15 December 2011 - Belair National Park Caravan Park, Adelaide, South Australia

This evening, even at 8.30 pm, the camp is alive with the noise of small children and dogs barking. Christmas is fast approaching and with it the onslaught of the holiday makers, dogs and children included. I shall have to try harder to be more tolerant of others, and instead be pleased to have others about me.

Today has been a relatively relaxed day, but yesterday was one for further exploration of the Adelaide Hills. You could spend weeks and weeks here, especially if one was a mind to shop and shop for all manner of crafts and produce, to dine out three or even four times a day, to become part of the latte brigade and indulge in the wealth of wines available. We partake in little of these activities and yet still can fill the days that are passing so quickly.

Yesterday we drove over from the National Park to Stirling and Aldgate, both with tree lined main streets, quaint old buildings tucked away enough to tantalise the tourist. Apparently in spring and autumn these villages are just alive with colour; I can well believe it. Initially the site of orchards and market gardens, the late 19^th century saw the towns become popular with Adelaide’s wealthy who built grand summer houses to escape the heat of the plains. Today many of the old homes have been converted into Bed & Breakfast establishments.  

From these pretty villages, the road winds down to Bridgewater, yet another lovely place, and then we crossed the main Freeway, the Princes Highway, to Hahndorf. Hahndorf is truly the Jewel in the Crown of the Adelaide Hills, and if you only had time to visit one settlement in these hills, it should be Hahndorf. This is Australia’s oldest original non-English-migrant settlement, settled by religious refugees from Prussia who sailed on the Zebra to this new land and came to this area in the Hills in 1839. Their voyage was difficult as were most that sailed this way, but their Danish ship’s captain, Dirk Hahn, was impressed with their staunch discipline and courage, as they were with him, and named their new settlement after him. Of the 199 passengers who set out, 187 arrived ready for their new life.

Today the village has just less than 2,000 inhabitants and is a busy hive of activity, catering for the tourists who come to delight in its charm. There are souvenir shops selling cuckoo clocks and cowbells, cheese shops, several small-goods butchery shops, clothing boutiques, art galleries, chocolate shops, candle makers, cafes, pubs, restaurants and a host of other food outlets. All are housed in the original settlers traditional timber and brick cottages, all beautifully restored and maintained.

 The Information Centre is located in what was originally the Institute, a place of learning, at one time the maternity hospital, a primary school and a residence. Today it is home to a craft and art gallery where we saw an exhibition of etchings and paintings by Janet Ayliffe. She is a South Australian artist who has established herself as marketable and must be very rich if she sells her work that was priced between $450 and $12,000. I loved her work; Chris found her compositions too busy. Fortunately for our blown budget this month, there is no space on the walls of our caravan for artworks and so we left empty handed.

The centre also houses a small museum, with exhibits and explanations about those hardy immigrants which we found very interesting. To add to that, there is a gated lane further up the street which has large boards with detailed stories of the same, describing the conditions in Prussia that drove them out, the voyage, the long wait in a shed down at the docks before they were able to come over the hill to their new home, and the subsequent lives and progress of their settlement.

It is interesting to note that between 1837 and 1900, around 18,000 people left Germany for South Australia. The religious persecution referred to relates to King Friedrich Wilhelm III when he united the Lutheran and Reformed churches and demanded that everyone adopt a new worship book. Many Old Lutherans believed emigration was the only way to continue to practice the religion they held dear. Pastors who defied the king’s orders were suspended and imprisoned leaving parishioners to conduct services alone and in secret.

Again during the First World War, these Australians of German heritage were persecuted, this time not for their religious beliefs, but for the fact that they were too German to be considered trustworthy Australians. Alas there are stories like this in New Zealand as well, even in my own family. But this particularly close knit community was all too much. Legislation was passed here in South Australia in 1916 calling for the erasure of all town and district names of German origin. Hahndorf became Ambleside, Lobethal (the village of the Christmas lights) became Tweedvale; both changed their names back in 1935 on the eve of the State’s centenary. But Grunthal and Blumberg became Verdun and Birdwood respectively and have remained so.

Again, as in other parts of Australasia, men and boys were interred during the war, although some did serve in the Australian forces, and lost their lives doing so.

Chris admiring Hans Heyson's caravan and Ford car

We drove out to the town’s oval to find a place to picnic and ate while we watched a woman run around and around the circular park, making me feel quite tired. We left her to it and went in search of the home of Australia’s famous landscape artist, Hans Heyson.  Heyson lived in The Cedars, just a couple of kilometres out of the village on a hundred acres or so, until his death at the age of about ninety two in 1969. The house is kept in the same condition as when he lived here, and is occupied from time to time by members of his family. He and his wife, who were both child immigrants, had eight children, were friends to many great and famous who were regular collectors of his works of art. The two room cottage was added on to twice around 1920, and is just lovely with its stoop (the sunroom), lounge, dining room, bedrooms, kitchen and other rooms we did not see. Originals of his work are hung throughout, and because of this, entry is only allowed with a guide. A shop acts as a gatehouse for the residence and has masses of prints and art books for sale, as well as being attached to the studio of Nola Heyson, his daughter who was a brilliant artist in her own right. Outside in a garage sits his old caravan (a simple camper trailer) and an ancient old Ford which he used to tow the caravan up into the Flinders to paint. As we returned to the car park, we were met by new arrivals who asked if it was worth paying the entrance fee to see the place; we replied in the affirmative with a definite yes.

From Hahndorf we drove east to Nairne, and walked up and down the street, far less busy and less commercial than its sister up the road. This was a wheat growing area and the old Albert Mill still stands impressively beside the river, now apparently a residence. Nairne was founded in 1939 by Matthew Smilie, the first sheep farmer east of the Mount Lofty Ranges. South Australia’s first flour mill was built here in 1841 and subterranean clover was discovered here in 1889, later to become Australia’s premier stock feed. It is a place of firsts.

 South from here we found our way to the top of Mount Barker. From the top, at 517 metres above sea level, we had wonderful views all about, south to Victor Harbour, east to Murray Bridge, and north to the Adelaide Hills. And immediately below lies the regional centre of the Adelaide Hills, the town of Mount Barker. We descended the mount and drove into the town, where we parked and walked about, enjoying the heritage buildings. Unlike all the other little settlements through the Adelaide Hills, this town offers all services and retail outlets, sporting facilities, banks and a hospital.

We had intended to travel on further however the day was passing and we realised that if we were do the rest of the gems in this area justice, we would have to leave it all for another day.

This morning we spent quietly in camp, dealing with loads of laundry, appreciating the warmer temperature and the sunny skies as it all quickly dried. After lunch we drove across to Marion’s Westfield Centre to check out the whereabouts of Chris’s glasses and found that our call was wonderfully timely. They were lying on the bench amongst a pile of others, ready to be checked and for us to be notified of their arrival. We shopped at the larger Coles in the centre, jostled by the masses all checking out Christmas goodies as we were. Sometimes it is good to have one of these quieter days before returning to the list of tourist attractions yet to be seen.