Wairoa Community - Adelaide Hills

We are presently staying on the thirteen hectare property known as Wairoa in the beautiful Adelaide Hills in between the towns of Stirling and Aldgate. The history of this property stretches back to the 1800s. More recent history states that:

"Between 1972 and 2004, Wairoa served as the cam­pus for a small inde­pend­ent pro­gress­ive school, Mar­bury. Over those years hun­dreds of chil­dren and adults enjoyed Wairoa and many con­tinue to have a spe­cial attach­ment to the place.
In 2007, the ori­ginal thir­teen hec­tare prop­erty was com­munity titled. Now the prop­erty is owned and occu­pied by a group of fam­il­ies who con­tinue to care for the old house and garden."

We are staying with friends, Sophie and Tim and their three children. I first met Sophie over 23 years ago; a beautiful woman and  both she and Tim are my treasured friends. Tim's mother and father began the Marbury Independent Progressive School here on the property which began in 1972 and finally closed in 2004.

You cannot spend time on this old property without feeling that you have somehow stepped back in time. Surrounded by old stone buildings and old gardens, with large areas of aged forest.

A creative and artistic community is blooming here at Wairoa. Sophie has begun  the Delight of Being Centre which draws together members of the local arts community who hold classes in the 'Barn' and where artists use studio space to create.

While we are here we will attend writer's group, mosaic class and whatever else fits in with our schedule.

We have yet to see the cultural highlights of the city of Adelaide. I am looking forward to checking out the Art Gallery of SA, the University of SA's Museum of Art, and the Botanic Gardens.