Nuriootpa, Barossa Valley: Travel guide and things to do

Located 270 metres above sea level and 76 km from Adelaide, Nuriootpa (the name is reputedly an Aboriginal word meaning 'meeting place') is recognised as the commercial centre of the Barossa Valley. It is a substantial and rapidly growing centre with a population in excess of 3,000 people which services the 42 wineries which exist in the area. Perhaps the most immediate impression on the visitor is the fact that vines seem to grow everywhere down the main street on shops old and new. It is a vine town.

Prior to European settlement a small number of Aborigines were well established in the district. They lived on a diet of grass seeds (made into a kind of damper), kangaroos, wallabies, possums, lizards and fish and protected themselves against the winter cold with possum skin rugs. Their life was simple but perfectly in tune with the climate, flora and fauna of the region. Periodically they would gather to exchange goods and to engage in complex social rituals. It is believed that Nuriootpa was one of the major gathering points in South Australia.

Soon after the arrival of colonists in South Australia in July, 1836 expeditions were sent out to explore the hinterland. By December 1837 explorers had reached Lyndoch and by 1838 other explorers had reached the Murray River passing through the Barossa Valley. The valley was named by Colonel Light after Barrosa (Hill of Roses) in Spain where he had fought against the French in 1811 in the Peninsula War. The spelling mistake was never corrected.

By 1839 Colonel Light, the Surveyor General of South Australia, was selling off large tracts of land in the valley. The area around Nuriootpa was sold to George Angas and became known for a short time as Angas Park.

The town grew quite dramatically in the 1840s with the discovery of copper at Kapunda. It became an important stopover point for miners and bullock drivers on their way from Adelaide. It was this increase in trade which saw William Coulthard build the Red Lion hotel (a slab hut) in 1843 to slake the thirst of the passing trade. It was around the Red Lion that the town grew. Coulthard laid out the town in 1854 and by 1855 he was so successful that he had built himself a beautiful bluestone mansion.

Today Nuriootpa is a mixture of the old and the new. It has an appealing main street and in the spring and autumn the vines give it greater appeal that most other service towns.

Things to see

Coulthard House
Located on the corner of Murray St and Penrice Rd this beautiful building was constructed by William Coulthard in 1855. Built of local bluestone it is superb example of an elegant building from the mid-nineteenth century. It used to be the town's information centre. It is now the National Office of the Apex Clubs of Australia.

When it was the Tourist Information Office it had a caravan outside which had been built in 1931. It is particularly fascinating being made from such unusual materials as pressed metal (which was on the outside).

Luhrs Pioneer German Cottage
To the west of Nuriootpa is the tiny settlement of Lights Pass (named after Colonel Light). It is noted for its two Lutheran churches (a reminder of the strong German influence in the valley) and Luhrs Pioneer German Cottage. This fascinating historic cottage is open most days from 10.00 a.m. - 4.00 p.m. It was built in 1848 by the first German schoolteacher in the Barossa Valley, J. H. Luhrs, and is now on display with an interesting collection of German artefacts.