last a lifetime if we look after it properly.

“Consumers are wanting to buy from people – they’re wanting to know the story behind the label and who is wearing it and why I’ve created it.

“Some are probably sick of me harping on about my story and why but there’s still always one person who will not have heard, and I know people love to hear it because I get beautiful emails from them saying they love the brand story and wanting to support it.

“They are wanting to buy sustainable, renewable, biodegradable and going

away from fast fashion.”

The story behind Iris & Wool starts well before Emily’s arrival at the property she now farms with her husband and his family, and where her two children – the sixth generation of the Riggs family on the Burra property – add a special sparkle to farm life.

The beginning also explains some of Emily’s passion and determination.

The brand name, Iris and Wool, is a gentle embrace to Emily’s late mother, Jane, whose favourite flower was the Iris.

And it is in Jane’s memory that Emily made the decision to donate some of the profits from her sales to the McGrath Foundation to support breast care nurses in the community.

“The McGrath Foundation is very close to my heart,” Emily said.

“My mum died from breast cancer at the age of 43. I was just 11 and at the same time I was having chemo myself for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

“We lived in the country at the time and had to move closer to the city for our treatment. It was such a difficult time, and I just think perhaps if mum had access to one of these breast care nurses things might have been different.

“One thing I do know for sure is that mum would have been so proud of what I’m now achieving, delighted that I’m happy and following my dream, and just quietly chuffed I think.”

The Iris & Wool range of clothing has expanded since its inception to now include knitwear, equestrian wear (highlighting another of Emily’s passions), men’s wear, denim and children’s wear, and her winter ‘23 range even includes dog jumpers, modelled

Our expertise Our expertis Our expertise Our expertise includes: includes: Our expertise includes: includes: · ·Personal Injury Claims · P· · Conveyancing · Conveyancing Conveyancing · Personal Injury Claims Conveyancing includes: · ·Succession Planning · Criminal · Criminal Law Criminal LawLaw · Succession Planning Criminal Law · S·

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161 Main North Road, Clare (08) 8842 1132 Johnstonwithers.com.au Johnstonwithers.com.au (08) 8842 1132 (08) 8842 1132 Johnstonwithers.com.au Johnstonwithers.com.au Johnstonwithers.com.au

to make an appointment. · · Personal Injury Claims Personal Injury Claims · Personal Injury Claims · 161 Conveyancing Conveyancing · Personal Injury Claims Main North Road, Clare · · Succession Planning Succession Planning · Succession Planning · Criminal Law Criminal Law · Succession Planning · Personal Injury Claims (08) 8842 1 132 Personal Claims · · Wills &Injury Estates Wills Estates · Wills & Estates ·& Employment Employment LawLaw · Wills & Estates · Succession Planning Succession Planning Commercial Law · Johnstonwithers.com.au Family Law · Family Law · Commercial Law · Wills & Estates Wills & Estates Commercial Law Contact our Clare office

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22

ABOVE: Emily Riggs’ 100 per cent Merino wool clothing range turns heads with its beautiful, natural and sustainable designs.

LEFT: Riding on the sheep’s back – Emily Riggs with one of the family’s Merinos.

Photos: Nadinne Grace Photography.

by her own little Corgi, the soon-to-befamous ‘Charlie’.

Being featured in the Australia-wide ‘Buy From The Bush’ campaign initially gave Iris & Wool a kickstart in sales and it has been creating its own path moving forward since. Earlier this year, Emily partnered with media personality and wool ambassador Catriona Rowntree to showcase her designs, which seem to be popping up everywhere, with some of her classic styles being worn by everyone

from national news reporters right through to ‘hip’ social media influencers in the big cities.

She has also just taken on her first international stockist in New Zealand.

However, the most exciting chapter is possibly still to come for Emily and her homegrown Iris & Wool brand, with her sights now on using wool only from the family’s Burra property in future collections.

The Chinese mill manufacturing Iris

& Wool has recently purchased 110 bales of the Riggs family’s wool clip through the Melbourne Wool Exchange and, while there are some challenges to work through, it looks as though everything is on track to achieve the dream.

“We do have a few things to tick off first, because our sheep are out bush in the pastoral area for quite a lot of the time, they do get a bit of vegetable matter in the wool and that does take some cleaning of the wool,” Emily said.

“But the plan is that Iris & Wool will eventually be made exclusively using our own wool from here in Burra, making it truly farm to fashion and it would just round off my story so nicely.”

Spring, 2022

Valley Magazine

23

Smashing it!

Marnie Roberts is giving her winery visitors a full-force, hands-on encounter.

Every crumb is a masterpiece Our pastries and breads are baked fresh daily with the finest ingredients. The delicious range will leave you wanting more, especially our award winning pies and popular sourdough bread.

Custom cakes are available for special events.

Call our team to place an order today.

Open 6 days a week Monday to Friday 7am - 3pm Saturday 8am - 2pm

Clare Rise Bakery 12 Main North Road, Clare Phone: 8842 1805

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Valley Magazine

Marnie drums up a next-level experience Words: David Sly Photos: John Krüger What do cellar door visitors get to experience when they peek behind the curtain inside a working winery?

At Matriarch & Rogue winery in Clare, they’ll get a change to taste wine syphoned direct from the barrel, maybe plunge a cap of fermenting grapes if they visit during vintage – and possibly hear winemaker and proprietor Marnie Roberts pounding away on her drum kit in the store room.

“Well, why wouldn’t you want to have a drum kit in a big winery building with such incredible booming acoustics?” she asks.

“Music has always been a part of my life, and it’s always been pumping in the winery, so I love having a hit on the kit when the mood grabs me. Maybe it sounds shithouse to some people, but I’m having a great time.”

Matriarch & Rogue has been notable for its irreverence, fun and casual grace since Marnie started her own boutique wine label in 2014, then took the enterprise a giant step further once she constructed her own winery in 2018.

By welcoming guests into her winery

Marnie Roberts, Matriarch & Rogue. for a personalised and tutored tasting, Marnie says she’s accurately reflecting the personality of her wine brand and herself, and is ensuring that every visitor who books an appointment online for a set-time tasting experience has her undivided attention.

“It’s the next level of experiential tourism, giving people a hands-on experience to understand how wine is made in the place where it’s made,” says Marnie.

“There are lots of lovely cellar doors, but really, they’re just like another shop.

If people come to a winery, they should be able to engage with the winemaking process. That’s what will stick in their mind.”

This marks a significant change in how Marnie interacts with her wine customers, since closing her Matriarch & Rogue Wine Shop after two years.

Located in Clare’s main street, the shop introduced a new flavour of wine tasting experience to the region when it opened in 2018, having the boisterous, social vibe of a small bar.

During its weekend trading hours, the wine shop got tasters familiar with the expansive Matriarch & Rogue range of small-batch wines made from a vast array of grape varieties – beyond the expected local strengths of riesling, shiraz and malbec, to also include sangiovese, montepulciano, nero d’avola, primitivo, fiano and saparevi. A second label, Rogues of the Resistance, plunges deeper into obscure grape varieties, with such exotica as prieto picudo, fernaeo pires and pecorino.

“If the purpose of opening the wine shop was to raise awareness about my wines, then our ambition was 100% achieved,” she says.

However, the impact of Covid on visitor numbers and feasible opening times for the shop, along with the time demands of running her own winery and raising a family, made Marnie decide

to close the shop and instead bring controlled numbers of guests into her winery at 62 Spring Gully Road.

Bookings were initially canvassed through social media, but now word of mouth brings most people to her website booking page – resulting in two bookings each day of a weekend, from couples up to small groups.

The transition to have customers in the winery has been valuable, with Marnie selling as much wine to each week’s visiting groups as she would from a weekend’s trade at the wine shop.

And when customers make their way into the winery storeroom to have their wine purchases packaged, they’re welcome to sit behind the blue Pearl Export drum kit (which Marnie bought on a whim from a friend via a Facebook post) and have a bash - if they can get past beloved winery dog Banjo, a British bulldog who’s often trying to chew on the bass drum pedal.

“People like what we’re on about, because it’s real,” Marnie says.

“They like our story – that the wines are named after five very strong matriarchs in my family and their amazing rogue husbands. It’s about family, it’s a bit quirky and it’s got soul.”

Clare Plant Nursery is more than just a plant shop!

Cellar Door Beer Garden Open 7 days Visit the home of Jeanneret Wines and Clare Valley Brewing Co. located in the picturesque Skilly Hills.

Spend the day amongst the gum trees, tasting our delicious wines and beers, create your own picnic with our providore fridge... relax and enjoy!

Available for private events - contact us for your next get-together. (08) 8843 4308

Large variety of indoor and outdoor plants.

10am - 5pm 10am - 5pm Monday - Saturday - Saturday &Monday Public Holidays & Public Holidays 11pm 10am -- 5pm 7pm Sunday Friday 11pm - 5pm (08) 8843 4308 Sunday info@jeanneretwines.com hello@cvbc.beer (08) 8843 4308 info@jeanneretwines.com jeanneretwines.com hello@cvbc.beer cvbc.beer/ jeanneretwines.com cvbc.beer/

Browse our range of beautiful homewares.

Jeanneret Road, Sevenhill, SA 5453

RB05124AB

MONDAY - FRIDAY 9am to 5pm SATURDAY 9am to 2.30pm SUNDAY 10am to 2.30pm

Relax & unwind with our selection of delicious homemade soups, cakes, biscuits and lunch options.

Clare Plant Nursery & Outdoor Centre 7 Old North Road, CLARE PH: 8842 2331

Spring, 2022

Valley Magazine

LEFT: “I love having a hit on the kit when the mood grabs me.”

ABOVE: Marnie’s parents, Carol and Allan, proudly check out the new cellar door.

RIGHT: Marnie treats her cellar door guests to a tasting straight from the barrel.

PHOTO: SUPPLIED

Do you have an Employment Transition Pathway when you leave school?

Are you eligible for NDIS funding and have recently left school or are leaving school this year?

Our School Leaver Employment Supports program will help you navigate the pathway to employment.

• • • •

We support you to achieve your employment goals.

Develop confidence, self-esteem, motivation and capacity for work.

Work Experience with local businesses.

We help you stay connected to your community through employment opportunities.

Call us to discuss how we can help you prepare for the world of employment.

Barry Sims - Employment Services Manager - 0457 666 322 Rebecca Sims - School Leaver Employment Supports Coordinator - 0497 278 481

A: 7 Agnes St, Clare SA 5453 | T: 08 8842 1386 | E: admin@clarevalleyent.com.au | W: clarevalleyent.com.au

25

Restaurant Reviews Valley Magazine is proud to welcome fearless food critic ADAMSON FARGO. A food and wine zealot with a tasty turn of phrase, he delivers his distinctive take on the Valley’s world-class restaurants.

There is quality in the wind Indii of Clare

O

ne mark of a good Indian restaurant is the quality of the aroma as you approach the front

door.

I’m standing in the main street of Clare, waiting to cross the road to Indii – my destination for this inaugural review – when I’m engulfed by exhaust fumes from a clapped-out passing van. Nice one, hippie.

But it’s there, despite the smoke.

About 50 metres from my culinary destination and I could sniff the unmistakeable fragrance of fresh curry leaves and frying cumin seeds being put through their paces. There is quality in the wind.

Next year, Indii will celebrate a decade of delivering great Indian food to the Valley. It has become a favourite for locals and, this night, like many, there’s a steady stream of takeaways being dished out as the restaurant seats start to fill.

I arrive early with my companion and find a comfortable table, tantalisingly close to the walk-in, well-endowed wine room where a row of Wendouree labels demands attention. More on wine later.

