Stories
Longer reads, travel guides and field notes from the Fleurieu Peninsula.
The Tin Pot Tramway: McLaren Vale's forgotten horse railway
For half a century before the first motor truck rolled into McLaren Vale, a horse-drawn tramway ran from the vineyards down to the jetty at Port Willunga. Locals called it the Tin Pot. Its cuttings, sleepers and earthworks are still in the ground under what is now the Coast to Vines Rail Trail.
April 2026 · 8 min read
The Murray Mouth and the great barrages of Goolwa
Between 1935 and 1940, five massive barrages were built across the lower channels of the Murray to keep the Southern Ocean out of Lake Alexandrina. They are still standing, still working, and still controversial.
April 2026 · 9 min read
McLaren Vale Shiraz: a buyer's guide
McLaren Vale Shiraz has a regional character you can taste in a glass. This guide explains what that character is, where it comes from, the styles to look for, and the cellar doors that consistently make the best examples.
April 2026 · 10 min read
The lighthouse keepers of Cape Jervis
The original Cape Jervis lighthouse was built in 1871 on the windswept headland where the mainland runs out. For a hundred years it was kept by families whose lives ran to the rhythm of the Backstairs Passage weather. The keeper logs read like a soap opera.
April 2026 · 9 min read
McLaren Vale: a complete destination guide
McLaren Vale is the most-visited wine region in South Australia. There are 130+ cellar doors, dozens of restaurants, world-class architecture, beaches at the foot of the vineyards and a long list of things to do that have nothing to do with wine. Here is the complete guide.
April 2026 · 12 min read
The Strathalbyn gold rush nobody remembers
In the winter of 1852, gold was pulled out of a creek near Echunga in quantities that briefly looked like they might make the Mount Barker hills the richest diggings in Australia. Within a year Ballarat had stolen the attention. The Strathalbyn miners' cottages, puddling sites and the bank that held the dust are still there if you know where to look.
April 2026 · 8 min read
The Fleurieu in July: almond blossom, whales and winter fires
Mid-winter is the Fleurieu Peninsula's quietest month and also, quietly, its best. Almond blossom at Willunga, southern right whales in Encounter Bay, cellar-door fires lit from lunchtime, waterfalls at full flow and almost nobody on the roads. Here is the July case.
April 2026 · 8 min read
Vintage in McLaren Vale: what harvest looks like from the visitor side
Vintage is the most interesting time of year to visit McLaren Vale. Pickers at dawn, fermenting-fruit smell drifting through cellar doors, wineries that let visitors stomp grapes, and a whole region running on four hours' sleep. Here is where to see it happen.
April 2026 · 8 min read
The Encounter: when Flinders met Baudin in Encounter Bay
On 8 April 1802, two ships flying flags of opposing empires sighted each other off the Fleurieu coast. The British and French commanders had been mapping the same stretch of unknown coastline for months without knowing the other was there. The bay where they met has been called Encounter Bay ever since.
April 2026 · 10 min read
When the whales return: the opening of the Fleurieu whale season
Every year in late May and early June, the first southern right whales of the season return to Encounter Bay to calve. It is a quiet, tentative arrival after months of absence, and it marks the moment the Fleurieu wildlife calendar turns over. Here is the history of the whales, how they came back, and how to see the first arrivals.
April 2026 · 9 min read
The lost jetties of the Fleurieu
Port Willunga, Second Valley, Yankalilla, Rapid Bay, Normanville — the Fleurieu coastline is dotted with the stumps, pylons and ruined decks of jetties that once loaded slate, grain, wine and passengers for Port Adelaide. Some are still half-standing. Some you can swim or dive through. Here is a photo-trail of what survives.
April 2026 · 9 min read
The Cockle Train: Australia's first public railway
The Goolwa to Port Elliot line was opened in 1854 and is the oldest public railway in mainland Australia. Today it runs as the SteamRanger Cockle Train along the Encounter Coast.
April 2026 · 5 min read