Stoneridge, Balingup
Stoneridge Cottage is not currently available for let. Sorry.
|
|
|
The Cottage Sorry, but we currently have other uses for the Cottage, and it is not available for rent until further notice. For excellent local accommodation in the same class, could we recommend:
|
|
The Stoneridge Property The scenic drive between Balingup and Nannup has been called the best road in Western Australia. Nine kilometres out of Balingup, a little beyond the historic Ferndale homestead, is the 6ha (15 acres) we named Stoneridge. Private, secluded and tranquil, Stoneridge is separated from the winding Blackwood Valley Drive by 200m of timber, and looks along and across the valley of the Balingup Brook. Our slopes, facing north and west, climb quickly from the valley bottom and the road, to form a ridge that runs back into the hill. It's distinguished by beautiful rock outcrops - so, Stoneridge. We know little of the pre-European Aboriginal heritage of the area, although Balingup itself is named for a local Aboriginal man. His people moved along the water courses, but it seems they didn't often venture deep into the ancient eucalypt forest that covered the slopes. In pioneer times the whole hillside became part of the Ferndale estate, settled in the mid-19th Century by the Padbury family; but our block was not separately surveyed until 1922. It may have been intended for part of a returned soldiers' "group settlement" scheme - there were ambitious plans for what is still sometimes called Lower Balingup. In time, the valley of the Balingup Brook became some of the richest dairy and beef cattle country in Western Australia. The "Old Cheese Factory" on the edge of Balingup really was a cheese factory. In the 20th Century, Ferndale, including the Stoneridge block, was farmed by the Somerset family for some 50 years. Remains of the Somersets' dairy can still be seen outside our front gate. However, since the 1950's the block had actually belonged to a prospecting company. It was thought to hold another deposit of the Greenbushes tin-tantalum mineralisation, but it turned out not to be commercial. The Somersets' cows were allowed to graze in peace, except for occasional exploratory digs and geology students on field trips. So the name Stoneridge also reflects an aspect of the property's heritage, and we have the world's only outcrop of the Ferndale pegmatite. In the 1960's and 1970's the then Forests Department bought several of the farms in the valley, including Ferndale, for Pinus radiata (Monterey Pine) plantations. But Stoneridge did not change hands, and was never planted. Today we are restoring native vegetation while preserving our views and some grazing. We have the beautiful rock outcrops, and a few wild pines that we leave in peace. Kangaroos, emus, and over 40 other species of birds come to visit, forage, and sometimes nest here.
|
  
|
|
Balingup & The South West The South West of Western Australia is one of the world's premier biodiversity regions. If you draw a line from Perth to Albany, and then come back along the coast, that's considered the South West. It's roughly 24,000 km2 of forest, farmland, vineyards, orchards and small towns. The climate is Mediterranean, with warm dry summers and cool wet winters. The diversity of the seasons is one of the joys of the area. You can drive across it in a day, or you can spend as long as it takes. The Blackwood Valley is in the heart of the South West - rolling, fertile, timbered country with rich pastures and historic towns. The Blackwood River itself rises in the open farming country to the east, and comes to the sea at Augusta, but the Blackwood Valley heartland is considered to include four beautiful towns and their surrounding country: Balingup, Boyup Brook, Bridgetown, and Nannup. Our catchment and our community also include such smaller towns as Greenbushes, Hester, Kirup and Mullalyup. Balingup is a compact, pretty village on the Balingup Brook, a tributary of the Blackwood. It's a comfortable 3 hours from Perth, roughly half-way between Donnybrook and Bridgetown, on the South-West Highway (also called the Harvest Highway). Balingup is known for creativity: artists, craftspeople, herbalists, architects and musicians have all found their home here. It annually hosts the famous Small Farm Field Day (with scarecrow competition!), the Mediaeval Fayre, and the Jalbrook Concert, as well as contributing to wider-ranging events such as the Festival of Country Gardens. Balingup is also convenient for nearby events such as the annual Bridgetown Blues weekend. The Golden Valley Tree Park, on the edge of Balingup, is a vast arboretum of Australian native and exotic species. A peaceful and pleasant place. The renowned Bibbulmun Track walk trail, almost 1000km from Perth to Albany, passes through Balingup - one of the very few towns on the route. There are beautiful day walks in both directions. The Blackwood Valley is an up-and-coming wine region, its soils and slopes giving a character distinctively different from Margaret River. And the official border with the Geographe wine region runs a few kilometres north of Balingup.
|
   |