There are tables to choose from but not for long. This night, Indii is pumping – and it’s no wonder.

This is a restaurant of breadth. A chunky menu that offers banquets, signature dishes, street food, monthly

Mango Chilli Scallops.

specials and the regular courses, catering for everyone from mild-mannered vegans to heat-lover meat lovers. You want mild? You got it, pussy. You want hot? Bring it! You want chips with butter chicken sauce? What? Wait! Really.

Kiddies get to have some fun at Indii too.

The standard menu offers so many tantalising dishes but to begin my journey, I choose a monthly special – Mango Chilli Scallops – roe off, little buttery bombs of flavour lightly cooked in a chilli and mango sauce and served with a thin slice of mango jerky. A little heavy on the sauce for my taste but the subtle chilli heat and sweetness of the scallop meat were a nice contrast.

My companion dives into Seekh Kebab – dense cylinders of mincemeat with a pleasing texture and explosive flavours.

Five pieces, piled high and served with dollops of yoghurt sauce and an artful

this is cooked to perfection so I’ll swallow that gripe for now.

OK. The promise of 12 exotic spices in a dish terrifies me – I like my flavours to work in harmony. But, hello Beef Masala, a deeply satisfying, powerful and perfectly balanced combination of a dozen spices infiltrating tender beef. It’s rich and robust and deeply satisfying – served hot, hot, hot.

Seekh Kebab.

Butter Naan. splatter of mint chutney.

We’re asked if we would like to wait for our mains but we are keen to keep exploring.

I’ve settled on Goan Fish Curry: light fluffy fillets cooked in a tomato and coconut sauce with curry leaves and tamarind, sprinkled with black mustard seeds. A little on the sweet side but satisfying. I do worry when the kind of ‘fish’ is not identified on a menu – one wouldn’t use ‘meat’ as a catchall to describe chicken, lamb and beef – but

The Saffron Rice is fluffy and well flavoured and Indii offers seven kinds of rice to complement your mains, as well as four biryanis – veg, chicken, lamb, goat – if you want rice to be king.

We’ve chosen a cucumber raita as an accompaniment and the serve is on the smaller side. We make do but if you’re looking for a raita to keep things cool ask for a large. Size will matter if you’re going the vindaloo route.

The Butter Naan is delicious and my companion – a big bread fan – thinks it’s absolutely outstanding: ‘as good as any naan you’ll find’. The tandoori oven is one of the world’s greatest inventions and, in skilled hands, delivers some of the finest tasting morsels on the planet. There are a dozen different breads served from the tandoor at Indii and, if you can’t choose, a bread platter served with dips is on offer.

Indii regulars have several ‘go to’ dishes. Chicken-E-Sultan, Punjabi Butter Chicken, Saag Paneer rate special

Goan Fish Curry mention. Some say the Goat Curry is, well, the G.O.A.T. I’m assured they have a way with goat at Indii but I’ve had a bad bone-in experience before (not here) so have avoided this specialty.

To finish we share a couple of famous Indian desserts – the Galub Jamun, those naughty fried milk and cinnamon dumplings served with ice cream, and Kulfi, a traditional Indian ice cream sweet and rich and laden with pistachios.

Indian restaurants outside the city aren’t always known for their wine lists but Indii’s offering is impressive, with wines from around the world and plenty of local choices. If you can prise your curry-heavy frame from your chair, I’d encourage you to take a wander through the wine room where there are some special drops.

As with many local eateries, the waiting staff at Indii are a mix of experienced locals and L-platers and tonight they do a fine job as the restaurant becomes busy enough to create a line up for the toilet.

Indii promises to ‘take the palate on a journey’ and it’s mission accomplished as I depart, my tongue coaxing a lingering cumin seed from between my teeth.

Indii of Clare 201 Main North Road, Clare Open 7 days Entrees: $11-$21 Mains: $23-26

Spring, 2022

Valley Magazine

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Rob Jaeschke on a 1963 4010 John Deere tractor.

GUARDIANS OF HISTORY

Piece by piece, with passion and pride, the Jaeschke family has created a meticulous, mechanical timeline of its intriguing past.

- CIRCA 1842 -

YSTALYFERA HISTORICAL FARMSTEAD Tractor Museum

We take you on a journey to show past struggles & good times. Stepping through history from early settlement to now. View the Jaeschke family collection of restored vintage tractors and memorabilia at our heritage centre.

Walk the history trail. Find the horseshoes, hopscotch & horseshoe throw.

Heritage Trail

History Museum

Join us for a tour on the following dates: Saturday 17th September 2022 Saturday 24th September 2022 Saturday 1st & Sunday 2nd October 2022 Saturday 8th October 2022 Tour times 10am to 12noon & 1pm to 3pm $20 per adult

$5 per child (under 5 complimentary)

Bookings essential. Please phone 8843 4100 to reserve your space!

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Valley Magazine

Every tractor has a story Gabrielle Hall Photos: John Krüger It was the thrill of the chase, an eye for tractors and a passion for restoring snippets of history that drove Rob Jaeschke’s father Marcus to start a machinery collection some 50 years ago.

Now Rob and his wife Lyn, along with their family, have taken over the reins as passionate guardians of the history of the Jaeschke family and the families that farmed before them on their historic Ystalyfera property at Polish Hill River, near Clare.

Piece by piece they have pulled together the history of the farm, with help from friend, former school teacher and now mayor of Wakefield Regional Council, Rodney Reid.

And in a meticulously-restored 1860s stable, which had been destroyed by the Black Sunday bushfire in the early 1960s, Marcus’ collection of farm machinery now stands proud in a private museum.

Alongside is a restored 1842 cottage with a bread kiln still functioning and producing the most magnificent scones and sausage rolls, and an 1865 homestead, along with its outbuildings including underground tank, outside toilet and cellar.

The stable and now private farm machinery museum once housed up to 70

Rob Jaeschke. working horses, and alongside each piece of machinery, Lyn and Rob have used old diaries and farm records to bring to life the story of their origins.

Most of the machinery has a special connection to the family’s farming history, and although Marcus never lived to see the museum completed, Rob is fulfilling his father’s wish that his collection remain intact on his passing.

“I was quite interested in it and told dad I’d keep it,” Rob said.

“Little did I realise that there is a lot of work to upkeep and maintain a collection.

“I discussed with dad that I was pretty keen to make a permanent site for it and when I suggested the rebuild of the stable, he thought that was a pretty good idea.

“A lot of collectors have difficulty housing their collections and quite often they end up in sheds coated in dust, with flat tyres and vermin and deteriorate with light, so I decided the only way to go would be to put it in a sealed environment.

“We double-lined the stable so no dust, light or vermin can get in and ideally, we can open the door and present the collection then shut it again ready for the next time.

“In his last years, dad spent a lot of time dusting, cleaning and pumping up tyres in readiness.

“Dad started collecting 50 years ago at least, and he just wheeled and dealed, that was part of his hobby just finding them.

“He had an eye for good, working tractors and he knew what he wanted.”

Among the collection are pieces that relate back to Marcus’ early days – he was born in Appila before the family relocated to Hart and then Marcus purchased land at Hill River in 1963.

“The exciting thing about it is now locating the story of each tractor from old diaries from Rob’s grandfather, old records, and on those tractors we’ve been able to put a note on them and tell people how many times it’s been greased, what it reaped and the story behind the tractor,” Lyn said.

“There’s a few special pieces in there,

and probably most special is my father’s first tractor in its original condition, in its ‘work clothes’,” Rob added.

“Also housed in there is my grandfather’s second tractor, a 1938 FTA Twin City which was originally bought brand new and is in working order.

“My grandfather’s tractor was purchased new for about 580 pounds and dad’s tractor was bought in 1947 and he took a loan from the government as a returned serviceman, paying 950 pounds for it and we’ve still got all the receipts, the first log book, it’s all there.”

Rob’s mother, Roma, was able to see the museum completed before her passing in May this year, also giving it a tick of approval.

“Mum never endorsed dad’s hobby, she always said it was a waste of money, waste of time and she hated his greasy clothes,” Rob laughed.

“It just wasn’t her cup of tea.

“But when we brought her out to see it she said ‘I regret that I didn’t support Mark more in those years because this is absolutely wonderful’ and she had tears streaming down watching the old slides of those tractors in action and their early farming years together.”

Rob said many of the tractors had more sentimental than monetary value when Marcus found them, often swapping his skills as a water diviner or other goods for a tractor on his travels,

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Spring, 2022

Valley Magazine

29

Lyn Jaeschke inside the restored 1842 cottage, where the original bread kiln is fired up and still creating magnificent morning teas for guests. Below: The exterior of the 1842 cottage, and cellar.

Rob Jaeschke in a 1947 55K Massey Harris. mostly around South Australia.

“He’d go out and do some water divining, he was a great diviner, and a week or two later he’d come back with a tractor,” Rob said.

“Or a load of hay would go out and a tractor would come back in.”

The private farm museum is a passion project for Rob and Lyn, nestled

among the family’s busy cropping, hay processing, poultry, livestock, vineyard and cellar door and B&B enterprises.

Rob and Lyn have spent 37 years “chasing up the history” of the property, and countless hours with their children at their feet, under the tables of libraries researching. Next in their sights is the restoration of an 1858 double-storey

barn, where hay was made into chaff for the Burra Mine, a lovely tie-in to the family’s current-day Hill River Hay export business. Rob and Lyn say they are blessed to be the keepers and guardians of a little piece of their family, and SA’s, agricultural history. But they say this is really still just the beginning of the story.

“There’s a fair journey to go, if we’ve

got time to do it,” Rob said.

Ystalyfera Historical Farmstead is a private, on-farm museum open only to groups of 10 or more, by appointment.

Email admin@hillriverclareestate.com. au. The Hill River Clare Estate Cellar Door at Polish Hill River is open from 10am-4pm daily at 406 Quarry Road, Clare SA phone 08 8843 4100.

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We are also the local go to Embroidery business for all your workwear, corporate uniforms and whatever can be embroidered. Look out for us in the middle of town across from the Town Hall.

232 Main North Road Clare SA 5453 ph: 08 88421573 email: admin@logoem.com.au online: www.logo-co.com.au

(08) 8856 5977 www.mainstblooms.shop shop 2, 203 main north road, clare @mainstblooms 12540255-CG10-22

FROM THE KITCHEN

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Valley Magazine

With Nicola Palmer, executive chef, WATERVALE HOTEL

Lamb Shank and Kidney Pie INGREDIENTS

Lamb shanks deboned Lamb’s kidneys Onion Garlic Dry sherry Lamb stock Rosemary Hot water lamb tallow pastry

METHOD

Soak the kidneys in whey, buttermilk, or milk overnight.

The next day, strain the kidneys and slice in half removing the white membrane inside before chopping into 1cm cubes.

Sauté the diced onion in butter till lightly browning, add the chopped garlic.

Season the lamb shank meat and add to the pan. Brown on all sides.

Deglaze the pan with a good sloth of sherry. Add Rosemary.

Let this reduce slightly. Add your lamb stock to cover the shanks.

Cook long and low until the shanks fall apart.

Taste and season if necessary.

Cool the mix.

Once the mix is cool, stir the raw kidneys through, adding

additional herb to taste.

This pie uses hand-raised, hotwater lambs tallow pastry but you can use your preferred pie pastry if making in a tin.

Bake at 190C for 35 minutes.

Roast Carrots with Carrot Leaf Pesto INGREDIENTS Carrot leaves Toasted pine nuts Garlic crushed Parmesan Olive oil Salt

METHOD

Toast the pine nuts. Chop the carrot leaf, pine nuts and garlic.

