Jacobs Creek (Australia)

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Jacobs
Jacob's
Jacobs Creek sign post.jpg
Sign at Jacobs Creek along the Barossa Valley Highway
Australia South Australia relief location map.png
Red pog.svg
Location of the river mouth in South Australia
Location
Country Australia
State South Australia
Region Mid North
Physical characteristics
Source Barossa Ranges
Mouth confluence with the North Para River
 ⁃ location
 Rowland Flat
 ⁃ coordinates
 34°33′47″S138°55′48″E / 34.563150°S 138.930020°E / -34.563150; 138.930020 Coordinates: 34°33′47″S138°55′48″E / 34.563150°S 138.930020°E / -34.563150; 138.930020
Basin features
River system Gawler River

Jacobs Creek, formerly known as Jacob's Creek, is a small creek located in Mid North region of the Australian state of South Australia.

Stream A body of surface water flowing down a channel

A stream is a body of water with surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. The stream encompasses surface and groundwater fluxes that respond to geological, geomorphological, hydrological and biotic controls.

Mid North region of South Australia

The Mid North is a region of South Australia, north of the Adelaide Plains, but not as far north as the Far North, or the outback. It is generally accepted to extend from Spencer Gulf east to the Barrier Highway, including the coastal plain, the southern part of the Flinders Ranges, and the northern part of the Mount Lofty Ranges. The area was settled as early as 1840 and provided early farming and mining outputs for the fledgling colony. Farming is still significant in the area, particularly wheat, sheep and grapevines. There are not currently any significant mining activities in the Mid North.

South Australia State of Australia

South Australia is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of 983,482 square kilometres (379,725 sq mi), it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, and fifth largest by population. It has a total of 1.7 million people, and its population is the second most highly centralised in Australia, after Western Australia, with more than 77 percent of South Australians living in the capital, Adelaide, or its environs. Other population centres in the state are relatively small; Mount Gambier, the second largest centre, has a population of 28,684.

Contents

Course and features

Jacobs Creek rises in the Barossa Ranges and flows westward through the wine-producing region of the Barossa Valley, approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Adelaide. The creek is only several kilometres long and eventually meets the North Para River at Rowland Flat. The watercourse is studded with ancient and picturesque River Red Gums.

Barossa Valley (wine)

The Barossa Valley wine region is one of Australia's oldest and most premier wine regions. Located in South Australia, the Barossa Valley is about 56 km northeast of the city of Adelaide. Unlike most of Australia whose wine industry was heavily influenced by the British, the wine industry of the Barossa Valley was founded by German settlers fleeing persecution from the Prussian province of Silesia. The warm continental climate of the region promoted the production of very ripe grapes that was the linchpin of the early Australian fortified wine industry. As the modern Australian wine industry shifted towards red table wines in the mid-20th century, the Barossa Valley fell out of favor due to its reputation for being largely a Syrah from producers whose grapes were destined for blending. During this period the name "Barossa Valley" rarely appeared on wine labels. In the 1980s, the emergence of several boutique families specializing in old vine Shiraz wines began to capture international attention for the distinctive style of Barossa Shiraz, a full bodied red wine with rich chocolate and spice notes. This led to a renaissance in the Barossa Valley which catapulted the region to the forefront of the Australian wine industry.

Adelaide City in South Australia

Adelaide is the capital city of the state of South Australia, and the fifth-most populous city of Australia. Adelaide is home to 77 percent of the South Australian population, making it the most centralised population of any state in Australia.

North Para River river in South Australia, Australia

The North Para River is a river located in the Barossa Valley of the Australian state of South Australia.

It was first discovered (but not named) by Europeans in December 1837 by an expedition led Colonel William Light and was surveyed in 1839 by his assistant surveyor, William Jacob (1814–1902), as part of a wider survey of the Barossa region. Jacob settled here in the early 1840s, hence the origin of the name. In the local aboriginal dialect it is called "Cowieaurita", meaning "yellow-brown water", in an area known to them as Moorooroo, which became the name of the Hundred.

William Light Australian land surveyer

Colonel William Light was a British-Malaysian naval and army officer and a painter. He was the first Surveyor-General of the Colony of South Australia and he is famous for choosing the site of the province's capital, Adelaide, and for designing the layout of its streets and parks – in the Adelaide city centre and the Adelaide Park Lands.

In the early 1840s Jacob's Creek was briefly home to Johann Menge, South Australia's first geologist, who lived for some time on an island and in nearby cave on the creek. Here he grew vegetables, and was particularly struck with the possibilities for viticulture. Menge was influential in facilitating the settlement from the Barossa Valley by German Lutheran immigrants.

Johannes Menge, has been regarded as South Australia's first amateur geologist. An early explorer of the new colony, he was influential in the settlement of the Barossa Valley. He has sometimes been given the title, father of South Australian mineralogy.

