Guided Coach Tours
This tour of the Penola township and immediate environs, with historical and literary commentary along the way, covers places that were familiar to the many outstanding people who have lived here.
As well as Mary MacKillop and Julian Tenison Woods these include Alexander Cameron, founder of Penola, and other pioneering men and women; poets Adam Lindsay Gordon, Will Ogilvie, John Shaw Neilson and Peter Goldsworthy; John Riddoch, who founded Coonawarra; Australian inland explorer, Lawrence Wells and polar explorer John Rymill.
Our visitors appreciate the overview provided by the tour and we recommend its being taken before you view our exhibitions, although afterwards is fine if that better suits you.
Duration:
30 to 45 minutes, depending on time available. Greenrise could be omitted.
Cost:
$4.00 per person
Itinerary:
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An itinerary for a guided coach tour that starts and finishes at the Mary MacKillop Penola Centre. Tour is done in your own bus which must have a microphone.
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Portland St |
Schoolhouse; St Joseph’s Catholic Church and Shrine; Mary’s Uncle Donald and Aunt Eliza McDonald’s cottage |
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Riddoch St |
Old hospital; Cobb & Co; Tregenza Gallery; former Methodist church; old telegraph station |
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Greenrise Swamp |
Recreation area and arboretum just out of town on crown land adjacent to Alexander and Margaret Cameron’s station where Mary MacKillop was governess to her cousins. The Picnic Races were held there. |
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Church Street |
Old post office; National Bank; State Bank; Royal Oak Hotel; bronze statue of Alexander Cameron; National Trust footpath plaques; art galleries & bookshops; Westminster Abbey bronze bust of Woods’ friend, Adam Lindsay Gordon, at Penola Poets’ Corner |
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Arthur St West |
St Mary the Virgin Anglican Church; Anglican hall |
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Bowden & Queen St |
Mary MacKillop Stable School Park. Mary’s 1866 home, Winella cottage, was in nearby Clarke St |
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Arthur St East |
War Memorial Park; Mechanics’ Institute, now the Penola Coonawarra Visitor Information Centre (with its local history collection & exhibition, and Neilson Art Prize exhibition); St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church; former Foresters’ Hall |
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Petticoat Lane |
Heritage precinct. Woods MacKillop Schoolhouse. National Trust cottages: Gammon, Wilson, Neilson (site only), Davidson and Sharam, with herb & vegetable garden |
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An extended itinerary, by arrangement, could include:
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Old Cemetery |
This and the new cemetery near Greenrise are of historical interest |
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Coonawarra |
Its geology was described by Woods in 1862 |
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Limestone Ridge |
Father Woods Sculptures Park, near the old red gum that bears his name |
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Old Cemetery |
This and the new cemetery near Greenrise are of historical interest |
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We have also visited
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Naracoorte Caves |
Described by Woods scientifically and MacKillop anecdotally. World Heritage listed |