Adelaide, Hahndorf, and Gin

As we looked around our campsite this morning it was cool, cloudy, and raining, and forecast to remain this way but improving over the next two days. So instead of exploring the Barossa Valley today in the rain we decided to look around Adelaide as Carolina had never been there before.
Along the way we passed through Seppelfield which was once the largest wine producing company in the world. A huge area of grape vines and long palm-lines roads. There was even a family mausoleum that look like a mini version of the Parthenon. It’s amazing what money can do!
On arrival in Adelaide we parked near the CBD and walked around the city as the weather thankfully was behaving itself with no rain. Adelaide was looking great due to the colours of the autumn leaves in the trees, the beautiful buildings, great cafes and restaurants, and as usual the city was clean and presented well. The CBD was quieter than Peter remembered but perhaps this is due to the universal move away from cities by many workers following COVID. The Taste Australia food festival was on, but Chanel was not allowed in so we missed out on this; Carolina went to the Central Markets and was amazed at the selection of food and goods; and the gardens everywhere were spectacular. We walked and drive around the CBD areas for several hours.
We then started heading back to the Barossa Valley when Carolina suggested we include Hahndorf in today’s trip, and what a good idea that turned out to be! Hahndorf is a small town in the Adelaide Hills that has been set up like a German town. The scenery on the drive up to Hahndorf was amazing with the lovely autumn colours everywhere, and then the town itself is very picturesque and as a result there were tourists everywhere. Carolina was in her element and excitedly went from place to place along the Main Street taking in all the sights and atmosphere. Two hours looking around was enough to see it all and we finished off with a visit to the Ambleside Distillery for a selection of their famous gins mixed with several types of tonics. The standout gin in our view was the Big Dry which is distilled with jalapeños and coffee beans!! A decidedly different but delicious taste!
The drive back to Barossa and our campsite took about an hour and as darkness fell this had been a very good day.Read more