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Little lunch in Hahndorf
Don't go to this one - Judy counted her 4 or was it 5 1cm cubes of potato salad - a real rip off here! Her Mum says it was years ago too when she went there!After leaving Mount Gambier we headed north for 50kms and came to the town of Penola. We drove into a near deserted town, most places being closed on Mondays. It became apparent that it was a very touristy town with many cafes, wine houses and B&Bs. Even so, we were disappointed not to see it at its best.
Another 50kms up the road was Naracoorte, where some people we had met in Wangarratta lived. As we had their card we sent an sms, had no reply, knocked on their door, no reply, so guessed we wouldn't get our cup of tea!
As this was to be the last bigger town we expected to go through for a few days we took the opportunity to restock at the local Woolies. Before shopping we walked down the main street, Judy inspecting all windows and most interiors of each shop! The only saving grace as far as Rags was concerned was that it was a pleasantly warm day and there were seats along the way.
Just another 80kms or so further north through wheat growing country we reached our stop for the day, Keith. We enjoyed
Where did these come from?
You don't expect to see feet sticking out of the ground - in Hahndorf. our stay there on our way to Melbourne and therefore were quite happy to return. After setting up we rode the bikes into and around town enjoying seeing most of it in a reasonable time. The silos seem to be the major reason it is there with some service industries supporting it.
Tuesday 18th May 2010 We got away right on 9am driving into a mist/fog where we only had about 50m visibility. The thickness of the fog varied from being able to see between 50m and about 100m. This didn't seem to slow the truckies too much though, they at least turning on their lights. Luckily for us, most were coming from the opposite direction. The fog continued for nearly 100km until we neared Tailem Bend, from where most had 'burned' off.
We left the Princess Highway and deviated to the historic town of Hahndorf, once the home of the artist Sir Hans Heysen. Tuesday is another day that some tourist town shops close, this being our experience today. Even so, there were enough shops open in Rags' opinion and after Judy purchase a pair of opal earrings we were feeling hungry so found a
Hahndorf Trees
We thought of Ali when we saw these trees - he would hate all the leaves but it doesn't seem to bother people here. “German” bakery where we partook of very ordinary lunch. After we managed to almost over run our parking limit of 2 hours in the main street Rags managed to drag Judy away from the many gorgeous little gift shops and galleries .
The GPS took us on an interesting route to Williamstown, more or less the beginning of the Barossa Valley. Wineries such as Penfolds, Tanunda Estate, Jacobs Creek and St Hallett were come across as we continued to our destination, Nuriootpa. Here we booked into a large caravan site and set up for several nights. We intend making this our base for several days, exploring the region around us and possibly driving south again to Adelaide for a day.
Wednesday 19th May 2010 Our first stop today was the Information Centre to find out about their Wine, Butcher, Baker Trail. This costs $65 and is meant to give you a purpose for travelling around the region, collecting wares from different venues. What a farce! The person who served us knew nothing at all about the programme, just expected us to pay and find out for ourselves, the other not interested. We just took the brochure in
Along the road
We came upon this scene along the way - carving people out of tree trunks. the end and planned our own day.
First stop was St Hallett Wines. Here a very affable person gave us samples of the wines, including a generous sample of the delicious $80/bottle Old Block Shiraz. He advised us to look out for the white wines at Murphy's when they have a special. The new Jacobs Creek Winery was next, very modern but not with the same atmosphere as the previous winery in Rags' opinion.
On the way out of the winery we realised we were nearly out of fuel, the readout saying we had 0 kms left. We returned the 6kms to Nuriootpa to refuel, at the same time picking up some food for lunch back at the van.
Here we were accosted by Ray, a guy with a Jeep like ours who had been travelling around for the past 3 years including WA. He wanted to talk about the Jeeps and how he had a 'chip' in his which works really well as well as about some of the wineries he had been to.
After lunch we drove to Angaston where we went to the Angas Park factory showroom. The prices of the dried fruits
Just a wee taste!
St Hallett's Winery and confectionery they produced were more expensive than what we pay in the supermarket so we left there without any purchases made. The place did remind us of Judy's Uncle Bob, who took both of us there in 1998.
Mengler Hill Lookout was the next stop, not far from Angaston. The views from here overlooked the valley, unfortunately the sun was in the wrong position for good photos and there was cloud blocking much of the view. One of the locals there told us a little of the history of the area, his family going back 5 generations there. He also said we should make a short deviation on our trip home outside of Port Augusta to Woodna, where his son, Brett, ran a very popular bakery.
On Ray's recommendation we stopped at Bethany Wines, he buying bulk port there. We walked out with a wooden cheeseboard, 5 litres of port and a carton of semillon reisling.
As previous shareholders of Cockatoo Ridge Wines we stopped there, supporting current investors by buying several cartons of 'quaffing' reds.
With the credit card used enough for one day we returned to the caravan park in the late afternoon,
Jacob's Creek Visitor Centre
Pretty flash but not as much character as the others. Judy to finish some uni marking, Rags reorganising storage space for our purchases.
Thursday 20th May 2010 Adelaide was our destination today, without the van it was a fast trip except for there being roadworks on a regular basis where we had to slow down even though many times nothing was happening.
The Adelaide Markets was the main interest, both of us loving the atmosphere there as well as metwurst being high on the shopping list. There are several stalls at the markets which specialise in German smallgoods and even though Judy normally doesn't eat processed meats she is as keen as Rags is to once again sample the wursts.
We managed to get a reasonable selection of metwursts, the idea being we may have a get-together with our friends when we get back to Perth and have a wine, cheese and metwurst night.
Lunch was at a Chinese stall in the food hall attached to the markets, good value for a very filling meal, won't need much to eat this evening.
To wear some of it off we took our bikes and rode for some distance alongside the Torrens River. There are
Melba Chocolate
It was a mistake visiting this place because we left with plenty of fattening goodies! good paths all around this area and we could have ridden to the beach. Instead we stopped about halfway and returned through parkland and past the casino/conference area where we had been before several years previously.
All day Judy pointed out places of interest that she knew from her childhood, including the hotel where her mother used to work, her old school and other places which she remembered. Both of us enjoy Adelaide and we intend returning sometime in the future.
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Mum
non-member comment
South Australia
What a lot of memories came flooding back to me as I read this. Do you remember going to the Adelaide Markets every Friday night as a child with my Mum and Dad to do our fruit and Veg. shopping ? There was loads of atmosphere there then, too. I was happy to see the John Vaughan Memorial plaque. I knew it was there, but not quite where. How fitting !! Love Mum