You can use a small blender if you prefer but I like it hand chopped for texture. Add the finely grated parmesan cheese and season. Using the back of a spoon mix this all together adding enough olive oil to combine. Serve with roast carrots.

Rocket, Fennel and Pomegranate Salad Dressing of lemon juice and olive oil.

Ray White Clare Valley Residential | Lifestyle | Commercial | Property Management

Make it a December to remember Mark O'Meagher Principal & Sales Agent

Bree Christie Principal

Lucy Hill Office Manager

Book your Christmas or end of year function at the Watervale Hotel.

Function Areas

Courtney Moller Receptionist

Courtney Moller Receptionist

Carlee Daley Client Relations Manager

Elly Hoskin Business Development Manager

Undercover beer garden (for up to 80) Hell Hole with private terrace and toilet facility (for up to 22) Private rooms for intimate celebrations Menus (food prices only): Individually plated degustation dining for $110 / head Gourmet Feast for $90 / head Farm Feast for $60 / head For the very special occasion, why not book the Wendouree Degustation $500 / head.

Anne Johansson Property Manager

Julie Edgecumbe Property Manager

8842 3099 | clarevalley.sa@raywhite.com | raywhiteclarevalley.com.au RLA 300321 | RLA 300319

A six course degustation matched to six Wendouree wines, each a different vintage, and each a different variety or blend.

For more information please visit www.watervalehotel.com.au and email taste@watervalehotel.com.au for enquiries.

Main North Road, Watervale - 8843 0229

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31

​ aste not, W want not Words: Paul Dowling The latest chef to share one of their favourite recipes with Valley Magazine is none other than highly respected veteran of the Clare food scene, and creative licensee and executive chef of the Watervale Hotel, Nicola Palmer.

Nicola’s been a constant presence as the Clare Valley food scene has evolved from humble beginnings to the revered status it enjoys today, first as head chef at Skillogalee, which was owned by her parents, and now at the Watervale, which she owns with her husband, Warrick Duthy.

And it has been at the Watervale where she has fallen under the spell of the hotel’s designated food source, Penobscot Farm - that her approach to cooking has matured and crystallised into a noble, all-consuming commitment to sustainability, which is reflected on every plate served at the pair’s remarkable venue.

“My parents always wanted to run their property in a sustainable way and to find the best quality produce, so that was always instilled in me,” she said.

“But it’s been amazing how much Penobscot Farm has changed how I think as a chef.

“Every chef is trained to try to be seasonal, which means thinking about what’s in season that other people are growing and you can order from a distributor but, with the farm, it’s about dealing with abundance, almost like what your grandparents used to do.”

A “no-waste warrior” with a powerful sense of duty to nature, Nicola no longer simply identifies and sources the ingredients with which she wants to cook, rather, she allows the farm to dictate to her and her team of chefs exactly what will be created in the kitchen on a given day or week.

And nothing is wasted. Vegetable leaves become salsas or pestos; their

hard-textured stems are transformed into crucial ingredients; there’s a commitment to ethically sourced, wholeanimal cooking; meats are marinated in whey after the milk components which make cheese are extracted; even stripped corn cobs are used for kindling in the hotel’s open fires.

It’s a huge undertaking but Nicola wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It is very challenging and lots of chefs who come through get overwhelmed,” she said.

“And that happens to me sometimes too. But I can’t imagine any other way of cooking. There’s no other choice for me.

This is who we are. It’s all about learning more and having a softer footprint on the world we live in.

“We’re wasting so much of what we farm and produce in the world. We need to get better at knowing how to use what we grow.

“And, thankfully, a lot of chefs are now going back to these ideas.”

In Nicola’s kitchen, carrots won’t be peeled and carrot, broccoli and beetroot leaves won’t be discarded, they’ll be used like the carrot leaves in the recipe she has contributed here.

“We use broccoli leaves to make a salsa, the carrot leaves make a wonderful pesto, you get much more beetroot leaf than beetroot and they’re edible and they’re beautiful,” she said.

“When the price of broccoli was going up people were breaking off the stem before they bought it so they could reduce the weight. They thought it wasn’t edible so they broke it off. That’s craziness, the stem is actually sweeter than the flower ends.

“I noticed one day the girls in our kitchen were tearing the stems out of the lettuce and putting them in the compost.

I asked ‘have you ever tasted it?’ and they said ‘no’.

“It might have a little bit of bitterness at the end and there’s a bit of texture to it

Arts Collective Clare Valley Arts Collective Clare Valley is a collective of artists from the Mid North. The gallery includes fine works in ceramics, metal, photography, paintings, prints, jewellery, home wares, textiles, fashion, gifts, & more.

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Nicola Palmer: “It’s all about learning more and having a softer footprint on the world we live in.” but if it’s sliced across the grain it brings lovely colour, flavour and texture.”

Husband Warrick reckons Nicola knows so much about cooking “there are things she doesn’t know she knows”.

“She has such an amazing intuition for flavours and seasoning,” he said.

Nicola is on a mission to prove that ethically sourced, farm fresh produce and a no-waste approach can deliver tastier,

more nutritious food. She emphasises leveraging the expertise of her entire team rather than relying on one person to guide the dynamic menu.

“We’re trying to create an environment of organic learning,” she said.

“We encourage everyone who comes through to leave a legacy. And we’re trying to educate the customer in our stories and our philosophies.”

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Valley Magazine

Wine Reviews Wine expert Nick Ryan samples the latest offerings from the Clare Valley

Grosset ‘Polish Hill’ Riesling 2022, $75

Mt Horrocks Rosé 2022, $30

A stunningly pure and precise Polish Hill from ‘The Master’, a wine that is enthusiastically thrust forward to mount the case the 2022 vintage for Clare riesling may even surpass the spectacular 2021s.

The palest of pinks, the colour you see on your kids when you start yelling at them to put on sunscreen. Fragrant red fruits, a gentle dusting of spice and hints of dried petals.

It’s clean and crisp and packs a firm crunch. Buy at least two because the first will disappear before you know it.

A bottle of Neagles Estate Wine on arrival Complete your ultimate Clare Valley experience by staying in beautiful, quality accommodation with stunning views.

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0418 842 663 | info@neaglesretreat.com.au | www.neaglesretreat.com.au

Spring, 2022

Valley Magazine

Taylors ‘The Visionary’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2015, $220

Bourke and Travers Single Vineyard Mourvedre 2019, $35

Edilillie ‘Reserve’ Sevenhill’ Cabernet 2016, $48

A beautifully composed, intricately structured wine of finely detailed depth.

Dark mulberry and cassis, demure hints of cedar and leather, a lingering sense of strolling the hallways of neglected mansions, all lovely old polished furniture and a fine veil of dust. It’s a seriously impressive wine, drinking well now but ready to reward patience too.

The dark energy and visceral wildness of the variety is evident here, but with an elegance and restraint that speaks to intuitive winemaking and fastidious vineyard management. Blue and black berries, exotic spices and smoke that wafts from a grill loaded with gamey meats.

Sinewy and supple with gorgeously gritty tannins.

For someone who supposedly has a day job, David Cook spends a hell of a lot of time working his beautiful Sevenhill vineyard. That work pays off big time here.This is a sublimely structured Clare cabernet of considerable class, a firm frame draped in a sheath of dark fruit, finishing with ultra-fine powdery tannins.

• FIF

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Skillogalee Located right in the heart of the Clare township in the The Knappstein Cellar Door is Enterprise a must-visitBrewery, destination. original nineteenth-centre Our award-winning wines showcase quality fruit in the Knappstein Cellar Door is a must-visit destination. its purest and most vibrant form.

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Open Daily 10am - 4pm 2 Pioneer Avenue, Clare | Phone: 08 8841 2100 Email: cellardoor@knappstein.com.au Website: knappstein.com.au

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Valley Magazine

Matriach & Rogue ‘Jean’ Malbec 2021, $30

A gorgeously fragrant and supple wine that shows just how happy this variety is to call Clare home.

Dark berries, a nicely delivered leafy line, an alluring floral lift and perfectly resolved, gentle grippy tannins.

This is the kind of wine that just begs to be cuddled up next to a juicy slab of beef.

34

Kirrihill ‘Partner Series’ Cabernet 2019, $30

Jim Barry Watervale Riesling 2022, $20

A recently announced Regional Trophy winner at the Halliday Cabernet challenge, and with good reason. It’s classic Clare cabernet, blackberries and mulberries, dark chocolate and ironstone, a subtle whiff of mint. It’s fleshy and fruit driven but there’s still plenty of that gorgeously fine Clare cabernet tannin to shape it.

A winner of the Best Riesling trophy at this year’s Royal Queensland Wine Show, this perennial favourite takes Watervale to the world in great style.

Ebulliently aromatic, packed with energetic citrus and jasmine-scented florals, tapered with a fine, nervy acidity and the gentlest touch of fruit freshness on the finish.

The Essence of Clare

OUR PEOPLE

OUR PLACE

OUR WINES

Our team, like our wines, are full of character and diversity. Some are young and fresh; others are complex and have matured over time. Regardless, it’s the blending of the team that allows Kirrihill to produce outstanding wines with pride and passion.

We are proud to call Clare home.

Sourcing fruit from iconic Schobers Vineyard and renowned Slate Creek, our winemakers are spoilt for choice when it comes to selecting fabulous fruit to weave their magic on.

Our wines are perfectly balanced, energetic and generous, truly expressive of the varieties.

Whether you are looking to drink a vibrant Riesling now or cellar a complex red to further develop, we know you’ll find a Kirrihill wine that you will love and want to share with friends.

Want to buy our wines?

Shop online or ask for our wines in store, at your local venue or at the Clare Valley Visitors Centre. kirrihill.com.au RB05059AA

Spring, 2022

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Sheryl’s hard Yacka creates sheer beauty WORDS: NAN BERRETT Being told her sculptures were too ‘rude’ to be exhibited for the tourism public hasn’t deterred Yacka artist Sheryl Ryan from continuing to shape clay in a celebration of the female form.

As you step through her iron gate and through a tumbling garden of greenery and colour onto the front porch of her home, visitors are greeted with samples of her work.

Bare breasted women rising out of the clay, beautifully formed and not an erotic fantasy in sight – just simply charming.

Not all of Sheryl’s art focuses on sculpture or on naked women – she’s a talented painter and photographer and there is plenty of her work to enjoy throughout the house.

The magic happens in her small studio, which doubles as an office. All her creative tools, including her potter’s wheel, fit and tuck into spaces neatly as a jigsaw puzzle, sliding out of hiding when needed.

A dual monitor computer and printer are tidily set into a corner – it’s where Sheryl plays with her photographic images and creates high quality prints.

Always interested in shape and form since she was captured by art classes in high school, Sheryl developed her skills, beginning work as a sign writer and mural artist.

“I did a lot of sign writing, but it wasn’t very creative,” Sheryl said.

“I was commissioned to paint a mural at Roxy Downs and really enjoyed that experience.”

She enrolled in a certificate course with sculptor Brian Lightfoot at the Whyalla TAFE and began with sketching before being exposed to a wide range of

Sheryl Ryan’s works celebrate the female shape from a personal perspective. art mediums, falling in love with pottery.

Basic wheel work made way for learning how to use a kiln and making glazes.

“I learned for three years and got inspired,” Sheryl said.

She held her first joint exhibition of work with another artist at Whyalla’s Middleback Theatre before holding a solo show of her own.

w I I-

Sheryl didn’t enjoy wheel work as much as sculpture, so focused on that, gathering inspiration from Australian art nouveau artist Norman Lindsay and Austrian symbolist Gustav Klimt.

“All my life, I always sketched naked women and I don’t want to move away too far from that.”

