Sunday 8 to Tuesday 10 November 2015: Post-conference tour
‘Back to Burra – Mines & Vines’
 |
 |
The guided Post-conference tour begins with a journey straight back to the beginnings of the heritage movement in Australia, to Burra. Just two hours north of Adelaide, in South Australia’s Mid-North, the town of Burra is a historic timepiece with a rich early mining and pastoral history. Buses will leave at 4:15pm after the finish of the conference on Sunday.
On the way we call in on the slate-quarrying town of Mintaro where we have dinner at the ‘Magpie & Stump’ Hotel. Then post dinner drinks in the grounds of the magnificent nearby Martindale Hall, the setting for the 1975 Peter Weir classic Australian film ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’. Then it’s on to Burra spending the first of two nights in the 1840s Paxton Square former mining workers cottages.
Monday will focus on expert guided tours of Burra’s unique and rustic charms and begins with a hearty country breakfast provided by the Burra Mens’ Shed. Truly ‘frozen in time’, Burra survives in the folds of the rolling hills on the edge of a marginal landscape. The town provides a unique tourist experience, mixing Cornish mining heritage, exploited landscapes, wine and regional food. From the Burra Creek bank ‘dugouts’, once home to many eager miners and their families, to the main streets of respectable stone buildings, Burra is a town of contrasts and history.
“The Burra State Heritage Area is of significance to the economic and social history of South Australia, and is a testament to the success of copper mining in the area. In the late 1840s, the Burra Mine made South Australia the most prosperous colony in Australia. At one stage the mine was the second largest producer of copper in the world. Comprising the mining area and a complex of what were originally separate townships which are now merged into one, the area provides evidence of early mining, industrial and urban functions with Welsh and Cornish influences”. (Burra State Heritage Area Register entry)
On the Tuesday we will travel back to Adelaide through the gorgeous scenery of the Clare the Barossa Valleys, two of Australia’s premium wine growing regions. We will see the historic towns of Clare, Penwortham and Leasingham stopping at the historic Sevenhill Winery, home of the Jesuit religious order and their historic winery. After, we travel to 1860s Kapunda, an early Cornish mining town and pastoral centre, then on to the historic Anlaby Station for lunch at the unique homestead and gardens. After lunch we travel to the adjacent Barossa Valley, where we will experience Seppeltsfeld’s iconic avenue of tall palms and unique complex of 19th century bluestone winery buildings. Recent adaptation work to the tasting cellar and artists’ studios provide a dynamic setting for afternoon tea and perhaps a wine or two to finish the day. Tour buses will return to Adelaide via the airport at 4.30pm then city hotels.