Clare 8-10 May 2006

Visited some more historical sites around Burra then set off for Clare. The countryside is slowly changing the further west we went. By the time we got to Clare, the rolling hills were abundant with the autumn vine leaves. We settled into splendid isolation at the local race course for the night. In the morning we had a tour of Claire, which is well known for fine wines. Heather bought a bottle of Heather’s Homestyle Illawarra Plum Sauce. The weather hasn’t improved and is still wet and cold, but we are extremely warm and comfortable in our home. We were very cheered by the release of the miners from Beaconsfield though the media went on a bit. However, in the afternoon we heard sirens and later that day caught the news of the explosion at Beetaloo near the town of Laura about 50km from us. We were thinking of calling in at Laura this week though it might now be inappropriate. We do chop and change our plans along the way.
On Wednesday we drove down to Mintaro in the 4WD. While we were apprehensive about towing a car, it has been very helpful in getting us to isolated places. Mintaro was a delightful hamlet, built in the mid 1800’s. Mintaro was reputed to produce the best slate in Australia and many of the buildings were beautifully built out of stone with a slate roof. One of the highlights of the trip was the visit to Martindale House, an amazing Georgian mansion. The mansion was owned by two families and was very intact, with all original furniture. This stately house was used in the filming of Picnic at Hanging Rock. We recognised lots of bits when we found a lovely book of photos from the movie. Quite an iconic movie to connect us with this beautiful house. In the afternoon we visited the Seven Hill Vineyard, which was founded by the Jesuits in 1851. This was everything a vineyard should be, with a chapel, crypt, underground cellar and a beautiful cat by the fire. It was a very substantial set up with the beauty of time passed.