Oakbank, South Australia

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 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.

The Hundred of Onkaparinga is a cadastral hundred of the County of Adelaide, South Australia, in the Adelaide Hills. It was proclaimed by Governor Frederick Robe in 1846 and named for the Onkaparinga River valley, which flows from north east to south west through the hundred. The main towns within the hundred are Woodside, Lobethal, Balhannah and, on the southern fringe, Hahndorf. The Adelaide suburb of Crafers is another major population centre in the hundred.

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.

Mount Barker Junction railway station is a disused station on the Adelaide to Wolseley line serving the South Australian city of Mount Barker.

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.

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.

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.

Hahndorf is a small town in the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia. Currently an important tourism spot, it has previously been a centre for farming and services.