Going on to join the Royal Society of Arts and exhibiting at the Newland

_--------s� __,

Gallery, Sheryl and her husband – they met when she was 15 – moved to Victoria for a while, before returning to South Australia in 2016 where she was employed at the Ardrossan Hospital. While in the town she worked with Telstra to draw murals on the local phone boxes to help deter vandalism.

“I worked in hospitality and all sorts of jobs to earn money so I could continue with my art,” she said.

“And I also picked up skills in resilience while working at the hospital.”

Four years ago, the couple moved to their current home in Yacka and Sheryl was able to finish a lot of her art work which had been incomplete.

Jeff has just finished reconstructing Sheryl’s gas-fired kiln – handmade and dismantled for the move it had to be reassembled and tested for firing her delicate work – a success!

A keen and accomplished photographer with an eye for a sense of place, seeking out reflections and contrasts, Sheryl’s other passion lies in using a brush and paint. But the feel of malleable clay continues to captivate her.

Sheryl has been creating her feminine clay forms since the early 1980s – the women, rising from the sides of vessels, are her signature design.

“Writers are always told to write about something they know – it’s the same with artists – create from something you know. I am a woman and celebrate the female shape from a personal perspective.”

She’s tried working with male figures, but Sheryl says she is much better at creating the feminine.

Continued over page

DE

Showcasing the Clare Valley's 'UPPside' of Life Dine In & Takeaway Thursday - Saturday Lunch 11am - 3pm Dinner 5pm - 9pm Sunday - Monday 11am - 7pm

Nestled in the picturesque Clare Valley, Caity & Christian Uppill welcome you to the UPPside. Featuring a Restaurant, Wine Bar & Farm Shop, showcasing fresh food, local wines, chutneys, sauces, jellies & local produce.

We have a passion for handmade fresh food & all things wine.

7812 Horrocks Highway Penwortham, Clare Valley, SA 8803 6122 theuppside.clarevalley@gmail.com www.theuppside.com

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Valley Magazine

Mostly leaving her clay sculptures in their fired, but unglazed state, Sheryl has been experimenting with adding gold leaf and silver to her work and has been playing around with verdigris patinas.

“I’m always inspired by patterns and angles, and as soon as I see something which interests me I take a photo and add it to my collection for future ideas.

“When I want to start a new work, I flick through the images and when I get a feeling in my stomach, like butterflies, I start putting the pieces together.”

It’s no wonder Sheryl’s business name is called ‘Hello Buttafly’ – an homage to her inspiration.

More recently Sheryl has added white clay to her work and says change helps her push the boundaries of her creativity.

Out of all the mediums she works with, Sheryl is always drawn back to the feeling of clay in her hands.

“It’s so easy to work with. I have always loved terracotta, because of the colour, but am now working with white.”

Is it hard to let go of her work? Sheryl says she is like a farmer – “Farmers don’t name the animals they will take to market, and I don’t name my work because it may get sold – I already get too attached.”

And how long does it take to create one of her beautiful terracotta vessels?

“I don’t like to take much more than a week. It shows in your work if you take too long.”

Sheryl Ryan: “I’m always inspired by patterns and angles.”

PHOTO: NAN BERRETT

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37

Gateway to the Clare Valley Words: Nan Berrett

Tarlee Post Master John Tayler, left, is always happy to discuss local history and open the former Library Room to show community memorabilia.

T

arralee or Tralee? The origins of the name for the gateway town to the Clare Valley remain a mystery.

Tarralee, an Aboriginal word for local waterhole, Tralee bestowed by Irish settlers – both have appeal, so perhaps the town’s name is a delightful amalgam, bringing both cultures together.

The heart of the historic township, which sits on the Horrocks Highway, the main road from Adelaide to Clare, is the Tarlee Institute – a community gathering place and now, in modern times, the home of the local post office and regular popular markets which are held on long weekends in March and October.

The Institute was built using local stone in 1888 after a public meeting at the Tarlee Hotel decided on the importance of having a building to be used by the community for social events and other meetings.

It took 12 years from that first meeting to complete the project – fundraising took its time and there were other disruptions. The original committee resigned, and new willing participants had to be found, but finally the building was finished.

The hall took up a corner of the Tarlee sports ground, just north of the railway track. The land was owned by the Wooroora Agricultural and Horticultural Society who held their annual show on

the acreage and the new building became a useful indoor exhibition space for displays and competitions on show days.

Two front rooms were added to the original building in 1906, at a cost of $247, becoming a reading room and a bank room respectively. The bank room was used for the E.S. & A. Bank until a branch was opened in Tarlee’s main street two decades later.

Another addition was made in 1913

when a stage and dressing room for theatrical and musical productions was added to the back of the hall, and it was extended again in the early 1920s, adding a meeting room and a library to the front.

More renovations and additions occurred in 1954 when the supper room, a kitchen and a new room for the library were added as a memorial for district residents who had served in World War II. The new work replaced an old galvanized iron billiard room which had been built in previous years and was also used as a supper room.

The Tarlee Institute celebrates the history of the town, holding its memorabilia including plaques of remembrances and tributes to those who served in various conflicts.

In later years, ownership of the hall was taken on by the then District Council of Riverton, the local government body which served the region, and the library service was directed to a new community library in nearby Riverton.

The Institute has continued to serve the Tarlee community over the years, acting as a bank, post office, hub for community events including balls, dances and fetes as well as drama and music productions.

In 2019 the Tarlee Hall was given an additional boost of $47,000 from the Clare & Gilbert Valleys Council which applied an allocation of the Australian Government’s Drought Communities funding to much needed roof repairs and other work.

The funding provided new external doors for the hall, improving its security, new guttering, stonework on the external walls, drains and some internal painting.

The Tarlee Hall continues to be a much-loved community building which still serves as a hub for local gatherings and events.

Clare & Gilbert Valleys You’ll need more than a day!

Family Friendly

Play Spaces Parks Gardens Bike Tracks Walks Trails

Find out more: www.claregilbertvalleys.sa.gov.au

Spring, 2022

38

Valley Magazine

Adventure in Wakefield, naturally Y

ou don’t need to think big to find the Wakefield region’s natural treasures.

Small parks and hidden places, walking trails and bird-filled spaces offer opportunities to get close to nature, relax, explore and enjoy Wakefield. Here are just a few ideas for you to stay for an hour - or play for a day.

the parklands home, along with more than 170 species of native plants, many considered to be under threat.

Trees for Life SA regularly holds nature care sessions in the parklands educating the public about bush protection and eradication of invasive species in the area. Enter the parklands from Hardy Terrace, Halbury.

About 11km south-east of Balaklava, the Rocks Reserve is a hidden gem, sitting on a section of the Wakefield River that flows through farmland. Here, animals flock to the series of rockpools with an abundance of birdlife, kangaroos and aquatic critters to see.

Established on 12 hectares, ‘the Rocks’, as it is known to locals, is the perfect place for a family day out exploring the riverbanks, and a popular place for birdwatchers. An early pioneers’ camping spot, the Rocks is now a favourite for locals and there are shade shelters, picnic spots and toilets on site. Rocks Reserve is at the end of Woods Road, Balaklava.

Follow the signs from Traeger Road.

Best time to go: August to November if you want to see orchids in bloom.

Best thing to do or see: Keep to the trails and see if you can spy an endangered orchid

Best time to go: after the winter rains Best thing to do or see: soak up the serenity and spy on the brilliant birdlife Further along Balaklava Rd, heading to Auburn, take some time to explore the Halbury Native Parklands. Surrounding the quiet former railway town of Halbury, the parklands are another perfect spot to spend a day birdwatching.

Or try searching for the elusive and endangered Pterostylis lepida – the Halbury Greenhood Orchid named after one of only two tiny locations where it is found. Fourteen other orchid species call

Brooke McPharlin, of Balaklava, explores Rocks Reserve.

Heading further north, the town of Blyth has trails and gardens for lovers of Australian flora to enjoy. A must-see is Lomandra Walking Trail – opened in 2010, this 2.5km path along the western side of Blyth Golf Course travels alongside and through some of the last remaining Lomandra (Irongrass) on the Blyth Plains. Hundreds of local provenance plants can be seen and descriptive signage is in place.

As you explore the multitude of local species planted along the trail, you will be able to take in expansive views of the Clare hills to the east and the Hummocks Range to the west. It’s about a 90-minute return walk suitable for all ages.

Best time to go: winter and spring Best thing to do or see: appreciate the community spirit of Blyth that has enabled wonderful projects such as Lomandra trail to come to life Turn back towards the west and head about 30km along Blyth Road to the town of Lochiel and you will find the renowned

Lomandra Walking Trail, Blyth.

Get off the beaten track.

Explore Wakefield today.

Read more here

Lake Bumbunga

Owen Silo Art

Spend the day exploring the Rocks Reserve

Spring, 2022

Valley Magazine

Lake Bumbunga – a pink lake that changes hues throughout the year as the salinity levels in the water change. Home to the famous Loch-Eel monster, the lake includes a trail down to the water’s edge and a viewing platform where you can strike a pretty-in-pink pose.

With toilets and free Wi-Fi just over the highway, the lake is a great place to stop and take a break while heading further north or onto your next local adventure.

Best time to go: Late spring and early summer is your best bet for bubble gum pink.

Best thing to do or see: pop yourself in a postcard picture at the scenic frame These are just a few of the naturebased ideas for exploring Wakefield.

Council is rolling out a trails strategy to link up and showcase its natural treasures and each town in the region has a myriad of opportunities for walking, jogging or cycling - visit us at wrc.sa.gov. au to find out more things to see and do.

ON YOUR SIDE.

The Loch Eel at Lake Bumbunga.

RLA 302 682

Please get in touch with any issues. I’m here to help.

WE MANAGE EACH PROPERTY AS IF IT WERE OUR OWN Specialising in commercial & residential property management in the Mid North, Lower North & surrounds Contact Julie Mould – Licensed Agent & Property Manager 190 Main North Road, CLARE SA 5453 Mobile: 0409 091 796 Email: admin@midnorthrentals.com.au

39

DON FARRELL Senator for South Australia T (08) 8231 8400 E Senator.Farrell@aph.gov.au

Authorised by D. Farrell, Australian Labor Party, Level 5, 19 Gilles Street, Adelaide SA 5000.

WITH Rebecca Sullivan

Spring, 2022

Valley Magazine

40

H

erbs are incredible and not just for cooking. Both dried and fresh herbs can be used to make a range of natural home products.

From cleaning to skin care and teas to tinctures.

Fresh herbs have greater medicinal value but are not always available, so when you have a glut of them growing at home, dry them out and store them for use later in the year.

All of these ingredients can easily be grown at home and seedlings are available at your local garden centre.

Why not try drying your own herbs?

Drying individual leaves Pick your herbs into individual leaves.

Put some sheets of kitchen paper on trays and lay out the individual leaves separately, spreading them apart so the air can circulate. The paper helps to draw any moisture away from the leaves.

Drying in bunches Bunches of drying woody herbs look pretty tied to a shelf or hanging above your oven. Simply gather your herbs, tie a bunch together and hang them upside down out of direct sunlight. If you want to speed up the process you may be able to dry them outside in warm - not humid - air and bring them inside when dried.

If you live in a humid climate dry them inside in a dry place. Leave them hanging and snip off leaves as and when needed.

Find a place out of drafts to dry the leaves, preferably inside. Near a window is good to give them sufficient sunlight for drying – direct sunlight dries them quicker but they fade a little.

Leave them for 1–2 days. Check on

Award-winning author, TV presenter, entrepreneur, educator and natural living advocate.

