Adelaide Family Trip Day 10 - (Germans)

Farewell seaside town of Moonta and hello to the valleys and hills north/northeast of Adelaide. The overnight stays tonight and tomorrow are one nighters, as we move on towards the limestone coast.

First stop, for lunch, was the town of Tanunda, 70km northeast of Adelaide. Can I just say here that the road signage in Victoria is much better than in South Australia. Today's total trip time was probably about 1 hour more than it shoud have been as a combination of poor descriptions on the Googlemap printouts I had as well as poor signage meant that there was more than one occasion where we ended up taking a wrong turn. Still, the scenery of the wrong ways were nice.

I have a history with Tanunda due to the various brass band contests that have been held over, whilst I was playing with Box Hill Band. For a large number of years Tanunda hosted the South Australia Band Championships. Box Hill were South Australia B Grade Champions on 2 occasions I ventured across the border. The trips were as much about alcohol consumption the social aspects of playing as they were about competing. The venue itself was a large tin shed. The atmosphere was that of a large country fair, and encouraged drinking making merry and having a good time. These contests were amongst my favourites.

The Tanunda region was first settled by Prussian immigrants in 1842-43, and their germanic influence is still evident in many aspects of the town. Whilst the name Tanunda is not german (it is aboriginal for watering hole), the original names of the settlements where Tanunda is etsblished were Bethanien and Langmeil. The choir, or Liedertafel, seems to date back to 1861, whilst the Tanunda Town Band is claimed to be the oldest in Australia (and possibly the Southern Hemisphere).

Lunch was at the Tanunda Bakery (large brass shaped pretzel serving as the front door handle), and there was a large selection of german strudels and other assorted goodies available. We sadly went for the aussie options of pies and sausage rolls.

Next stop was in the town of Woodside, home of the Melba Chocolate Factory.  We spent some time watching chocolates being made, tasting (many) samples and buying presents to take back home. Here are some random photos of the the production of cherryripe-like chocolates and chocolate bullets.

From there it was a short drive to our final destination for the day, the town of Hahndorf. The town was settled by Prussian Lutherans in 1839 and was named after Captain Dirk Meinhetz Hahn, captain of the ship Zebra, used to transport these immigrants to Australia.

I must admit that I almost always visit Hahndorf when I travel to Adelaide. The food is fantastic, the shops are interesting, it always seems to be busy (though it's not good when it is too busy as when we were last here on Easter Saturday. All of Adelaide travelled to the hills that day.) the heritage buildings have great character and just it feels very european.

 I forgot to take photos this time around. Here are some I took from a previous trip:

Hahndorf Metwurst. Yum!

These is the entrance to the Hahndorf Pioneer Memorial Gardens (apologies for poor photography skills shown)

We ate hotdogs here Easter Saturday. The building is over 160 years old.

Another old building.

 Tea tonight was at the Hahndorf Inn, where we got stuck into The Taste of Germany Platter:

 Bockwurst, Weisswurst, Cheese Kransky and Vienna sausages, smoked Pork Kassler Chop and Pork Knuckle. Served with Rhine potato, sauerkraut, 2 pretzels and a selection of German mustards

We still had (some) room for dessert. Here is what the boys ate:

Royal Weddin zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.