Road Trip to SA - Hahndorf

I heard about Hahndorf from a friend who had done the same road trip to South Australia a couple of years before. I found it intriguing that there is an old fashioned German town in the Adelaide Hills. After our visit, I learned more information of how the town came to be. 

In 1838, German Lutherans were being persecuted by the King for practicing their religion. They were assisted by Pastor Kavel and a South Australian businessman who also provided monetary assistance for them to start anew in South Australia. Hahndorf is named after the captain of the ship that brought them to South Australia, Captain Dirk Hahn. 

During WW1 when anti German sentiments were high, Hahndorf was renamed Ambleside and remained so until 1935. I think Hahndorf holds a certain charm befitting the history of the town, don't you think? 

Today, the town thrives on tourism as well as farm produce and vineyards. Many of the businesses remain family owned and operated by the descendants of the original settlers. For instance, the Paech family who runs the Beerenberg family farm that is famous for their strawberry jams. 

We also visited the Hahndorf Hill Winery for wine tasting. The vines were still looking a little sad, lacking the customary green foliage but we were informed that they usually grow around October and growth is exponential from week to week such that one can come back in a week and find a totally different, lusher scenery to the one below. 

A famous resident of Hahndorf was the artist Hans Heysen. Both his and his daughter Nora Heysen's work are displayed in their property The Cedars. For $10 per person, we were able to tour his studio, and the gardens. A fully guided tour is available for $15 per person and this includes a tour of the house as well. It would have been nice to tour the house because the furniture have been left as is, but we missed the guided tour. But the garden was in bloom, and we enjoyed a meander through the large grounds.

While at The Cedars, we saw Heysen's caravan parked in the garage. He was among the first people who owned a caravan. It was custom made and made of wood. It contained two small single beds and a locker, just enough to sleep the night. What a vast difference with the modern day motor home! Heysen would tie the caravan to his car for overnight trips to locations where he can paint.

Hahndorf is only about half an hour away from Adelaide CBD. On the way to Adelaide, we stopped by Mount Lofty summit which is halfway between Hahndorf and the CBD. Besides a good view of the surrounding area, there are also several walking trails, a cafe and gift shop at the summit.

A parking fee of $4 per car applies. It doesn't come with free viewing of koalas, but we were lucky and spotted this cute mother koala and her little koala perched atop a tree in the carpark. It was probably the best view of the day, surpassing even the view from the summit of Adelaide CBD in the distance.

Road Trip to SA - Mt Gambier

Having a road trip is a real test of a relationship... Two people in a car in an extended period of time with nothing but music on repeat and the long road ahead. So many decisions, or should I say so many opportunities for arguments  - where to stop for a break, is the petrol enough to get to the next stop, which is the fastest way, didn't you see that pothole on the road! Trapped in a car together, there is no where to seek refuge should there be an argument on the way. 

Luckily, we managed to pull through and actually enjoyed our recent road trip to South Australia. This is a relief, since I harbour a dream to travel around Australia in a motor home one day. I have yet to convince Gaz but I'm sure he'll get there one day. Maybe he'll consent if I agree to empty the toilet at the end of each day...

We stopped at Mount Gambier on the first day of our road trip. Mount Gambier is home to the Blue Lake and Umpherston Sinkhole. It is also the second most populous city after Adelaide. Here are some fun facts: 

Population: around 30,000

450km away from Adelaide

17km from Victorian border

Mount Gambier is located on the slopes of a dormant volcano. Once upon a time when the volcano erupted, the rocks were thrown by the erupting volcano and formed craters when they landed forcefully on the ground thus creating the famous Blue Lake and several other lakes nearby such as the Leg of Mutton lake and Valley lake.

In summer, the colour of the lake turns vivid blue while in winter, it is a steely blue. On the sunny spring day we were there, it was dark blue. The water in the lake is so still, it reflects that clouds in the sky perfectly. It almost seemed like an extension of the sky. The water in the lake supplied to the city as drinking water.

There is a walking trail which is alongside the road for vehicles that is 3.6km long all around the lake. As the walk will take about about 3 and a half hours, we decided to stop at Hoo Hoo Lookout, then walked a short distance to Blue Lake Lookout. From lookout, we could also glimpse parts of the Valley Lake.

The Umpherston Sinkhole is named after James Umpherston who once owned the property. It is only a few minutes drive from Blue Lake. It was once a limestone cave then the roof collapsed. It was also once half filled with water but is now dry as water levels receded. A large working bee was organised a long time ago to plant a garden in the sinkhole which has made it the beautiful and mysterious garden that it is today. There are creepers hanging from the sides of the sinkhole and lush calla lily bushes are planted on the terrace. The council has provided BBQ facilities and benches in the garden. 

There is another smaller sinkhole in the city centre, which is also planted with various plants and shrubs to create a beautiful garden. There is a light show each night at 8pm in the garden. 

While visiting the city centre, we stopped by the local library and was very impressed by the services provided. The library was large, modern and had many different zones for the community - cafe area with opportunity for people to have a cuppa and read the library's magazines at the same time, kids activity area, and a quiet area. 

For lunch, we spotted a place with $8.90 lunch special and ordered the roast duck on egg noodles and beef panang curry with rice. 

Hunter and Barrel, Eastland Ringwood

Amid the swanky decor, good food awaits. We ordered the Hunter's Feast ($39 pp) at Hunter and Barrel which came with two pieces of pork belly with spicy sauce, roasted chicken, a piece of beef rump steak skewer and a piece of Wagyu beef sausage on a platter, thick cut chips, flat bread and salad. 

The meats were cooked to perfection. The chicken melted away in my mouth, the pork belly was crispy but the star was the beef which was tender, juicy and medium rare. The Wagyu sausage meat was tinted a strange red colour and was too salty but other than that, all the other meats tasted very delicious and was well cooked.

I would describe this place as a casual steak house but there are enough options on the menu for people who prefer something lighter, like a burger, salad or even a vegetarian burger.

Overall, we were quite impressed by the decor and the quality of the food. Delicious!

Barolo, Camberwell

The first thing that occurred to me when we entered this new restaurant is how familiar the location is. It turns out that we have been to this location before but that was when it was a Greek restaurant. Now, it is an Italian restaurant run by different owners. 

We ordered the antipasto plate, spaghetti marinara, beef and shiraz ragu and a coffee and baileys with ice cream. 

Beef and Shiraz Ragu with Mash

Spaghetti Marinara

Antipasto plate

Coffee and Baileys with Icecream

The beef was a real comfort food. I can totally imagine myself with a big bowl of this stuff, in front of the television in pyjamas, scoffing down mouthfuls of this while watching Sex and the City. 

I found the texture of the spaghetti very similar to half cooked Chinese wheat noodles. It was thick, felt a little uncooked and was not what I liked to eat. 

The best dish was the dessert. It came with a shot of strong coffee and baileys, both of which are to be poured into the martini glass containing two scoops of ice cream. The mixture then turns to be gooey, delicious coffee bailey sundae. Personally I think anything with coffee and Baileys is a winning combination. 

Sunset

The month of September has been quite eventful thus far. In the same weekend, we received two groups of overseas visitors which necessitated a flurry of cleaning activity within the house. Gaz transferred all his items that had accumulated in the spare room into temporary storage. Meanwhile, I was busy running around looking for gifts for these visitors. It was just crazy...

I don't want to sound like we haven't been cleaning the house for the last 2 years but there are things in the house that normally get micro cleaned in everyday cleaning such as the windows, ceilings, kitchen cabinets, and the garden. 

We enjoyed our guests visits and hopefully helped make their visit more memorable. It was nice having a clean and presentable house also.