For the love of herbs them as they may dry sooner depending on your home. They like dry heat, no humidity. You will know when they are dry as they will feel like tissue paper and wrinkle up a little.

Dried herbs also make great bouquet garni sachets. Try these combinations: bay, parsley, thyme, oregano and marjoram; or sage, rosemary, garlic and marjoram.

ACHY TEA

Perfect for both achy bodies and tummy pain. The ingredients blended together will help reduce inflammation that comes from being on your feet, sport, arthritis and that dreadful time of the month (insert sad face here). Take as needed.

Ingredients (all dried) 30g lemon balm 30g lemon verbena 30g hibiscus

30g calendula 10g meadowsweet 10g rose petals

Method

Blend and store in an airtight container for up to a year. Use approximately 3g per mug of boiling water.

SLEEPY TEA

All three of these ingredients are great for winding down, insomnia and stress.

Combined together you have a triplestrength sleepy tea.

Ingredients

125g dried lemon verbena or lemon balm (or both) 2 tablespoons dried culinary lavender 1 tablespoon dried nettles

Method

Blend and store in an airtight container for up to a year. Use approximately 3g per mug of boiling water.

Bunches of drying woody herbs look pretty tied

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Spring, 2022

MEDICINAL HERBY VINEGAR

Valley Magazine

Preventative medicine to me is taking medicinal vinegar once a day. Herbs have been used for centuries to improve our health and well-being and here they are combined with raw apple cider vinegar which also has been said to help with weight loss, stabilise blood sugar and absorb nutrients to make a medicinal vinegar which is a really effective way to take your preventative medicine daily.

Choose the right herb to help with your particular ailment then follow this recipe.

Remember to always check botanical names to make sure you are definitely using edible varieties.

Ingredients

50g dried or; 50g fresh herb for a lighter version 250ml raw apple cider vinegar sterilised glass jars with screw top lids Makes 250ml

Method

to a shelf or hanging above your oven

Use a pestle and mortar to crush your dried herb to a coarse powder or chop fresh herbs. Add your herbs to a sterilised jar. Pour over your apple cider vinegar until the jar is filled to the top. Screw on the lid and store in a cool, dark place for two weeks to allow the herbs to infuse. Shake the jar daily.

Once it has sat tight for a fortnight, strain the herbs through a fine sieve or muslin/ cheesecloth into another sterilised jar.

Allow it to sit for a further two days so the sediment can settle and then decant the clear liquid layer into another sterilised jar using your strainer. Put the lid on and store for up to six months in a cool dark place. I would suggest keeping it in the fridge.

Try to have a shot of this each day. It is ok to mix it with water if you find it too harsh to swallow neat.

Medicinal vinegar

Clare Valley Taxis You can’t go past the Original Proudly local & supporting the community

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Phone 131 008 or 0499 795 020

The original and oldest winery in the Clare Valley, Sevenhill Cellars, offers an experience to suit all tastes. Steeped in history, the cellar door is located on a picturesque property where you can taste our wines, relax, picnic, play on the lush lawned area or take a self guided tour of the significant sites.

Create your own providore platter to accompany your wine tasting or to picnic on our lawns.

Open 7 days a week 10am - 5pm Sevenhill Cellars College Road, Sevenhill | www.sevenhill.com.au

41

Spring, 2022

42

Valley Magazine

Wagadagam Torres Strait Islander Natalie Sommerville with son Mitchell, 10.

Di Pearson from Animals Anonymous holds a spencer’s monitor.

PHOTOS: ISABELLA CARBONE

Grace, 2, from the Yorta Yorta mob.

Family fun day at NAIDOC in the park A wombat goes for a stroll in Melrose Park.

A family fun day at Melrose Park was one of the headline acts in a month of NAIDOC celebrations in the Clare Valley.

Ngadjuri elder Angelena Harradine and Elley Newchurch provided the welcome to country and Animals Anonymous some furry and scaly friends.

Youngsters also enjoyed having a ride on the Clare Valley Model Engineers Club’s trains.

Elley Newchurch, Adam Knibbs, 15-month-old Shadow Warrior, Dustin Agius, 10, Angelena Harradine and Gavin Agius represent the Ngadjuri and Narungga mobs.

SPORTS QUIZ

Spring, 2022

Valley Magazine

1. How many silver medals did Australia win at the 2022 Commonwealth Games?

4. Which player will captain the Gold Coast Suns in the AFLW’s seventh season?

2. Which country has won the most consecutive Davis Cup titles?

5. Before the rule change in 2001, how many points did a player have to score to win a game of table tennis?

3. Once the Commonwealth Games are held in to Victoria in 2026, how many times will Australia have hosted the games?

6. In NFL, what is the name of the player position that snaps the ball between his legs to the quarterback to start each offensive play?

7.

Which team did the Chicago Bulls beat to win their third consecutive NBA Championship in 1993?

8. In climbing, what is the term for using a free hanging foot to counterbalance to make the next move?

9. Which Sydney Swans player announced he will retire at the end of the 2022 AFL season?

10. What is the name of the fictional sport played in the Harry Potter series of books?

David Beckham

John McEnroe

13. Which former athlete currently captains the Australian Davis Cup team?

14. What is the recreational sport 'spelunking'?

15. How many Grand Slam singles titles did commentator John McEnroe win?

16. At 17 years of age, which Premier League team did David Beckham begin his professional career with?

17. In diving, what does the term 'entry' mean?

18. Which AFL team suffered an 84-point loss to Port Adelaide in Round 22?

19. Who won the world heavyweight boxing title in 2015?

22. Which country recorded its biggest ever win against Australia with a 48-17 Rugby Championship victory ?

27. Former Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson played a total of 134 games for which two VFL/AFL clubs?

23. Which Australian state or territory is reportedly close to hosting the 2022 NRL Grand Final?

28. Which champion cyclist was elected to the Parliament of Australia for the Victorian electorate of Corio, holding the seat for 17 years?

24. Kalyn Ponga and Kurt Mann last played for which NRL club?

20. Australian athlete Jemima Montag won gold in which sport at the 2022 Commonwealth Games?

25. Australian cricketer Marcus Stoinis caused a stir after seemingly accusing Pakistan bowler Muhammad Hasnain of doing what?

21. Australian basketball legend Lauren Jackson won how many league MVP Awards during her WNBA career with the Seattle Storm?

26. What jersey number did NBA legend Bill Russell famously wear during his playing career with the Boston Celtics?

29. Before an 80-game suspension for a positive banned substance test, Fernando Tatis Jr played for which Major League Baseball team?

30. Which horse won the 2012 Melbourne Cup?

1. 57 2. The US 3. Six 4. Tara Bohanna 5. 21 6. Centre 7. Phoenix Suns 8. Flagging 9. Josh Kennedy 10. Quidditch 11. Robbie Gray 12. Alana King 13. Lleyton Hewitt 14. Cave exploring 15. Seven 16. Manchester United 17. When the diver makes contact with the water 18. Essendon 19. Tyson Fury 20. 10km race walk 21. Three 22. Argentina 23. Queensland 24. Newcastle Knights 25. An illegal bowling action 26. Six 27. North Melbourne and Melbourne 28. Hubert Opperman 29. San Diego Padres 30. Green Moon

2608

11. Which four-time All Australian player recently announced his retirement from AFL?

12. Who became the first cricketer to take a hat-trick in The Hundred women’s competition?

43

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5 Bend (3) 18 Way (4) 6 Sterilise (9) 19 Begged (9) 7 Most typical (14) 24 AbroadSpring, (8) 2022 25 Verse (6) Puzzles and pagination © Pagemasters | pagemasters.com 44 Valley Magazine 8 Vanish (9) 9 Male chicken (7) 26 Texts (8) 11 Show amusementNo. (5)058 27 Begin again (7) GIANT CROSSWORD GIANT CROSSWORD 12 Upshot (7) 29 Enslave (7) 13 Sleeplessness Right (7) 32 Exhibition (13) 68 (8) ACROSS 6 ACROSS 15 Balustrade 36 A drink other than 69 Difficult (6)(7) 1 Excess (7) 6 1 Excess (7) 20 Later Merit (9) (4) 71 4 water Instant(8) camera 7 4 Instant camera 21 Gathering Tempt (6) (8) 40 Flung 72 brand (5) (8) 7 brand (8) 22 Raised Movie theatre (6) 41 fastener 73 one’s shoulders 7 Door Dilemma (8) (5) 7 7 Dilemma (8) 23 Not difficult (4) 42 Beyond the slightly (8) 10 Fellow student (9) 10 Fellow student (9) 28 Presage, Suffocatepredict (7) 74 (7) 12 ordinary Happens(5) (6) 74 12 Happens (6) 30 Trapper (6) 43 Conjecture (5) 14 Deceiver (8) 14 Deceiver (8) 31 Mourn (6) 44 Aspiring Book (8)to DOWN 16 D 16 Aspiring to 33 47 Compactness (13) 1 UK Givesinger in (7)and pianist, impracticable ANSWERS: impracticable 1 61 Computer type (7) 48 Baked dessert (4) John (5) 50 Relating to (7) stars (7) 2 — Grounds for belief (7) perfection 2 perfection (7) 62 Go in (5) 49 Blood-sucking 34 (7)(7) 53 result 3 Sink Trusty 17 Favourable Someone who rids(7) a 3 17 Someone who rids a 63 Transport of insect (4) 35 56 Suddenly 4 Proportion Feign (7) (5) building of(8) pests (12) 4 building of pests (12) goods over a short 51 Conductor (9) 37 57 5 Fits Bendout (3)(6) 18 Deception Way (4) (6) 5 18 Way (4) distance (7) 52 Anticlimax (7) 38 59 6 Scoundrel Sterilise (9)(6) 19 Choke Begged(8) (9) 6 19 Begged (9) 64 Surrendered (7) 53 Arduous (9) 39 treatment 60 7 Paralysis Most typical (14) 24 Hump Abroadday (8)(9) 7 24 Abroad (8) 70 Tatter (3) 54 Clique (7) (14) 65 8 using Vanishcurrents (9) 25 Naughty Verse (6)child (4) 8 25 Verse (6) 55 Sharply (7) 45 Male Sterilechicken (6) (7) 66 Texts Scientific 9 26 (8) study of 9 26 Texts (8) 58 Small tasks (7) 46 to seaagain (12) (7) 11 Runs Showaway amusement (5) 27 the Begin 11 27 Begin again (7) 60 Interrupted (7) 67 12 marry Upshot(6) (7) 29 Gorge Enslave(7) (7) 12 29 Enslave (7) 13 Right (7) 32 Exhibition (13) 13 32 Exhibition (13) 20-08-22 15 Balustrade (7) 36 A drink other than 15 36 A drink other than LAURIE No.20 058 MeritDROP No. 054 EDGEWORD DOWN (4) water (8) HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW... waterHUGH 2 (8) PUZZLE 21 Tempt (6) 40 ORIGINAL Flung (5) 2 40 Flung (5) Starting with the seven-letter word, drop a 1. Which British comedy 4. What Hollywood theatre 41 fastener (5)letters into 22 letter and form(6) a six-letter word. Continue in this series did Laurie star in children's film did he star41 Door fastener (5) 2 PlaceDoor each of the tiles of the Movie manner until you reach the single letter at the during the 1980s? in the 2000s?

(4) 42 the to create four six-23 Not difficult blankBeyond jigsaw below 2 42 Beyond the A. Fawlty Towers A. Toy Story bottom. You can rearrange the letters in each letterordinary words going (7) (5)across and down.28 Suffocate B. Father Ted B. The Incredibles step, if necessary.

