Approaching the Limestone Coast, the land becomes red and glowing, similar to the tracts of land in the Outback. But this is fertile land, originally used for sheep and cattle grazing. Its name derives from the bed of limestone which underlies the red earth and provides excellent drainage for the area. It is dotted with small towns, the names of which come from the ancient Aboriginal languages; Kalangadoo and Nangwarry, Penola, Coonawarra and Naracoorte.
The Coonawarra Vineyards
Coonawarra is now one of Australia’s finest wine producing regions. The name means honeysuckle in the local Aboriginal language and the area’s potential for producing grapes was first recognised by a Scot, John Riddoch in the nineteenth century. He had arrived in Australia in 1852 and had been a successful goldminer. He made even more money by investing in a store on the Ballarat goldfields and eventually bought Yallum Station in south-east South Australia for £30,000 in 1861. Realising that the narrow, 27 kilometre seam of rich red earth, the Terra Rossa, and the cool climate were ideal for grape-growing, he planted acres of vines which flourished.
Today the 13,600 acres of vineyards stretch from Bordertown in the north to Kalangadoo, near the southern coast. His grandson, John Riddoch Rymill, was a distinguished polar explorer and his great-grandson, Peter Rymill, established the Rymill Coonawarra Winery in 1990.
Dotted along the main north-south road, the 16 wineries and 23 cellar door outlets provide tempting stops to sample the wines. Cabernet Sauvignon vines make up half of the varieties grown but Shiraz, Chardonnay, Malbec, Pinot Noir and Riesling are also popular. Expert vintners blend different varieties to produce some of the world’s finest reds.
The Naracoorte Caves And Fossil Mammal Site
Thirty miles north of Coonawarra lies one of Australia’s World Heritage areas, the Australian Fossil Mammal site at Naracoorte. The same limestone which provides the drainage for the vines has been eroded here by ground water to form vast underground caverns. The first of these caves to be discovered was the Blanche Cave in 1849 and it immediately became a popular venue for concerts and balls which has continued till the present day. The First Underground Music Festival was held here in 1995 under the auspices of the Arts Council of Australia.
Further caves were discovered and the whole area became a tourist mecca, so much so that in 1885, it was put under Government control and a caretaker appointed. By 1900 eight caves were open to the public and in 1908, the caretaker, William Redden, discovered the Alexandra Cave. This cave has a magnificent collection of naturally formed stalactites, stalagmites and other spectacular decorations.
But it was the Victoria Cave, discovered in 1894 which was to lead to the designation of a World Heritage site.
The Discovery of the Fossil Cave
In 1969, a young palaeontologist, Dr Rod Wells and his team broke through into a new section of the cave in which lay the remains of tens of thousands of fossil vertebrates. In an interview he described how he felt when he crawled into the cave space at Naracoorte and saw the mass of bones lying there. His heart rate increased as he realised what he had found. It was as if he was a modern day Carter opening Tutankhamen’s tomb. It has been his life’s work ever since.
The Wonambi Fossil Centre
Almost 100 species have been found, dating back 300,000 years with one third of them now extinct, one third living in other Australian areas and the final third still to be found locally. Some of the extinct creatures have been painstakingly recreated by model makers from the research carried out in the caves. Many of the fossils found are of megafauna; giant kangaroos (Procoptodon goliah) almost nine feet tall; a constricting snake (Wonambi naracoortensis) up to six metres long; the largest marsupial to ever live (Diprotodon australis) weighing two tonnes and a six metres long goanna (Megalania prisca). Other creatures have no modern day equivalents; a marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carniflex) and a hippopotamus like creature, (Zygomaturus trilobus) which shoveled up clumps of grasses with its front incisors.
Today, other fossil sites have been found, particularly in north-west Queensland as well as other parts of South Australia.
In a further interview with Professor Wells at another fossil site he was excavating, he said that one of his research students has been looking into Aboriginal dreamtime stories and finding links between them and the fossil creatures. Descriptions of encounters with megafauna in the tales have been corroborated by the fossil finds at Naracoorte and elsewhere.
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