The Location.
Stirling in the Adelaide Hills is a popular destination and a beautiful spot for the cooking school and villas. The owners are local to the hills and when the property at 96 Old Mt Barker Road went up for sale, they knew that it was well suited to the renovations and their proposed business use. The property is steeped in history and many of the local customers will have visited it as the old deli and post office and may even remember it as the place where they bought their weekly allowance of sweets as children. The building was built in 1940 comprising a shop and residence and was looked after by the original owners for many years before being used for a variety of community and retail uses. The entrance now boasts a gigantic stone Buddha statue towering over 2m high and symbolising the spirit of Asian cuisine and the friendly welcome to be found at the Sticky Rice Cooking School.
Stirling – The Town.
Located only 18 km from Adelaide via the South Eastern Freeway, Stirling is a village and district of extraordinary charm. In many ways it captures the essence of the Adelaide Hills. Being quite unlike the typical Australian town it is middle class in temper, European in vegetation, and Mediterranean in its ambience.Stirling Village is a short 10 min walk from the villas and the map below shows various places to eat , drink, and visit.
The township came into existence as a very conscious act of real estate selling. In 1854 Peter Prankerd, a close friend of the South Australian politician, Edward Stirling, laid out the town (he named it after his friend) and on 27 February, 1854 the firm of Samson, Wicksteed & Co auctioned the lots with the advertisement that the area ‘approximated to the spring temperature of our native land’.
At the time Stirling had natural advantages as the area around it was ideal for market gardening and orchards and the route running through the village was the main road through the Adelaide Hills.
Today Stirling is by-passed by the South Eastern Freeway. Consequently it has been left as a delightful, elegant small village in the hills.
How to find us
Sticky Rice Cooking School is actually quite easy to find –
From Adelaide- Take the Stirling exit from the Princess Highway (Freeway). Turn left at the roundabout into Pomona Road, also signposted Mount Lofty. At the top of Pomona turn left, then immediately right into Old Mt Barker Road. Sticky Rice Cooking School is about 500m along on the right. Look out for the 2m Buddha statue at our entrance.
From Crafers exit- Drive through Crafers and just after the shops on the left, turn left up Piccadilly Road signed towards Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens- Make sure you do not go straight ahead after shops or you will be back on the freeway and will have to come off at next exit- Stirling. At the top of Piccadilly Road veer right at the 2 way roundabout and follow Old Mt Barker Rd for about .8km. You will go over the top of the Freeway, and then turn immediately left onto Old Mt Barker Road. The cooking school is about 500m along on the right. Look out for the 2m Buddha statue at our entrance.