2 ordinary (5) C. Blackadder C. Monsters, Inc 30 Trapper (6) 43 Conjecture (5) 3 43 Conjecture (5) D. Monty Python D. Stuart Little 31 Mourn (6) E N A C E D 44 M RIBook (8) 3 44 Book (8) IG UD (13) 2. He starred as the title 5. For which British 33 UK singer and pianist, 47 Compactness 3 47 Compactness (13) character in US show series did he win a ANSWERS: 61 Computer type (7) 48 Baked dessert (4) — John (5) 50 Relating to stars (7) House from 2004 to 2012.

Best Supporting Actor 50 Relating to stars (7) NE Where was the62 show’s Golden Globe in 2017?

Go in (5) 49 Blood-sucking DI 34 Sink (7) 53 Favourable result (7) 3 53 Favourable result (7) main setting?

A. The Night Manager 63 Transport of Crown insect (4) A. Retirement home 35 Proportion (5) 56 Suddenly (8) B. The 3 56 Suddenly (8) STDeception (6) C. Broadchurch B. Police station goods over a short 51 Conductor (9) 37 Fits out (6) 57 IO 3 57 Deception (6) D. Sherlock Factory distance (7) 52 Anticlimax (7)C. 38 Scoundrel (6) 59 Choke (8) D. Hospital 3 59 Choke (8) MAHump day (9) 64 Surrendered (7) 53 Arduous (9) 39 Paralysis treatment 60 3 60 Hump day (9) Who is his long-time 70 Tatter (3) 54 Clique (7) 3. using currents (14) 65 Naughty child (4) comedy partner?

65 Naughty child (4) There may 55 Sharply (7) A. Rowan Atkinson 45 Sterile (6) 66moreScientific study of be than 4 66 Scientific study of B. Stephen Fry one solution 46 Runs away to There may be 58 Small tasks (7) the sea (12) C. Rob Brydon 4 the sea (12) D. John Cleese more than one 60 Interrupted (7) marryM (6) 67 Gorge (7) 67 Gorge (7) possible answer.

PUZZLES

PUZZLES

ANSWERS: MENACED MENACE ENEMA AMEN MEN EM M

ANSWERS: 1C, 2D, 3B, 4D, 5A

ANSWERS: STUDIO, STIGMA, IODINE, MARINE

20-08-22

Starting with the seven-letter word, drop a The starting letter could Insert each number from letter and form1ato six-letter word. Continue in this × tiles of=letters 15 into Place ÷each of the the be in any segment, and all 9 in the shaded squares to manner until you reach the single letter at the blank jigsaw below to create four sixsubsequent letters are able solve all the horizontal bottom. Youand can rearrange the letters in each – × × letter words going across and down. to be connected following step, if necessary. vertical equations. × + = 23 a path through the gaps Multiplication in the walls. You may and division are – ÷ ÷ only enter each of the performed before segments once, and all + × = 10 addition and letters must be used. subtraction. = = = HINT: The answer is a word.

NE

UD

DI

3 ST

4

35

IO

There may be more than one possible answer.

ANSWERS: STUDIO, STIGMA, IODINE, MARINE

× ×

3

+

= 23

Insert each number from 1 to 9 in the shaded squares to solve all the horizontal and vertical equations.

÷

35

IO

MA

There may be more than one solution

4x4 Valley

The starting letter could be in any segment, and all subsequent letters are able to be connected following a path through the gaps in the walls. You may only enter each of the segments once, and all mustMidday-5pm be used. to letters Sunday,

F

No. 054

S

I

N

I

No. 054 ACROSS

C

CROSSMATH

1 Flame (4) 5 Hero (4) 6 Unofficial news ÷ × source (4) × 7 –Hearing×organs (4)

× + DOWN 1 –Dossier ÷ (4)

R O N A E P O I T

Friday HINT: The answer is a word.

Ph: 0437 913 148 | E: sales@ulsterparkwines.com | www.ulsterparkwines.com

4

ST

The Cellar Door at the gateway to the Clare Valley

Multiplication and division are performed before + × = 10 addition and 11 Main North Rd, Auburn SA 5451 | Open subtraction. = =

÷

C

WORD TRIANGLE lare

ANSWER: PERSONIFICATION

=

×

No. 058

9 ÷ 3 × 5 = 15 – × × 2 × 8 + 7 = 23 – ÷ ÷ 4 + 6 × 1 = 10 = = = 3 4 35

–

= 15

1 RI DossierIG (4) 2 Brainstorm (4)UD 3 NE Lion sound (4) 4 Moose DI (4)

ANSWERS: 1C, 2D, 3B, 4D, 5A

–

×

Where was the show’s main setting?

A. Retirement home B. Police station C. Factory D. Hospital

DOWN

5. For which British series did he win a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe in 2017?

A. The Night Manager B. The Crown C. Broadchurch D. Sherlock

3. Who is his long-time comedy partner?

A. Rowan Atkinson B. Stephen Fry C. Rob Brydon D. John Cleese

ANSWERS: MENACED MENACE ENEMA AMEN MEN EM M

÷

C

5 Hero (4) 4. What Hollywood children's film did he star 6Place Unofficial each ofnews the tiles of letters into th in the 2000s? source (4) below to create four sixblank jigsaw A. Toy Story 7 letter Hearing organs B. The Incredibles words going(4) across and down.

C. Monsters, Inc D. Stuart Little

Ulster Park Wines

M

CROSSMATH

N

I

N as Athe title R 2. HeO starred character in US P from E House O 2004 I show T to 2012.

MA There may be more than one solution

S

I

F

ANSWER: PERSONIFICATION

IG

M E N A C E D

9 ÷ 3 × 5 = 15 – × × 2 × 8 + 7 = 23 – ÷ ÷ 4 + 6 × 1 = 10 = = = 3 4 35

RI

1. Which British comedy series did Laurie star in during the 1980s?

A. Fawlty Towers B. Father Ted C. Blackadder D. Monty Python

No. 0

ORIGINAL PUZZLE

ACROSS: 1. Fire, 5. Idol, 6. Leak, 7. Ears.

DOWN: 1. File, 2. Idea, 3. Roar, 4. Elks.

ORIGINAL PUZZLE

No. 054 No. 054 ACROSS WORD No. TRIANGLE 4x4 KNOW...

HUGH LAURIE 054 DROP DOWN HOW WELL DO YOU No. 058 1EDGEWORD Flame (4)

ERS: STUDIO, STIGMA, IODINE, MARINE

No. 058

ACROSS: 1. Fire, 5. Idol, 6. Leak, 7. Ears.

DOWN: 1. File, 2. Idea, 3. Roar, 4. Elks.

CROSSMATH EDGEWORD

2 3 4

= 23 ÷

Brainstorm (4) + × Lion sound (4) =Moose (4) = =

3

4

= 15

35

= 10

Inse 9 in solv vert

Mult and perfo addi subt

Flinders magazine

PHOTO: Robbo’s RODEO PICS

They call the thing rodeo Come late December, all roads will lead to Carrieton as the annual rodeo rolls into town.

Legendary country music singer Garth Brooks sang about it, and the Flinders Ranges town of Carrieton has built a reputation on it.

Spring, 2022

Under the watchfu l eye of officials an Carrieton rodeo. d Previous page: Pet riders, bull rider Cody Gibbins bu er Morgan rides hi rs gh. PHOTOS: Rob ts out of the shute at the bo’s RODEO PIC S

Valley Magazine

46

Carrieton: The tiny tow Words: Gabrielle Hall For almost 70 years, Carrieton in the Flinders Ranges – population, ‘about 40’ – has forged a reputation as a rodeo town.

It is not all there is to love about the place but as the cowboys and cowgirls roll in, horse floats, utes and fourwheel-drives with swags thrown in the back, and families loaded up with deck chairs, turning off RM Williams Way

looking for adrenaline-pumping fun, they all know Carrieton Rodeo is where it is at.

The town swells to the thousands, and so does its pride.

While Covid might have done what not even the Hendra horse virus of the early 1990s could and stopped this iconic event in its tracks for the past two years, it will be back this year with a big New Year’s Eve format and more excitement than ever.

And rolling up their sleeves, just as they have done all their lives, perhaps none more excited to see their beloved Carrieton Rodeo back, are life members Snow Rowe, Terry Williams, Denise and Donald Williams and Wayne Williams.

If you noticed a theme there you would be right – they are all related, all with a tie to the rodeo that is almost as strong as their tie to family.

None of them has missed a Carrieton rodeo in their lives.

They have seen it all, from the famous Cloudbuster, ridden by the late South Australian rodeo legend Dick White, the dust, the falls, the struggles through drought years, and the highs of pulling in big crowds and putting on one of the best run rodeos in the whole of Australia.

Between them they have each shared almost every job to be had at the rodeo, from catering and running the bar, to shute boss and pick up riders, secretary,

Find out more about our region

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41 Flinders Terrace, Port Augusta Phone: 1800 633 060 Email: info@wadlata.sa.gov.au Web: www.wadlata.sa.gov.au

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ValleyksMagazine - Rodeo Garth Broo

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“It’s the bulls and blood It’s dust and mud It’s the roar of a Sunday crowd It’s the white in his knuckles The gold in his buckle He’ll win the next go round It’s boots and chaps It’s cowboy hats It’s spurs and latigo It’s the ropes and the reins And the joy and the pain And they call the thing rodeo”.

wn devoted to rodeo president, you name it and this crew of life-members has done it.

Although, Terry admits he was the only one ‘mad’ enough to ride in the event – just once.

“I had a go on the horses and let’s just say, the horse was better than me, he had more ability than I did,” he laughs.

Their parents before them, and their children following, are responsible for the success of this iconic event, but all agree it is ‘just what you do’ when you

come from Carrieton.

“We grew up and that’s all we knew,” Wayne, 72, said.

“We played rodeos at the school for about a fortnight afterwards, and a week before.

“I’ve been to every rodeo, even though some I don’t remember because I was too young.

“Right from an early age you’d be there, helping with the busy bees and it just got into your blood and that’s the

way it went.”

It all began back in 1963 when the late Vince Rowe initiated the idea of a rodeo as a fundraiser to build a new town hall.

They certainly achieved that, plus hundreds of thousands of dollars since going back into not only their community, but small surrounding towns also to assist with building works and improvements.

Not bad for this tiny town that thought big and started one of the

state’s largest rodeo events from scratch.

A bare claypan built up to a permanent rodeo arena, with a clubroom, lights, bar and even tennis courts, all testament to what this hardworking club has achieved.

Perhaps one of their proudest achievements, has been the ownership of their own bucking horses - they are the only rodeo club associated with the Australian Professional Rodeo

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Valley Magazine Association to still do so – and it helped build the club’s reputation for good stock.

“For the final of the bronc ride in the 1960s, they had here six grey horses, each one was as rough as the next one, there was Delta and Duchess, Windy Hill, My Mabel, Maralinga and Misery, and the riders all knew if they came here and managed to ride a horse they’d win money,” Terry said.

In the early 1990s, Carrieton Rodeo moved from a day-time event held in unpredictable October when the weather often whipped up a dust bowl, to a nighttime rodeo held between Christmas and New Year.

The gamble brought huge success at a time when the event was almost on its knees, reinvigorating it and bringing in big crowds of up to 5000.

Recent years have also been tough with distance, perhaps more choice of events and Covid affecting numbers but president Daniel Williams – son of Terry - said he hoped a New Year’s Eve format this year would bring in a fresh crowd.

Daniel has been president for the past five years and, like for the generation before him, there is no doubting Carrieton Rodeo is in his blood and he is keen to share his passion for it.

“Growing up with it as a kid, it becomes part of your identity in some ways,” he said.