The creek lent its name to the famous wine brand Jacob's Creek, which is produced by Orlando Wines, located 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) southwest along the Barossa Valley Highway in the small town of Rowland Flat. Johann Gramp, the founder of Orlando Wines, first planted grape vines on the banks of Jacob's Creek in 1847.

Orlando Wines Winery in South Australia

Jacob's Creek is an Australian wine label first released in 1976 by Orlando Wines, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pernod Ricard since 1989 and now known as Pernod Ricard Winemakers. The winery still operates in the small township of Rowland Flat, between Lyndoch and Tanunda, in South Australia's Barossa Valley wine-growing region.

Rowland Flat, South Australia Town in South Australia

Rowland Flat is a small South Australian town in the Barossa Valley, located on the Barossa Valley Highway between Lyndoch and Tanunda. The town has an elevation of 294m and is nestled at the foot of the Barossa Ranges. It is best known for its wineries, and proximity to Jacobs Creek, Jacobs Creek Visitor's Centre and Novotel Barossa Valley Resort.

Johann Gramp was a Bavarian-born Australian winemaker, local politician and citrus-grower. He is best known for founding Orlando Wines in the Barossa Valley, South Australia, Australia.

In 1997 Orlando Wines, in conjunction with the Northern Adelaide and Barossa Catchment Water Management Board, commenced a rejuvenation project for Jacobs Creek. All non-native plants and trees, such as bamboo, ash, and olives were removed, and replanted with blue gums, red gums and other Australian native trees and shrubs. As a result of the project, many native species of frogs, native fish, and waterbirds have returned, with the creek gradually returning to its former natural state. [1]

Bamboo subfamily of plants

The bamboos are evergreen perennial flowering plants in the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. The word "bamboo" comes from the Dutch and/or Portuguese languages, which probably borrowed it from Malay.

<i>Eucalyptus globulus</i> species of plant

Eucalyptus globulus, known as the Tasmanian bluegum or Southern blue gum, is an evergreen tree, one of the most widely cultivated trees native to Australia. They typically grow from 30–55 m (98–180 ft) tall. The tallest currently known specimen in Tasmania is 90.7 m (298 ft) tall. There are historical claims of even taller trees, the tallest being 101 m (331 ft). The natural distribution of the species includes Tasmania and southern Victoria. There are also isolated occurrences on King Island and Flinders Island in Bass Strait and on the summit of the You Yangs near Geelong.

Flora of Australia

The flora of Australia comprises a vast assemblage of plant species estimated to over 20,000 vascular and 14,000 non-vascular plants, 250,000 species of fungi and over 3,000 lichens. The flora has strong affinities with the flora of Gondwana, and below the family level has a highly endemic angiosperm flora whose diversity was shaped by the effects of continental drift and climate change since the Cretaceous. Prominent features of the Australian flora are adaptations to aridity and fire which include scleromorphy and serotiny. These adaptations are common in species from the large and well-known families Proteaceae (Banksia), Myrtaceae, and Fabaceae.

See also

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Tanunda, South Australia Town in South Australia

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Mount Lofty Ranges mountain in Australia

The Mount Lofty Ranges are the range of mountains just to the east of Adelaide in the Australian state of South Australia.

Lyndoch, South Australia Town in South Australia

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Williamstown, South Australia Town in South Australia

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Turkey Flat

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Mount Lofty Ranges zone (wine)

Mount Lofty Ranges zone is a wine zone located in central South Australia west of the Murray River that occupies the Adelaide metropolitan area north of Glenelg, extending as far north as Crystal Brook, and as far south as Mount Compass in the Mount Lofty Ranges. The zone which encloses the Barossa zone on three sides, consists of the following wine regions all of which have received appellation as an Australian Geographical Indication (AGI): Adelaide Hills, Adelaide Plains and Clare Valley. The zone received AGI in 1996.

Barossa zone (wine)

Barossa zone is a wine zone located in central South Australia west of the Murray River and which occupies the Barossa Valley, the Eden Valley and some adjoining land. The zone which is enclosed by the Mount Lofty Ranges zone on three sides and by the Lower Murray zone to its east, contains two wine regions which have received appellation as Australian Geographical Indications (AGI). These are the Barossa Valley and Eden Valley regions. The Barossa zone also includes a broader area around these two defined regions. The zone received AGI in 1996.

The Jack Bobridge Track is a 27 kilometres (17 mi) shared walking and cycling path in the Barossa Valley in South Australia. It is named after Jack Bobridge, who grew up in the area.

Hundred of Barossa Cadastral in South Australia

The Hundred of Barossa is a cadastral unit of hundred in South Australia in the northern Adelaide Hills. It lies west of the Barossa Range at the south end of the Barossa Valley and is bounded on the north and south by the North Para and South Para rivers, respectively. It is the most northern of the eleven hundreds of the County of Adelaide and was named in 1846 by Governor Frederick Robe after the Barossa Range.

References

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