Normanville Courthouse Restaurant

Back in the days of the rather stern-looking Constable Trounson, this was anything but a place of food, wine and pleasant company. He was one of the early troopers at the Normanville Court House and Police Station when this really was the wild, wild south. The alfresco dining area was once the exercise yard for those caught stealing cattle or much worse. Now it offers the perfect setting for those wanting to break free from the shackles of city life.

"How many troopers lived here?"

"Two"

"And they lived here?"

"Yes, and they had a horse on duty all the time, fully saddled"

Now when you visit the old police station and stroll around the nearby beach, it's hard to imagine that this was a rough and ready place. But with the jetty came ????, more settlers and the occasional villan. In fact, the troopers based themselves here from 1855 and represented law and order across the western half of the Fleurieu Peninsula.

"The reason they put them here was it was rife with cattle stealing and all sorts of things. Just losing their cattle in the middle of the night and not knowing where they'd gone. So that was why they decided to put the station in, in the first place".

Hanging abovethe diners, the old notice board list the fees for animals publicly impounded when troopers found them grazing on Crown Land. Two pound six for a runaway horse, and a mere four shillings for a freeloading sheep. Dave and Claire Reid took over the Normanville Court House Restaurant late last year and are gradually unlocking more of the secrets of this south coast landmark - a landmark they bought on impulse after David saw an ad for its sale in the local paper while on holiday.

"And David said where do you think that is, and I said I had no idea because I really didn't want to know. And that was the end of the conversation because he was giving up chefing for a while and taking a bit of a break. Then he was supposed to pick me up from work one day, and no David, and I get this phone call saying you'll never believe what I've just seen. Oh no.

Six months later, and there's not an empty cell to be found in what remained the local police station until 1961.

For a time, part of the top floor became the local telegraph station while the original single story section of the building was converted into a maternity hospital at the turn of the century. Now more and more locals and tourists are stumbling across this piece of Fleurieu history.

They feel they've discovered something . . . and I think we're like that . . . we like driving on a Sunday drive and finding a nice little place somewhere . . . and they go away with that feeling that we've got to tell people this is what we've found. And on the menu a selection of modern Mediterranean and Australian food, including one of Dave's specialties . . . chicken breast with leek and quince tart.

For more information you can email info@postcards.sa.com.au