Country Roads

I love getting out on the country road and visiting towns not “TOO” far from Adelaide. I really like heading north and making my way to either The Barossa Valley or The Mid-North. But I was having a look around Google Maps the other day and realised there was a road the shoots straight through the middle of these 2 places, that I had never been to. It is called The Light District and includes the towns of Freeling and Kapunda. So I decided to hit the road and went for a drive up there.

One thing I love when getting out of the city is admiring the rural landscape. Whether that be a farmer ploughing his field or some sheep or cattle grazing, I find it a calming and relaxing experience. So I saw a place called “The Barns of Freeling”, which promoted having Sunflower fields and decided to check it out. I thought it would be cool to see. But unfortunately the fields were bare, and I discovered that the blooming time for Sunflowers are December to March.

But the place still had that rural feel. One thing that caught my eye though were these silos. They looked very similar to something I had seen in rural New Zealand in a town called Little River when I was there back in 2017. They looked like accommodation! But I thought they may be a bit too big. But I looked them up on Google when I got home and sure enough they were not just basic accommodation for backpackers like I had seen in NZ. They are as the website says “Boutique Accommodation Retreats”. Being called “The Barns of Freeling” they have other luxurious accommodation in old rural barns. But be prepared to pay for a nights rest there whether it be in the silos or barns.

The Barossa and Clare Valleys have a rich German and Lutheran heritage. So many of these towns like Kapunda where I headed to next had an abundance of old buildings. I love old architecture. One of the first building that caught my eye though was Kapunda Fire Station. It was nothing fancy but had that old look to it, and is still a fully operational Fire Station.

There were plenty of other old buildings to see

Kapunda Historical Society Museum

Housed in the 1866 Baptist church, which was a technical school from 1948 till the 1960s, it shows the social and commercial history of Kapunda, the oldest copper mining town in Australia.

Soldiers Memorial Hall

Just a few doors down from the Kapunda Historical Society Museum, The Soldiers Memorial Hall is a hall that anyone can hire for any occasion.