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What does Mazda CX-5 and McLeod’s Daughters Have in Common?

gaycarboys - Alan Zurvas

It sounds like the opening to a really rubbish joke, but in this case no, we did take a Mazda CX-5 to Drover’s run, AKA Kingsford, South Australia.

The country house used for 7 seasons of McLeod’s Daughters is now an uber-posh hotel, just the place to rest up after a long day tasting, sorry driving, in the Barossa.

Our CX-5 review will follow, but it would be remiss of us not to mention Kingsford and its phoenix-like rise from near dereliction. Those who know and love McLeod’s Daughters know Drover’s Run as a slightly down-at-heel working farmhouse mansion, still doing the job it was built for in 1856.

The TV crews left long ago and it would have been easy to let the roof fall in and walls crumble, and were it not for the Ahrens, that would most likely have been the outcome.

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ABOVE: 2022 Mazda CX-5, The Kingsford Barossa, McLeod’s Daughters Drover’s Run

The mansion was built from stone ballast from ships coming to South Australia’s Victorian businesses, taking Australian goods back to Scotland., leaving the stone behind. The large estate is set only 50 minutes from Adelaide’s airport, deep in the romantic Barossa valley.

Many of Australia’s best wines come from nearby and are represented in the mansion’s cellar.

8 Suites in the mansion are complimented by a further 4 in the newly finished extension, 3 in Meg’s Cottage, and 1 in the Stonemason’s Cottage. The new wing stands only a few metres from the old back door where once a screened verandah sheltered tired residents. As was usual, such verandahs could be found on several sides of homes to ensure a place away from summer sun.

The wing is home to an enormous conservatory event space. At one end is a delicious place to eat, drink, and keep warm in front of the fire, while outside, a pool bar offers outdoor dining experiences. Underground is a 25metre stone hall with 6 wine vaults. Its dining table is almost the full length of the room, and is adjoined by the original mansion’s intimate cellar at one end, and a unique bar and twin-lane bowling alley at the other.

There are giants among men charged with curating the wine and food, while other staff cater for guest’s whims in a way that is caring and thoughtful, but never over-familiar or intrusive.

It would be easy to feel like the lord and lady of the manor.

The facilities are open only to house guests, like top class hotels found in Europe, and with 16 rooms, the place will never feel like a chain hotel, no matter how posh they think they are.

There is a pillow menu for the picky, and 250 hectares of open space for the plucky. I’d be happy to sit reading a book on the very verandah McLeod’s daughters were often found sipping cool drinks.

I stayed in one of the smaller suites in the main homestead, called the Fotheringham. The room’s names celebrate the history of the property, including previous owners, the traditional owners, the stonemasons, and even Meg, the fictional McLeod’s equally fictional sister.

Details and pricing HERE

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