Hundred of Onkaparinga

The Oakbank Easter Racing Carnival is a horse-racing meeting held over two days by the Oakbank Racing Club at the Oakbank Racecourse located in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia. The carnival is a mixture of flat and jumping races with between two and four jumps races on day one and two feature jumping races on day two. Day one is held on Easter Saturday and is one of the highest attended race days in Australia. The Von Doussa Steeplechase (named after founder Alfred von Doussa) takes place on day one and is a preliminary to the Great Eastern Steeplechase held on Easter Monday. A "classic" hurdle race takes place on Monday as does the feature flat race, the Onkaparinga Cup. The meeting is conducted by the Oakbank Racing Club and is popular with families and groups. Although ostensibly a horse race meeting, Oakbank is an event in itself with carnival rides, picnics and other activities. Many families camp for the whole weekend in the paddocks adjacent to the track, and some have done so all their lives. Patrons travelled by train from Adelaide to nearby Balhannah railway station, 2 miles (3.2 km) from the course, from 1884. When the Mount Pleasant railway line opened in 1918, a platform was constructed adjacent to the course, permitting special race trains to run direct to the course the following Easter. The line to Mount Pleasant closed on 3 March 1963, thus the race trains ran no more.On October 1st 2021 it was announced that jumps racing will no longer be conducted in South Australia mainly due to the small number of South Australian jumps horses. There were plans to run the Great Eastern and Von Doussa Steeplechase as a flat race. However on 3rd March 2022 it was announced that would not happen. However, many jumps racing supporters have attempted to keep jumps racing at Oakbank with that fight now in the South Australian Court System.

Oakbank Racecourse, also but less frequently known as the "Onkaparinga Racecourse", is home of the Oakbank Racing Club, a club which, until 2009, raced just twice annually, Easter Saturday and Easter Monday at the Oakbank Easter Racing Carnival, and has done continually since 1876, except during World War II when it was held at Victoria Park and Morphettville Racecourse due to the army taking over the facility. Located in South Australia's Adelaide Hills, it is the home of steeplechasing and jumping in SA, which combines with flat racing over the festival, including the famous Great Eastern Steeplechase and classic Harry D. Young Hurdle. Brooklyn Park Jockey Jack McGowan was a regular and prominent identity in the late 1800s and early 1900s on horses such as Strike and All Fours. Jack won the Harry D Young Hurdle on Jack Spratt and also run close seconds in the Great Eastern Steeplechase and Oakbank Hurdle on Edirol and Culleraine. In 2019 Oakbank Easter Saturday was still South Australia's most attended race day in the SA racing calendar hosted by Oakbank racing club. Oakbank Week is held each year on the Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday prior to Easter Sunday, except in 2020 when it was cancelled due to COVID-19. Easter Saturday at Oakbank now attracts crowds of over 20,000, when the feature Great Eastern Steeplechase is run. The racing carnival used to attract massive crowds, with about 40,000 attending the Saturday meeting and up around 70,000 attending on Easter Monday. From 2009 the inaugural Oakbank Prelude Raceday has taken place two weeks before Easter, marking the first time that a separate meeting to the Easter Carnival has taken place at Oakbank. The famous Von Doussa Steeplechase is run on this program. More information is available at www.oakbankracingclub.com.au

Balhannah is a town in the Adelaide Hills about 30 km southeast of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It was established in 1839 as a farming community by James Turnbull Thomson, who built the first hotel. The town soon grew to incorporate two once adjoining towns: Gilleston (named for Osmond Gilles) and Blythetown, named for James Blythe, another Scottish settler.It is on the main interstate railway between Adelaide and Melbourne. In the past it was the junction for a branch line that ran up the Onkaparinga Valley and beyond to Birdwood and Mount Pleasant.Much of Balhannah is along Onkaparinga Valley Road, although there are some other residential streets, and Greenhill Road terminates near the town centre. One of the larger businesses in the town is a long-established hardware store, now part of the Mitre 10 chain. The fruit cold store built in 1914 was one of the first in Australia and is still in use.

Oakbank is a town in the Adelaide Hills, east of Adelaide in South Australia. It is in the Adelaide Hills Council area. At the 2006 census, Oakbank had a population of 473.

Balhannah railway station is a disused railway station on the Adelaide-Wolseley line. The station is in the Adelaide Hills town of Balhannah, and is located 45.8 kilometres from Adelaide station at an elevation of 339 metres.

Kenneth Stirling Conservation Park is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia consisting of five parcels of land located in the gazetted localities of Balhannah, Basket Range, Carey Gully, Forest Range and Mount George about 18 kilometres (11 mi) east of the state capital of Adelaide.The conservation park was constituted under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 on 13 December 1990 in respect to several parcels of land in the cadastral unit of the Hundred of Onkaparinga.It was named after Kenneth Stirling who was “a major donor to the preservation of native vegetation in South Australia.” As of 2002, access to the conservation park for the purpose of mining exploration under the Mining Act 1971 was not permitted.The conservation park is classified as an IUCN Category III protected area. It was listed on the now-defunct Register of the National Estate after late 1994.

Ambleside railway station was located about 43.5 kilometres from Adelaide station, on the Adelaide-Wolseley line, in the Adelaide Hills suburb of Balhannah, at an elevation of 318 metres.

