Coonawarra B&B “Moorakyne” Robe lunch

Earlier in the month of February 53 members, partners and guests from the Coonawarra Beefsteak & Burgundy Club enjoyed a wonderful Sunday lunch at Robe in the Limestone Coast of South Australia. The day was a benign 21C with a gentle onshore breeze, the wines were excellent and the company even more so. However, the catering was done by eminent St. Bees with Darcy Kentish and her wonderful team. They put one of the best presentations the Club has enjoyed for a number of years.
The Coonawarra Beefsteak & Burgundy Club has a strong membership of 32 members and will be inducting 3 more new members at their next two dinners. We have seven Life Members in the Club but sadly an original foundation member Demetrio Zema passed away last year. The Club meets on the first Tuesday of every odd month at various venues around the Limestone Coast. Membership come from as far as Naracoorte to the north, Mount Gambier to the south and Millicent and Tantanoola to the west.

Moorakyne History: George Ormerod was an important early entrepreneur and benefactor in Robe. In 1853 he built Moorakyne House in Sturt Street. It is a handsome twelve room residence made out of local stone which is characterised by barge boards, large stone lintels and outbuildings including a stone coach-house. He settled in Robe in 1851 and established a shipping company, George Ormerod & Co., which was vital to the export and import trade through the port. In 1856, he built Moorakyne, a substantial residence still standing, now listed on the State Heritage Register. His shipping business did much to bring wealth and prosperity to the district: the import and export of wool through the town led to a range of subsidiary trades and industries, among them blacksmithing, wheelwrighting, fellmongery, roadside inns and a sheep boiling-down works on the outskirts of town.