Adelaide, the Hills and the Barossa

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25/3/11
Hi Everyone,
A lot to say after only a short time (no rude comments please!)...
We left Robe Monday and drove along the flat, windy Coorong coast. Seeing dozens of majestic pelicans flying in formation was beautiful. We passed Lake Alexandrina - a huge expanse of water which is actually the mouth of the Murray river! We drew near to Adelaide and stopped for a poke around in Handorf, a gorgeous little town founded by German Lutheran immigrants which still has a very German flavour. We saw shops with German bread, sausages and even cuckoo clocks! In Adelaide we stayed at a lovely little caravan park in Mitcham which was set in a valley surrounded by hills and populated by dozens of huge river red gums. The oldest was right behind our van and is thought to be around 400-years old. It was not hard to imagine Aboriginal groups camped in its huge hollow base well before the invasion! As in Robe the rain poured down and the valley filled with mist making the view from our van windows seem like a Tom Roberts' painting. At around 6.30am we were woken by kookaburras laughing riotously, though at that time of the morning I just couldn't find too much to laugh at!!
Adelaide is a lovely town with so many beautiful old stone homes with so much character... but the best thing of all is the Haigh's Chocolate Factory! It has been an Adelaide family institution since 1915 and just the sweet odour as one enters the building is enough to please! We watched workers through a glass panel as they painstakingly decorated each chocolate by hand. Sue was pleased that at last she had caught a fish - even if it was a chocolate one! We later wandered the beautiful botanic gardens, toured the wonderful art gallery, had lunch at the uni and wandered down Rundle Mall.
On Thursday on our way out of town another visit to Haigh's seemed to be required (the dark chocolate scorched almonds are in the post Dad)! We headed towards the Barossa and stopped at Hans Heysen's House near Handorf. If you haven't heard of him (I hadn't)...google! Hans was born in Germany in 1877 and arrived in the Adelaide Hills at the age of 6. By the time he was a young man he was an artist with a growing reputation. He died in 1968 and his home is much as he left it, large and adorned with hundreds of his fantastic paintings as well as antique furniture and amazing books including leather-bound volumes of the works of Rembrandt. There are even two original Rembrandt's on the wall! Apparently while as a young man in Europe studying art, a young woman in Adelaide, Sally, saw his work in an exhibition and was so enamoured she declared she would one day marry the artist! After his return she was the first to enrol in his art class, though apparently not for art lessons as once she had married the man of her dreams, she never painted again! They moved into the beautiful old home which we visited, had 8 children and became a really well-known Adelaide family visited by people such as Dame Nellie Melba and Marcel Marceau! Apparently the painting which still hangs above the fireplace in the lounge was one he painted for Sally and for which Anna Pavlova offered him a blank cheque! He was one of a rare and fortunate breed of Australian artists to have lived solely from his art even during WW1 (when he was under suspicion due to his German roots) and during the depression. The garden is rambling and absolutely delightful (he was also an original Greenie who purchased land from his neighbours simply to save the gum-trees from being felled). His studio out the back is amazing too, left as it was when he died, one can see half-finished paintings, his spectacles, art materials and the worn original carpet under foot. He had it built in 1922 and it is a National Trust building now. Of his eight children six reached adulthood and of those only one, Nora, became an artist - the first woman to have won the Archibald Prize! Nora died in 2003 in her 90's. As was the tradition in the "olden days", the home went to their first-born son (the 3rd or 4th born child) and is now owned by his 4 children. A wonder was the old T-Model Ford in the garage as well as the tiny caravan he had built to enable him to travel and paint. It is the length of the 2-foot wide beds and makes our van seem like a mansion!
We are now in Nuriootpa in the Barossa (apparently Nuriootpa is an Aboriginal word and with the "t" coming before the "p" is one I have been practicing all day!). Today we visited several wineries (the vines are laden with fruit) and had I bought a 2001 Penfold's Grange I would have been left with 10 cents change from $2000.00!! For about 5 minutes we considered answering an ad for grape-pickers but not being sure whether the "nurses' backs" would cope, we're still contemplating that one! Todays highlight was lunch at Maggie Beer's farm restaurant as well as enjoying food tasting and a cooking demonstration in the kitchen which was the very set used in The Cook and the Chef. Maggie is just gorgeous as her smile is so genuine, open and warm but unfortunately as she didn't know we were coming she was not there... 😞 Oh well, as Senior Australian of the Year and of South Australia, I suppose she's a bit busy.
Off to the Farmer's market tomorrow after doing some washing!
Photos attached...
Hope you are all well,
Bye for now,
Ros (and Sue)

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Photos

Sue!
Finally caught a fish... at the Haigh's chocolate factory!!