“I remember when I was about 10 going out with the men on my pony getting in the cattle for the bronco branding the week before the rodeo, and it was the highlight of my year.

“And the clean up the day after the rodeo was always exciting because you had a very, very good chance of finding some spilt cash on the ground – the idea of a clean-up is definitely not as exciting when you’re an adult.

“For me, the rodeo and Christmas just go together – a lot of family around and that general buzz and excitement of the night.

“When you see all the cars rolling in and a big crowd there and we’re putting on a good show, it’s a pretty satisfying feeling.”

Carrieton Rodeo will be held on the evening of December 31. It will be a full APRA event featuring seven main events and also three second division rough stock events, along with junior events.

Follow the Carrieton Rodeo Facebook page or jump on the event website www. carrieton.com.au for more details.

48

Carrieton rodeo life members Snow Rowe, Terry, Wayne and Denise Williams have been involved with the rodeo their entire lives.

President Daniel Williams, above, legendary Dick White on the famous Cloudbuster at left, and Tye Simmonds in the 2nd Division Bull ride at Carrieton

The Park Jamestown is located on the banks of the Belalie Creek, under the shade of magnificent River Red Gums. The Park is conveniently located 200m from the local shopping precinct and walking trails and is adjacent the local swimming pool where

guests have free access during the swimming season. At approximately 210 kilometres from Adelaide, The Park Jamestown is an ideal place to stay when exploring the Southern Flinders Rangers and Clare Valley, or en-route to the Flinders Ranges & the outback.

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Valley Magazine

49

Casting calls for a Brighter Future Words and photos: Mel Kitschke Are you a curious traveller?

Are you someone who likes to dive into the history of a town and wants to know what makes the town tick today?

Do you like to turn off the main highways on to roads less travelled for a quirky art installation or the best bakery treat in town?

Well, as you journey through the Southern Flinders, newly released podcasts on a smartphone app called StoryTowns will help you do exactly that.

You’ll find out which tiny town was so Irish Catholic the nuns owned the local pub.

You’ll discover where to stop and see a garden filled with trees serendipitously growing tea cups and boots.

You’ll hear from rail enthusiasts, some who lived through the romantic era of steam engines.

You’ll hear about the underground bakery and the bunyip rumoured to live in the waters of the Broughton River.

And you’ll learn where a 500m turn off the highway leads you to a tranquil space in Australia’s oldest forest that will refresh your soul.

The podcasts produced by StoryTowns have been created with input from 12

Brighter Futures (Storytelling) project facilitator Kristine Peters with Orroroo podcasters Jacquie and Ursula von der Borch. local community members as part of a Brighter Futures project funded by the South Australian Government, Legatus Group and local councils.

Through the project, the 12 budding podcasters were trained in microphone use, interviewing techniques and

Peterborough Printing Works Come and see the fully-functioning print shop, complete with the original presses and machinery dating back to 1887.

One day, the printer closed the door for the last time, and walked away, leaving a time capsule of printing equipment, job dockets, copies of newspapers, dance cards, and event advertising posters to be discovered. Several machines have now been fully restored to working condition, and during the guided tour, the shop comes alive once more. Situated on Jervois street, tours are conducted Tuesday to Friday or by appointment for individuals, families and groups. Current times available through the Visitor Information Centre (08) 8651 3355

script writing, as well as grant writing, project management and media communication skills.

John Mannion of Pekina, a tiny town south of Orroroo, was keen to explore podcasting, given his lifelong passion for recording history.

“As a child, I was constantly being told I asked too many questions,” John says.

As an adult, nothing much changed.

It was this never-ending curiosity that would lead John to record a treasure trove of interviews with people from regional areas and co-author a local history on Pekina.

But the table was turned on the South Australian Regional Historian of the Year when StoryTowns chief executive and founder Jarrod Pickford chose to interview John for a podcast on Pekina.

The podcast draws on John’s fascination with and pride in the unique Irish Catholic history of the town deemed South Australia’s most Irish settlement, a town John suggests could have been called Vatican Valley.

“Pekina has a rich heritage and, while its glory days are long gone, this podcast will hopefully preserve and promote the story of this place where the Sisters of St Joseph once owned the pub and which once had its own resident Catholic Bishop,” John says.

Gladstone history and tourism advocates Dalma Clogg, Jonathan Hawkins-Clarke and Sandy WilliamsKerley teamed up to help create a podcast for Gladstone.

“It was too good an opportunity to support the town,” Jonathan says.

“Our podcast features three of the

Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre Sound and Light show At night Steamtown presents its awardwinning Sound and Light show. This nostalgic show immerses the audience in an era when steam trains ruled the rails. Life in a railway town was magical for all, with the smells, sights and sounds of the steam era. The show begins the moment you step into the diesel shed with the T class glowing in all its glory.

As you pass the roundhouse, imagine the workers busily attending the locos. Once at the turntable, visitors sit in a restored carriage surrounded by silent locomotives that come to life as you watch Peterborough’s greatest chapter play out on the cinema screen. The Sound and Light show is on 7 nights a week.

Bookings are essential, call (08) 8651 3355 or visit www.steamtown.com.au

Other attractions worth a visit: • Peterborough Town Hall including the Federation Quilt • Town Carriage museum - Enjoy a “virtual” train ride to Broken Hill • Snap a selfie with ‘Bob the Railway dog’ • The Burg and Model Railway- Amazing model railway that took 15,000 hours of work to complete!

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Delve into the past as you discover the South Australian Railway’s unique triple-gauge history. Admire the unique rolling stock and Australia’s only remaining heritage-listed triple-gauge turntable. Follow the tour guide into the transcontinental luxury lounge car and first-class sleeping carriages. Explore carriages from the WWII era and the Old Ghan line as well as a 1932 baby Health Car. Climb aboard our collection of steam and diesel locomotives, view the motor inspection car and wander through the diesel shed and original workshops. All housed in the newly-restored, heritage-listed 23-bay roundhouse complex. Listen to the stories of people, the icons, the workmen, and the characters in an engaging 90-minute guided tour. Guided Tours run continuously during the day, seven days per week.

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Spring, 2022

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Valley Magazine

Crystal Brook oral historian Christeen Schoepf helped create a StoryTown podcast, which includes a glimpse into the town’s bakeries, past and present. many areas of interest for visitors - the railway, the memorial and the tourism centre owned and run by volunteers of Gladstone.”

Dalma says she hopes the podcast helps encourage people to divert off the highway into the town.

StoryTowns CEO (left) and founder Jarrod Pickford during a recording with Pekina historian John Mannion.

“I didn’t even know what a podcast was before this project started and I can’t believe now I have helped make one,” Dalma says.

Avid writer Lorraine Saunders was in the same boat.

“All the podcast technology stuff

was way out of my comfort zone but an interesting challenge,” Lorraine says.

“I am interested in valuing and promoting small communities and the wonderful things they have to offer and saw this as a fabulous opportunity to do just that.”

Lorraine interviewed Keith Jackson, a third generation engineer whose passion is making sculptures from old metal bits and pieces at Redhill.

“Keith’s knowledge of old farm machinery is prodigious, and he is able to elucidate each piece of metal that he

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Spring, 2022

Valley Magazine uses, its original purpose and how it was used,” Lorraine says.

Also featuring in the podcast is Kath Mortimer, whose quirky garden filled with collections of tea cups, tea pots, hats and small ornaments creates interest and amusement for those passing by.

At Crystal Brook, internationally renowned community and oral historian and genealogist, Christeen Schoepf, was very keen to help record a podcast for the town ahead of its 150th birthday celebrations in 2023.

“The podcast provides a taste of the experiences waiting to be had – stories of explorers, our local Victoria Cross winner, Arthur Percy Sullivan, and our legendary bunyip tale.

“You’ll also hear from Jess Till, who moved to Crystal Brook simply because it provided the best vantage points to take photographs of trains.

“He said ‘some people like butterflies …

I love trains!’ What more can you say?

“He knows when each one will come by and what engines will be pulling the carriages, what they are carrying, which ones have been derailed and where they are all going.”

Vicki South from Port Pirie says travelling has been a big part of her life and she is always curious to find out more about the places she visits.

She was motivated to do a podcast for Port Pirie to encourage travellers to turn off the highway and venture in to explore the town.

“Being a local Port Piriean I’ve repeatedly heard travellers say ‘I’ve driven past Port Pirie for years: I thought I’d stop in this time, I didn’t realise there

was so much to see and do here!’ Vicki says.

The Port Pirie podcast includes interviews with an 82-year-old retired locomotive driver, and a member of an old Italian fishing family.

Ursula and Jacquie von der Borch and Carol Ackland took time out from their work in developing a creative arts hub at Orroroo to help create a podcast for their town.

“Orroroo is a vibrant little town hiding in plain sight as a town that a lot of people have to drive through to get to the Flinders Ranges, or when driving from Sydney to Perth,” Ursula says.

“We wanted people to stop and see what we have to offer.”

The Orroroo podcast is jam-packed with fun facts about Orroroo past and present and shares a fascinating story of locally produced butter gaining the nod of approval from Queen Victoria.

And that place to refresh your soul?

Well, that is Bundaleer Forest, just south of Jamestown.

The podcast shares the inspirational story of the Bundaleer Forest community which stopped private sale of this precious part of the planet, built a nature playground, BBQ and $1 million event venue.

It also shares how travellers who fall in love with Bundaleer can become part of the My Bundaleer community to ensure the cultural and environmental gem can be freely enjoyed now and for generations to come.

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Port Pirie podcaster Vicki South with Peter Millbank, chairman of the Port Pirie branch of the National Trust.

Lorraine and Kath Mortimer in the Serendipity Garden at Redhill.

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Spring, 2022

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Valley Magazine

Living the dream with ‘lovable’ ships of the desert

FROM DANCE TO DUST Words: Gabrielle Hall Photos: Jennifer Mannell, Jessica Clark

An impatient American tourist, a hungry camel and fate intervened in Karen Ellis’s budding professional dance career.

But things perhaps could not have turned out any better for the woman who grew up in Adelaide’s inner eastern suburbs, because it also meant she found her destiny, her husband and the opportunity to live “the dream”.

With husband Paul, Karen runs Camel Treks Australia, the only camel trekking company remaining in the southern hemisphere where guests can still ride atop the camels.

From the 1500 square kilometre Beltana Station in the Flinders Ranges, itself the base of Australia’s rich, early camel history, the pair and a team of lovable camels and cameleers welcome in guests from all corners to experience the beauty and changing terrain of the ancient landscape.

“When people think of camel safaris, they’re thinking sand dunes and that desert safari experience,” Karen said.

“We do offer that but we’re also trekking in an area that’s 930 square kilometres of quite beautiful mixed terrain of flood and gibber plains, dry creek beds lined with river red gums.

“There are also kilometres of orange/ red sand dunes, varying in height from just a little bump to dunes that are 30-metres high, as well as sand dunes lined with casuarina and she-oak trees and birds, and it’s far from sparse.

“Longer journeys take in Lake Torrens, the second largest salt lake in the southern hemisphere, second to Lake Eyre, from one of the only access points to the national park which makes it even more special and unique for our guests being maybe one of only 60 people that might make it out there in a year.

“And if you’re walking along the top of the ridges of the sand dunes you’ve got these amazing, beyond 180-degree views – almost like a fish-eye lens - of sweeping ranges from around Leigh Creek all the way down to the central Flinders Ranges with views of Wilpena Pound and the Mt Deception Range.

“It’s eye-candy that’s for sure.”

And, most likely, if it were not for that impatient American tourist, Karen may not be immersed in it all today.

