 About the Region: The Mid North takes in the Clare and Barossa Valleys, the central wheatbelt, the eastern section of South Australia's Copper Belt and the Southern Flinders Ranges. With the exception of Burra's copper mining heritage and the region's two major wine regions - the Barossa and Clare Valleys - the points of interest in this area are not well known and in the main are less obvious. But for those willing to take to the intricate network of back roads that criss-cross the region, there are some wonderful villages, ruins and abandoned settlements with long-forgotten stories to tell, just waiting to be discovered and enjoyed.
For example, there is the little town of Terowie, once a vital railway centre which has been allowed to mellow into quiet obscurity, largely unaltered since its heydey. It was on its station platform that General Douglas McArthur stood after emerging from the war-ravaged Asian islands in 1942 and made his famous "I will return" speech to the waiting ears of the world. The village of Booleroo Centre, with its amazing collection of 50 tractors and 100 stationery steam engines, holds a Steam and Traction Rally every march. The legendary horse and rodeo rider, Curio and Alan Woods, are remembered at Marrabel; the old Bank of Adelaide building in Caltowie is the only reminder that the town centre is today not where it used to be.
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| Canowie Belt church ruins |
Terowie Station |
Curio and Alan Woods, Marrabel |
Australian poet and writer CJ Dennis, of 'The Sentimental Bloke' fame, is remembered with a statue in his hometown of Laura; Eudunda was the birthplace of world-renowned author Colin Thiele (Storm Boy, Sun on the Stubble), whose bronzed statue (by Chris Radford) is in the Centenary Gardens. The ruins of an old church are all that remains of the village of Canowie Belt; the general store frequented by mens outfitter RM Williams as a child is the only building still standing at Belalie North. The book, Flinders Ranges and Mid North by Stuart Nicol, is an invaluable guide to unlocking the secrets of this fascinating region and is recommended if you plan to explore the region in any detail.
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| Barossa Valley church |
Farmhouse ruins near Burra |
Spring Creek mine, Melrose |
How to Get There: to visit the coastal regions, drive north from Adelaide along Port Wakefield Road via Gepps Crossing, towards Port Augusta.
To visit the Barossa Valley, take Great North Road at Gepps Crossing, passing through Elizabeth and Gawler to Hewett. At Hewett, take Sturt Highway Greenoch, Nuriootpa and Truro. Alternatively, take Barossa Valley Way at Gawler to visit Lyndoch, Tanunda, Angaston and Nuriootpa.
To visit the Clare Valley and towns in the Wheatbelt and Copper Belt, continue on the Main North Road at Hewett and follow the signs to the towns you wish to visit.
At Giles Corner, take the Barrier Highway to visit Burra, Hallett, Terowie and Peterborough. Alternatively, continue on the Main North Road to the Clare Valley wine region and towns in the northern Wheatbelt/Southern Flinders Ranges.
Best Time To Go: The climate is typically Mediterranean with cool winters May to August ranging through 10-18 degrees, and warm to hot dry summers November to March ranging through 24-35 degrees. Coastal areas tend to have minimum winter temperatures that are several degrees warmer than those recorded by the inland regions, whereas in summer the opposite occurs.
Autumn to spring is the best time to visit when the weather is mild and vegetation and wildlife thriving. Summer visits can be rewarding, too, provided your activities are tailored to weather conditions and extra care is taken in preparation.
Barossa Valley
Clare Valley
Wheatbelt/Copper Belt
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Natural Attractions
- Tanunda: North Para River; Jacobs Creek; Sandy Creek Conservation Park
- Clare: Neagles Rock Lookout; Clare Valley
- Balaklava: Devils Gardens Reserve (7km east); The Rocks Reserve
- Eudunda: Eudundacowie Springs; Tothill Ranges (10 km west)
- Snowtown: Lake Bumbunga
- Port Pirie: Gulf St. Vincent; Weeroona Island; Telowie Gorge (24 km north east); Germein Gorge
- Jamestown: Bundaleer Forest (the world's first radiata pine plantation)
- Melrose: Mt. Remarkable National Park; Cathedral Rock; Bald Hill Lookout
- Port Germein: Telowie Gorge Conservation Park; Germein Gorge
- Port Broughton: Mundoora Conservation Park (17 km north-west)
- Para Wirra: Para Wirra Recreation Reserve
- Penwortham: Spring Gully Conservation Park (5 km west)
- Williamstown: Hale Conservation Park (2 km south); Warren Conservation Park (6 km south)
Historic Places
- Nuriootpa: Coulthard House (1855); Luhrs Pioneer German Cottage (1848, built by the first German schoolteacher in the Barossa Valley, JH Luhrs)
- Angaston: Yalumba Winery (founded by Samuel Smith in 1847); Saltram Winery (founded by Englishman William Salter in 1859); 'Collingrove' Homestead, once the home of the Angas family (7 km south-east); Lutheran Church (1854); Uniting Church, Vestry, Sunday School Hall and Long Stable (1861-87)
