Outside Adelaide.....

Hahndorf

I took the local bus to visit the German town of Hahndorf just a short ride outside Adelaide. These settlers came voluntarily for religious freedom, not because they were convicts. It is the oldest German settlement in Australia, now it seems to exist just for tourists; German restaurants, bars with German beers, shops selling German wursts and other ethnic food, and reproduction German souvenirs made in China.  There is a bit of history on display. After WWI they tried to eliminate all the German town names and Hahndorf was renamed Ambleside, but returned to its’ original name in 1935. Maybe they should have waited a few more years for WWII.

Heysen Studio

About a 25 minute walk from Hahndorf is the home and studio of Hans Heysen; a renowned Australian landscape painter.   I had seen several of his works in the museums I previously visited. The studio was cool, unfortunately they don’t let you take pictures inside. It’s a tall brick, barn-like structure, with a 20-25 foot high ceiling, fireplace, and huge frosted windows on the south wall. The glass had to be imported from Italy as they didn’t make it in Australia. It was a classic artist studio and you could see how valuable the light would be coming through the windows before the advent of electricity. With the windows closed the light filters through the frosted glass so subtly; you could see how it would be perfect for an artist. The house was cool too and you could see how it expanded from a one story cottage to accommodate their growing family of eight children. One other nice thing about the property is that they have information signs in spots where Hans may have painted some of his pictures along with a copy of the painting, so you can see his interpretation and the actual site.  One of his favorite spots was the “Shady Pool”. I found a sunny spot by the “Shady Pool” to sit and have lunch; alone amongst the gum trees, with the warm sun shining down, it was sweet.

McLaren Vale Valley

Tanya-Katie-Chook-Vintner Vince-Andrew-John-Norb
at Danshi Winery

The area around Adelaide is a big wine growing region. Like California, there are several valleys in the region with the Barossa valley the most well known and popular. A bloke on the train to Adelaide said the Barossa was nice, but felt that McLaren Vale was better, and on a suggestion by the hotel, I chose to go there with “Chook’s  Little Winery Tours”. Chook owns the company, lives in McLaren Vale and is neighbor to some of the vintners. There are over 60 small, boutiques wineries in this valley and we visited four, plus one brewery. His tours are small which is nice. It was just me and two other couples; Andrew and Katie, John and Tanya. They had planned this weekend for a long time and were staying on-site at one of the wineries. In the beginning I felt like was intruding on their intimate get together, but by the end of the tour we were sitting around drinking wine and talking like old friends. If I had been staying in the area they would have even invited me to the lamb dinner John was cooking that evening.  We tasted a lot of good wines, and some not so good. I am not a connoisseur,  and they were all taking aroma, mouth feel, texture, fruits, oaks, and for me it was just that tastes good, that doesn’t; although one wine smelled like ether and there was one exceptionally good wine that I swear had a hint of persimmon. 

'67 Camero - '57 Chevy

All the winery owners have a love and a passion for their work, but none more so than the owner of Rocky Ridge Vineyard. He only makes a Shiraz…..well he does make a white, but that is only to appease the people who don’t drink red wine. His wine was by far the best wine we tasted. In talking with him you could tell he is devoted to making the best wine he can, and he seems to translate that same passion into everything he does. Not only does he have an enthusiasm for wine, but he also restores old cars. He had pictures of the vehicles he has restored over the years in his pristine garage. Also in his garage were a 1967 Camero and a 1957 Chevy made in Australia (the steering wheel is on the right side).  The cars were mint and quite an unexpected surprise. Overall the wine tour was fully sick (the best). I’m learning to speak Australian!

I will be taking a little side trip into the Red Center and will be out of touch for at least 3 days. Next post from Alice Springs Sat or Sun.

G’donya !

norb