One reason we came to Adelaide and South Australia was to visit an old Holden friend, Paul Kretschmer and his family, in the above mentioned Wirrabarra. Our three hour drive north took us through beautiful countryside, including the wine-rich Clare Valley. It also took us through many areas where fire had blazed through, as recently as a couple months ago. Fire is a hazard all through Australia. We’ve been impressed, though, with the ways in which informaton and material is given to people to prepare them for fire. It’s quite thorough and straight-forward and lets people know the speed and danger of fire and that it’s not to be ignored.
We arrive at Taralee Orchards around 1 p.m. - just in time for lunch! It was lovely to see Paul again and to meet Denise and also Marie, their “Wwoofer.” Wwoof” stands for Wordwide Workers on Organic Farms, or Willing Workers on Organic Farms. In the 15 + years the Kretschmers have had their orchards and farm, they’ve had help from all over to assist with all the work. Marie is from Germany, and she was delightful! Lunch helped us get oriented to the the farm and the area. After lunch, we got right into the action, helping Marie package dried fruit for sale.
After lunch we wandered around the farm. What a beautiful place. They have several gardens, many chickens, 4 roosters, a few cows and sheep, and dog named Jet (who came with us on our walk), and their extensive stone fruit orchards. Their main products are the stone fruits, both fresh and dried, and many related items such as an amazingly delicious corn relish, among other things. It is quite an operation, all totally organic, all done by hand, and with a wonderful community spirit. Their sales include the usual wholesale, but they also go to weekly farmers’ markets throughout the region.
On the farm they do B and B with two lovely cottages. The one closest to their house - Apricot Cottage - was being remodeled while we were there, and we walked up the hill to Ruby Cottage, a lovely place with a wonderful view. We also walked down the road from their place a bit, through beautiful forest.
A terrible fire came through their area in 2014. They successfully defended their property, but were also fortunate in that the wind shifted at the last minute so that the fire did not continue their way. There were many properties burned in this fire and it was a hard time all around. The community had put together a book of people’s stories of the fire, and Renae Kretschmer wrote a wonderful piece about the fire at Taralee. She had also put together a picture book for their family of what had happened there. Paul said, given the hard work she was doing to defend against the fire, he didn’t know how she managed to have time to take pictures!
In the early evening, Sue and Trevor Lange arrived on their way back to south of Adelaide from Western Australia. Sue is Denise’s sister. It was very enjoyable to meet them. We all had dinner together out on the veranda - still warm enough to do that, even at the beginning Autumn - and enjoyed steaks from their own cattle. The Kretschmer son Raymon did the honors at the BBQ, and it was delicious! A wonderful day all around.
The next day we all gathered for breakfast at 8:30, and then Denise, Renae, and Marie all headed off for a sports day for Renae’s school. She is a track star! Later we heard from Paul that she had won 5 of her first 6 events and was well on track to once again win the individual over all award. We helped clean up, visited some with Sue and Trevor, and then later helped Paul slice fruit (peaches and plums) for the drier.
After lunch and another good conversation, we finally said farewell and headed back towards Adelaide. Our time at Taralee was really exceptional, and we are so glad we arranged to make this visit.
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