Oldest town on the Limestone Coast
With the arrival of warm weather, it meant that my exploration of South Australia could go south from Adelaide. (I'm not a cold weather explorer!) In recent years Penola has achieved a more prominent place in the local tourist map. The town was the first settled by Europeans in the area that's known as the Limestone Coast tourist region. The area is low lying and millions of years ago had been flooded by the sea, the limestone deposits were created by coral and other sea life. (Research!) The area has caves, sinkholes and the higher areas around Mt. Gambier has craters.
Penola is an easy 4 hour drive from Adelaide and about 5 hours from Melbourne. I think the last time I had been to Penola was when I was a child, 9 year old me wasn't all that impressed. It was a small place compared to Naracoorte where we were holidaying. So I was ready to explore the town as an adult!
Statue of Alexander Cameron in Penola's main street, next to the hotel he established, the Royal Oak.
The current version of the Royal Oak Hotel and the Telegraph station.
The original Royal Oak Hotel was just a simple wooden structure, by the 1870s the town had prospered and Alexander Cameron engaged an architect (who designed all the major buildings in the town) and the grand Victoria era hotel that's there now was opened in 1873. Just in time for the local races, a peak trading period!
The Woods MacKillop Schoolhouse
Donald McDonald house
The stop for the Cobb and Co coach
Poets' Corner in the main street
Riddoch highway through the Coonawarra
Leconfield Wines
The Leconfield Winery is open for wine tasting, they opened a new cellar door in July this year.
Highbank
Penola was first settled by a Scot, Alexander Cameron. He had come to the area in 1845, having applied for an occupation lease to run his sheep. Three years later he built the Royal Oak Hotel, and by 1850 he bought the land around the hotel, freehold and subdivided it to found the town of Penola.
The original Royal Oak Hotel was just a simple wooden structure, by the 1870s the town had prospered and Alexander Cameron engaged an architect (who designed all the major buildings in the town) and the grand Victoria era hotel that's there now was opened in 1873. Just in time for the local races, a peak trading period!
Alexander Cameron employed his niece, Mary MacKillop, to be a governess to his children, and it was in Penola where she met the local priest Julian Tenison Woods and she founded the order of nuns called the Sisters of St. Joseph and the Sacred Heart. The first school house has now been restored and the Mary MacKillop Interpretive Centre is next to it.
The Woods MacKillop Schoolhouse
Donald McDonald was Mary MacKillop's maternal uncle, her mother's brother. He and his wife Eliza took on the licence of the Royal Oak Hotel from 1861 to 1880. (The hotel established by Mary's paternal uncle, keeping it all in the family!) In 1930 the house became a private hospital until 1955 when the Penola hospital opened, it's now a private residence again.
Penola has its own Poets' corner highlighting poets who were either born in Penola or lived in the area for a period of time. The central bust is of Adam Lindsey Gordon who had been stationed in Penola as the local Trooper (Police officer) The bust is a replica of his bust in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey. On the left is William Henry Ogilvie, who was a Scotsman that came to Australia as a 20 year old. He worked around Australia on sheep stations, including in the Penola area. He was a skilled horseman and poet, he wrote bush poetry and was considered in the same league as AB Patterson and Henry Lawson. He returned to Scotland after 11 years in Australia, never to return.
Adam Lindsey Gordon is considered one of Australia's most famous poets, although he was born England, and is the only Australia poet in Westminster Abbey's Poets' Corner.
On the right is John Shaw Neilson who was born in Penola. His family background was such that he spent his life working as a labourer, both he and his father wrote poetry. John's poetry was published in newspapers of the era as well as his own volumes of poems published in book form.
Just north of the town is the Coonawarra district, the strip of red soil land which is famous for its production of red wine.
I didn't have time this trip to really do Coonawarra justice and just had a quick look at 2 wineries in close proximity to each other.
The roses are planted at the end of rows of vines to attract aphids and other insects away from the vines. They also are early warning systems for fungal diseases. Plus they look nice!
The Leconfield Winery is open for wine tasting, they opened a new cellar door in July this year.
Nearby is the smaller Highbank which has tastings by appointment and also offer accommodation in their stone buildings, there's a separate cottage as well as the main villa.
Penola is a great base from which to explore the local area, I managed a trip to Mt. Gambier as well as the Naracoorte caves. It's a nice little town with assorted local shops and cafes, accomodation is easy to find with either more traditional motel style or Airbnb cottages.
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