Meet your hosts, Tina and Evan Gobell
We invite you to join us here and make Stonewell your place in the Barossa.
Tina and Evan are both 6th generation South Australians, both descended from pioneer farming settlers, who first arrived in the new South Australian colony in 1839 from Germany and England respectively. In our twenties in the early 90's, we both moved to Adelaide to attend university and continued living in Adelaide and Melbourne establishing our professional careers, Tina as a high school English and German Teacher, and Travel consultant and Evan as an Automotive Mechanical Engineer. In 2009, we made a 'vine change' back to the Barossa, deciding that climbing the corporate ladder was no longer what made us happy. Now with two young daughters, Ruby and Elsie, the Barossa country lifestyle has become the perfect place to raise our family.
Having both travelled extensively overseas and in Australia, we know the importance of good quality accommodation with great service. We also know what it's like to be stressed out by our jobs and how important it is to take time out from the daily grind, to find a place where you can wind down, recharge and return home revitalized. At Stonewell we offer you peace, privacy, seclusion and space.
When you stay with us you will be well looked after by experienced hosts. With our years of experience in the tourism industry, our long standing reputation for quality and service and our integral understanding of our guests' needs, your Barossa stay will be one to remember.
We are part of the Barossa, we live, work and play here, and we love to share our insider knowledge. There's always something interesting happening, no matter what time of the year you choose to visit. Check out our Top 10 Must do List for our personal recommendations of places we know and love.
Meet Tina
Tina is an experienced high school English and German language teacher and travel consultant. She has lived and studied in Germany multiple times, the first time in Hamburg as a Year 12 exchange student and then later to Mannheim while studying at university and Freiburg while working as a teacher. She now uses her German to greet our guests from Germany and Switzerland. With her travel industry experience and exceptional organisation skills, she is able to offer a full concierge service, ensuring your stay is a memorable one, providing a smooth and easy booking process and comprehensive advice of things to see and do.
Ask for her tips on making the Barossa your base and discovering other nearby regions during your stay. She has a wealth of knowledge about the many other great experiences South Australia has to offer, that you can combine before or after your stay in the Barossa.
Tina is actively involved in regional tourism and has been a board member of Tourism Barossa Incorporated, Hosted Accommodation Australia, and the Seppeltsfield Road Business Alliance. She enthusiastically gives her time to work on the development and promotion of the Barossa and to provide support to small businesses and accommodation providers and build industry standards.
In her spare time, Tina loves to travel and spend time with our girls. She is passionate about keeping fit and healthy and enjoys attending her local gym, especially the boxing and spin classes.
Meet Evan
Evan, an Automotive Mechanical Engineer by profession and a former Manager in the Australian automotive industry, reinvented himself in 2009 as a viticulturlist, conservationist, builder and farmer. He loves all things mechanical; cars, planes, tractors and trucks. He now uses his extensive mechanical skills for designing and building vineyard machinery to make the vineyard processes more efficient and sustainable.
Evan is a graduate of the Barossa Australia 'Next Crop' program, current chairman of Grape Barossa, a founding member of the Seppeltsfield Road Biodiversity Group and a member of the Seppeltsfield Road Business Alliance.
As a dedicated conservationist, Evan has a passion for native plant re-vegetation. He has worked closely with Landscape SA Northern and Yorke and it's national landcare program in the establishment of native Barossa plantings on our property. He has planted more than 5000 Barossa native plants since 2013 on our own property, as well as being instrumental in organising the revegetation of numerous public spaces around Western Barossa. You will see our native plantings thriving around the Stonewell Cottages' lake, with more future plantings planned, where the community and fellow guests can be involved.
Evan enjoys providing pur guests with a first hand insight into what's happening seasonally in the vineyard. During your stay catch up with Evan, you'll see him coming and going as he tends to the non-stop work in the vineyard. Learn what's involved with growing the grapes that make your favourite wine.
In his spare time (not much!), he enjoys spending time with our family and occassionally racing his Historic Touring Car, which keeps him connected to his automotive past.
Evan and Tina enjoy being part of the local community and are actively involved in the Seppeltsfield Road Business Alliance where like-minded wineries, restaurants and accommodation businesses all work together to promote the beautiful area of Western Barossa.