Inverbrackie is a place within the locality of Woodside in the Australian state of South Australia located about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the 'town centre' in Woodside. It includes the Woodside Barracks (16th Air Land Regiment), South Australia, although there are also some other residents and businesses in Inverbrackie. It is on the Nairne to Woodside road. The speed limit changes from 100 kilometres an hour to 80 kilometres an hour near the start of Inverbrackie.

Verdun is a small town in the Adelaide Hills, Australia, on the road from Hahndorf to Balhannah. At the 2011 Australian Census the town recorded a population of 662.Verdun is approximately 4 km from Hahndorf and 5 km from Bridgewater. There is one school, one pub and a licensed café/restaurant situated in the building previously occupied by a service station and general store. Verdun originally had the German name Grunthal, after being named by the Prussian settlers who established the town. The town was renamed in 1917 after one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War, the Battle of Verdun. The Hills Christian Community School opened in February 1983 at the site of the former Verdun Primary School.

Hahndorf Hill Winery, also known as HHW, is a boutique vineyard situated adjacent to the historic, German-heritage village of Hahndorf, South Australia, in the Adelaide Hills wine region. Owners Larry Jacobs and Marc Dobson acquired the Hahndorf Hill property in 2002 and subsequently made considerable changes to the vineyard plantings, including the promotion and development of Austrian grape varieties such as Grüner Veltliner, Blaufränkisch and Zweigelt. A fourth Austrian variety, St. Laurent, was planted at the Hahndorf Hill vineyard in 2015.After importing three different clones of Grüner Veltliner from Austria into Australia in 2006, and a further three clones/clonal selections in 2009, Hahndorf Hill Winery became the first producer of Grüner Veltliner in South Australia in 2010. It is currently Australia's only producer of Blaufränkisch. The winery has produced a Zweigelt rosé since 2012. Other grape varieties grown at Hahndorf Hill include Trollinger, Sauvignon Blanc and Shiraz.

Basket Range is a small town in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia. It is located on an approximately north–south ridge that runs from Deep Creek in the north to Greenhill Road in the south. The area is completely encircled by hills, giving the town the appearance of nestling within a large basket, hence "Basket Range". It has been suggested that the name may derive from the practice of German farmers who, travelling from Lobethal to Adelaide along the old Bullock Track which passed through the area, would carry their produce in large wicker baskets. It has also been suggested that a Mr Basket was in charge of issuing timber-cutting licences in the very early days; however, there is no evidence of any Mr Basket having lived there or been in charge of licences.The town's main industries include apple and cherry orchards, and there are numerous cottages available for bed and breakfast accommodation. Basket Range Primary School was established in 1885, and the Basket Range CFS was founded in 1969.Basket Range Post Office opened on 1 April 1892.Basket Range is also home to one of the oldest cricket clubs in the region. Basket Range Cricket Club was formed in 1892 and their oval overlooks the wide sweeping hills views of the area.

Carey Gully is a small town in the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia. The name of the town is taken from one of the early settlers of the area, Paddy Carey, and was originally called Carey's Gully, (This can be seen at the town's War Memorial on a wrought iron sign). Whilst being named a "gully" the present township actually straddles part of the Mount Lofty Ranges, separating the valley townships of Uraidla to the west and Balhannah to the east. The older settlements in Carey Gully are located down smaller gullies where soil was suitable for agriculture. Recent decades have seen the decline of the Carey Gully township, with the closure of the general store which also sold petrol. Still in operation are the Country Fire Service station, the Carey Gully Quarry and a small scale factory building on Deviation Road, housing a boat-building business and a traditional carpenter among others. Greenhill Road is the main route through the town, upon which the hub of the township is located, but in the past much of the town's major establishments were located on adjacent Deviation Road. The road was an ideal location for the township in the past as it was situated on a largely dry, flat area (compared to the steep hills surrounding) and was also a main thoroughfare to the towns of Forest Range and Lenswood via Boundary Drive. Deviation Road once hosted a Football oval (Australian Rules Football) and tennis courts (now a strawberry field), and a general store which still stands to this day, but is currently a private residence. The decline of the town has seen it become a much more quiet, idyllic location, attracting people from nearby Adelaide. The location of Carey Gully makes it cool in summer and provides brilliant views and cool, isolated valleys to those seeking a weekend getaway or quiet retirement. Agriculture is the main industry with crops of strawberries, apples, cherries and wine grapes being grown. Along with this there are various hobby farms throughout the area running livestock such as goats, sheep, cattle, and deer. Although much of the land is devoted to agriculture, as with many towns in the Adelaide Hills, Carey Gully has retained a large portion of its natural bushland which boasts many species of threatened and endangered flora and fauna, Wotton's Scrub and White's Scrub (part of the Kenneth Stirling Conservation Park) being excellent examples. Carey Gully has been affected many times by bushfire, most notably the Ash Wednesday fires in 1983. Public transport to Carey Gully is provided by the Adelaide Metro. Routes 821 & 822 provide a service to and from the City approximately every 2 hours, with route 822 also providing a link to nearby Stirling. More services to and from the city are provided at peak times.