- Tanunda: Chateau Tanunda (founded in 1889); Barossa Wine and Visitor Centre; Basedow Wines (1896); Stanley Lambert Winery (1994); Richmond Grove (1897); Peter Lehmann Wines (1979); Old Barn Wines (1990, old barn built in 1861); Langmeil Winery (1932); Tabor Lutheran Church (1849, the first in the village, rebuilt 1871); Langmeil Lutheran Church (1888); St. John's Lutheran Church (1868); Auricht's printing office (1855); Post Office Museum (1866); Rieschiek House (1858-60); Bowling Alley (c.1860)
- Bethany: Barossa Pioneer Memorial, Menglers Hill; Pioneer Cemetery; Lutheran Church (1883)
- Lyndoch: Chateau Yaldara Estate (established in 1947 by the German winemaker, Hermann Thumm); Keis Estate Cellars (building, 1880s)
- Rowland Flat: Orlando Wines (1850); Lyndoch Hotel (1869): Holy Trinity Church (1861)
- Truro: ruins of Wheale Barton Copper Mine
- Clare: Bungaree Station (12 km north, established 1841); Clare Court House; Old Clareville Museum; Old Police Station Museum (1850); Wolta Wolta homestead (1846); 'Bleak House (1870s); Electricity Trust Building (AMP Society Office, 1917); Mill Street/Old North Road cottage (c.1872); Clare Library (1871); Enterprise Winery (1878); 'Hope' Cottage (1850); Main House, Coach House and Stables, Hill River Station (1849); St. Michael's Church of England (1864, 12 km north)
- Mintaro: Robinson's Cottage (1851); Martindale Hall (1879-1880, featured in the film, 'Picnic at Hanging Rock'); Magpie & Stump Hotel (1851); Council chambers; historic bullock stables; Reilly's Cottage Gallery and Wines (1870s); Teapot Inn; The Old Manse; Pay Office Cottage; The Mintaro Institute (1878); Mintaro Mews; Olde Devonshire Arms (1856); ' Kadlunga' (c.1874); St. Mark's Church of England (1850-51); State Heritage Area information
- Auburn: Post Office (1861-74); Auburn Institute & Town Hall (1866); Court House & Police Station Museum (1859); Rising Sun Hotel (1851); Lutheran church (1869); former Corn Mart (1878); Catholic Church (built for the Methodists, 1866); Uniting Church (1861-6); St. John's Anglican Church (1862)
- Eudunda: Eudunda Emporium and Trading Post (c.1876); Family Heritage Gallery
- Kapunda: Kapunda Museum (1866); Bagots Fortune Museum (Herald Printing Office, 1866); ANZ Bank (formerly the Bank of Adelaide, 1866); Kidman Buildings (1909); North Kapunda Hotel (1866); 'Eringa', the home of Sir Sidney Kidman (Kapunda High School); mine chimney and shafts (1852); Kapunda Open Cut Mine and Mine Lookout; Mine Square Cottages (1845 to 1849)
- Port Wakefield: Port Wakefield Historic Walk; Police Station (1858); former Commercial Bank building (c.1877); Clinton Conservation Park (10 km west)
- Crystal Brook: National Trust Museum (1875)
- Port Pirie: National Trust Museum (Old Customs House, 1875); Carn Brae residence (c.1905); New Customs House (1880); Family Hotel Facade (1904); Railway Station (1901-02)
- Peterborough: Ley's Museum; Rann's Museum; Steamtown Peterborough Railway Preservation Society Museum and tourist railway (containing Australia's only remaining triple gauge turntable and roundhouse); Gold battery
- Burra: Burra Creek Miners' Dugout; former Post Office, Kooranga; Peacock's Chimney; Burra Mine Open Air Museum; Morphett's Engine House Museum (1857); heritage buildings (township); Heritage Bon Accord Mining area and Complex (1846); Redruth Gaol (1857); Burra Market Square Museum; Malowen Lowarth cottages (1849-52). State Heritage Area information
- Melrose: blacksmith's shop; Post Office (1865-66); Court House and Police Station (1862); Jacka's Brewery (1878); 'Willow Springs' Woolshed (c.1850); 'Dingham Cottage (c.1860); Keating Cottage (c.1859); Mt. Remarkable Hotel (1857)
- Wirrabarra: Copper Mine Chimney
- Laura: former Court House (1877); hotel; stone hut (c.1847)
- Canowie: ruins and abandoned buildings of the villages of Canowie Belt, Belalie North and Yongala
- Terowie: Imperial Hotel; Terowie Institute; historic railway station
- Riverton: Scholz Park Museum; former Blacksmith and Wheelwright's Shop (c.1867)
Wine Regions
Misc. Attractions
- Nuriootpa: Kaiser Stuhl Conservation Park
- Angaston: Angas Park Fruit Co
- Lyndoch: South Australian Museum of Mechanical Music; Barossa Reservoir and Whispering Wall
- Eudunda: Statue of Colin Thiele and the pelican from 'Storm Boy'; Eudunda Toy Soldier Museum
- Kapunda: Map Kernow (means 'Son of Cornwall'), an 8 metre statue of a Cornish miner
- Crystal Brook: The Big Goanna; Laura (32 km north east), the boyhood home of C.J. Dennis, author of The Songs of A Sentimental Bloke
- Gladstone: Gladstone Gaol
- Orroroo: Yesteryear Costume Gallery; Pekina Creek Aboriginal rock art; Wepowie Creek Historic Reserve containing Aboriginal engravings (14 km south)
- Pekina: Magnetic Hill
- Burra: Baldina and Burra Creek fossil site
- Melrose: swing bridge; Dog-ears Line marker
- Laura: Dick Biles Gallery; statue of C.J. Dennis
- Terowie: Ketchowla Historic Reserve containing Aboriginal engravings and paintings (30 km south-east)
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Sevenhill: Sevenhill Cellars (established in 1851 by the Jesuits and is still run by them); St. Aloysius Church and Jesuit Monastery
Journeys
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| Regions of South Australia |
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