Having gone interstate chasing a dance career, Karen drove past a horse and camel farm with a sign out the front saying “worker wanted”.

With not much experience other than a few joy rides outside of the South Australian Museum as a child, Karen still somehow felt compelled to stop.

“In life there are key pivotal moments where one thing underpins the destiny or pathway that we end up finding ourselves on and I got a job working with this company,” Karen said.

“An American lady turned up with some friends wanting a camel ride.

“My boss was out on another tour and I said there’s no more camels to ride.

“This was a bright, sunny Saturday and she said ‘well can you get me a camel that I can pat?’

“We only had young camels that had Karen Ellis can’t imagine life without camels. just come out of the desert, but I said ok

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Spring, 2022

Valley Magazine

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Spectacular sunsets await trekkers as they unwind in the Flinders Ranges.

Karen and Paul Ellis get back to basics. and put a rope around the camel and led it in with a biscuit of lucerne.

“As I was walking backwards, watching the camel and luring it in with the lucerne, the American lady yelled out ‘will you hurry up?’ and I turned around, and with the food now out of the camel’s eye it trampled me and badly injured my shoulder.

“I lost my job teaching movement, ballet and modern contemporary dance.”

But she ‘won’ herself a job at the camel farm and, despite no running water or electricity, it amazingly was an easy lifestyle for Karen to settle into.

“My boss said it’s fine, just wash at the beach and in the lake,” she said.

“I did that for three years and I’ve got to say, while it wasn’t the way I was raised, I bloody loved it.”

It was a move that sealed her destiny.

While there, Karen was asked to compete in a camel race with some sheiks in attendance, her now husband Paul was also there, working for a safari company in Adelaide, and it did not take long before they realised they were a match.

Fast forward, and they now have three adult children, who still help out at Beltana when time allows, and it has been camels that has given this family a life like no other.

“We’ve travelled the world with camels,” Karen said.

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Karen and Paul’s trekking business.

But they are far more than that - each of these lovable characters are part of their family, and Karen said she just could not imagine her life without camels.

“They’re just amazing,” she said.

“I can’t ever imagine getting tired of them, they’ve got such massive personalities and they’re as unique as any family member or friends.

“They’re highly intelligent, they’re an incredibly robust animal with a huge link to Australia’s prosperity.

“I think most people expect camels will be spitty, bitey creatures but they’re anything but that.

“People do tell us we’re living the dream here.

“We have certainly lived a very unconventional life, but it’s been magic.

I definitely don’t think I would want to be anywhere else and our camels are absolutely loved, they’re part of our family.”

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“Paul and I have both worked with Austrade, I’ve trained and loaded camels on big cargo flights on my own, I’ve sold camels to sheiks in the UAE (United Arab Emirates), been the guest of royal families in the UAE and India.

“I have judged camel competitions in India, and we’ve trekked with nomads, normally every year, in Mongolia, India and the Sahara.

“We’ve become a global camel company, not just focussed on camels in Australia.

“And homage to the old camel men that taught us. These very generous men who were hard and firm on us, but in a very loving capacity.”

The Ellis family have run Camel Treks Australia from Beltana Station – which is owned by an Adelaide-based family - full time since 2013, and before that also ran camel rides on the Fleurieu Peninsula.

Karen and Paul were drawn to Beltana for its beauty and its camel heritage, and by arrangement with the owners have made a base for their unique tour company.

Home to Sir Thomas Elder, a key character in SA’s pastoral history (also a philanthropist, politician and racehorse owner/breeder) for more than 50 years, Beltana also attracted the likes of Elder’s brother-in-law Robert Barr Smith (businessman and philanthropist), and

other historical figures like expedition leaders Charles Sturt, Tom McDougall, Cecil Madigan and John Flynn, who often launched expeditions from there using camels.

“Elder got the idea for camels in 1861 when he bumped into John McDougall out at Lake Frome and he had a camel or two from the Burke and Wills expedition and Elder saw and heard about how good they were in the desert landscape,” Karen said.

“He hired one of the outstation managers, Samuel Stuckey, to go overseas and bring back camels with their handlers and that was achieved in 1866 when the very first Afghan cameleers arrived with Afghan camels.”

Beltana Station became a breeding station for camels and helped settlement forge ahead, assisting with the delivery of stores to out stations, exploration, mining and building of the railway line between Adelaide and Alice Springs.

These days they are the mainstay of

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Valley Magazine

Like Laura for chocolate Words: Jennifer Johnston Photos: Robyn-Ann Potanin

T

he best part about meeting a business owner-operator like David Medlow Smith in a small regional town, is the time he takes to share a story (or three).

Even though I’m on holiday visiting my friend, who lives in Laura’s Old Brewery around the corner from David’s CocoLaura confectionery shop, I cannot help myself with asking questions.

When I accompanied my friend, Robyn-Ann, to CocoLaura and met David for the first time, I immediately recognised he likes a chat - and I’m one who loves a story.

In 1979, David was the export manager for South Australian fruit bar business, Bellis Fruit Bars. The Bellis company sent him overseas to help promote some of their fruit-based products to the UK and European market. It was in England where David tasted his first pectin jelly – a lime jelly baby. David claims it was unlike anything he’d ever tasted.

“Trying my first pectin jelly was a watershed moment that defined the rest of my life,” he says.

After two years, David and his wife Sharon returned to Australia, settling

in Melbourne. David resigned from Bellis and was lecturing at Swinburne University. In his spare time, he pursued a quest: to create the ‘perfect’ pectin jelly.

Five years it took for David to find the right consistency with his version of the pectin jelly. They quickly became sought after, so the couple opened a business called Medlow’s Fine Gels.

“It was a very small business operating out of our kitchen,” David says.

By 1993, their business, re-named as Medlow Confectionary, had grown.

But, with family in Adelaide, David and Sharon wanted to return to South Australia. When the District Council of Willunga encouraged them to set up at a local winery in McLaren Vale - Middlebrook Estate - the Medlows moved, happy to utilise the readymade facilities in an unused barrel storeroom.

Their confectionary business expanded.

“We employed 26 people in the factory,” David. “We had manufacturing and a retail store under the same roof.”

David continued experimenting with pectin jelly, eventually creating the much-loved version he trademarked, ‘Pecktons’. In a region renowned for wine, David Medlow Chocolates flourished.

But after nine years working 12hour days, seven days per week, David

Liquer chocolates made lovingly on the premises. and Sharon wanted a change. They split the business into two: retail and wholesale. They sold the manufacturing and wholesale side, continuing in a retail-oriented version of David Medlow chocolates.

“This was more interesting and less onerous for us,” says David. “We got more into the chocolates and less into the jellies for a while,” adds Sharon.

One of their popular lines are the Cointreau chocolate liqueurs. The French company Cointreau deemed David’s and Sharon’s Cointreau liqueur chocolates “the best in the world.” David proudly

tells us that in 2005 he and Sharon were invited for three nights as special guests to the Cointreau establishment in Paris. A memorable highlight in their busy lives.

The couple continued to grow the retail business, with a national distributor, but after 15 years they called it quits and sold David Medlow Chocolates.

The couple moved to Adelaide and Sharon returned to university to study for an MBA. David lectured in marketing at a couple of SA universities. At Sharon’s graduation ceremony David decided he wanted to do the same and studied for an MBA, graduating in 2007.

Then, Sharon’s cousin and her husband came to visit the Medlows in Adelaide. They asked if there were any of their favourite Peckton jellies in the cupboard. There weren’t!

“I had my laboratory equipment, so it was easy for me to make them a batch of raspberry jellies,” says David.

They saw David’s pure joy with making the jellies. When the husband said, “I can see this is unfinished business for you,” David realised he missed the confectionary world. It was time to give away the University lecturing and return to confectionary. David bought their old company back from the liquidators for a token amount.

Sharon and David missed the country

New shearing shed Panorama coming soon

PANORAMIC LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS Merchandise available including Jeff’s artwork,

both original and prints, rock specimens, unique gift/souvenir ideas, Australiana books, Christian books, educational gifts for children & handcrafted jewellery.

Painted Panoramas Rock Collections Model Cars Memorabilia

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Monday - Saturday 9:30am - 4pm.

61 Craddock Road, Hawker, SA 5434 | jeffmorgangallery.com.au E: jeffmorgangallery@dodo.com.au | P: 8648 4071

E: je

Spring, 2022

Valley Magazine

David Medlow at work in the kitchen with apprentice, Lily.

life they’d enjoyed on their five acres in McLaren Vale.

Laura was a perfect location, only a few hours from Adelaide and the halfway point on the way to the Flinders Ranges.

“An ideal place for tourists to stop and stretch their legs,” he says. They intended to retire in Laura.

But they purchased a derelict shop on the main street in 2014.

“We were getting more and more requests to make our product, so we bought a shop, to live in the back and use the shop front as a retail outlet,” says David. In 2015 they renovated it.

The shop dates to 1889. It was the home of the Laura Standard (the local newspaper). According to local history, David learnt the room they now call the chocolate room was where Australian author and poet, CJ Dennis published one of his first poems.

“We’re not historical, we’re hysterical,” says David, deadpan in his delivery.

Inside CocoLaura, glass cabinets and shelves showcase a range of handcrafted sweet treats and liqueur chocolates made lovingly on the premises. Their liqueur chocolates are all infused with pectin.

“It took two years to create our special liqueur chocolates,” says David proudly.

“We’ve perfected the art of putting liqueur into the centre of chocolate without the sugar crust like the Belgians do. As far as I know I’ve never seen anyone else in the world do anything like what we do.”

And how he does that remains the David Medlow Smith ‘secret’.

David invites us into the chocolate room, a commercial kitchen to the side

55

of the store front. Using tongs David passes me one of his freshly made Pectin Jellies. For the uninitiated (and I was one) the first taste of one of David Medlow’s Pecktons is memorable. Sweet but fruity with a burst of flavour.

As I’m enjoying this sweet treat, David tells one of his favourite stories about two women who were standing in the kitchen area like us.

“After trying one of my Cointreau Liqueur chocolates I thought she was having an orgasm,” says David chuckling at the memory.

“It was like that scene from the movie, When Harry met Sally.”

I almost spat out my pectin jelly laughing at this unexpected tale.

At 83, you’d easily understand David slowing down in his ninth decade around the sun. Not David Medlow Smith!

“I work six days in my chocolate shop making and selling my chocolates and jellies. On Monday, when the shop is closed, I work in my garden,” he says.

“And on the eighth day I rest.”

When two local cafes in the main street closed last year, the Medlows seized the opportunity and added ‘a little extra’ to CocoLaura. They’ve built an undercover alfresco space adjacent to the shop for people to sit and enjoy a coffee and chocolate.

“Chocolate and jellies are our core business,” says Sharon. “The ‘extras’ are more for tourists and locals.”

They also sell a selection of gelatos.

“Life is not a dress rehearsal,” says David, eyes sparkling brightly. “Life is for living, just get up every morning and have a go.”

THE PERFECT LOCATION FOR YOUR NEXT HOLIDAY

Centrally located in the Northern Flinders Ranges, close to many local tourist locations such as the Ediacara Fossil Site at Nilpena, Arkaroola and Lake Eyre.

Book your trip today!

Large range of accommodation from motel rooms to cabins with excellent amenities including our fitness centre, bottle shop and bar.

Restaurant offers all day dining (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner)

25 Black Oak Drive, Leigh Creek SA - 8675 2025

www.leighcreekresort.com.au

Specialising in New Homes Commercial Construction Renovations | Concreting SJM Builders are ATLAS Certified for Quality Environmental & Occupational Health & Safety Management System.

8842 1639 | www.sjmbuilders.com.au

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