Mt Lofty, Hahndorf and Lobethal

From the top of Mt Lofty you can see Adelaide all laid out before you.


Mt Lofty summit

Adelaide CBD

The town of Hahndorf is absolutely delightful and is described as Australia's oldest surviving German settlement. It has a strong village feel; its streets are planted with 100-year-old plane and elm trees, and lined with cafes, shops, craft outlets and galleries, and the sandstone buildings are softened with roses, vines and lavender.

In 1838, a group of German Lutherans emigrated to South Australia to avoid religious persecution by the King of Prussia. They arrived at Port Adelaide in the ship Zebra under the captaincy of Dirk Hahn (a Dane). He had grown to respect the passengers and promised to help them achieve their goal of settling and farming together, negotiating a parcel of land in the Adelaide Hills for them.

The negotiated contract provided the families with 100 acres of land rent-free for the first year along with a years' provision of seeds and some livestock, all on credit as a communal debt. To earn the money to repay the debt, many of the men left the village to work for wealthy landowners clearing the bush and building fences. The women were left behind to labour on their small farms, raising animals and vegetable gardens and making butter and cheese.

These women found a ready market in Adelaide for their fresh produce (as almost everything was imported to the colony at the time) and they walked the 35km winding track with their goods in baskets on their backs or suspended from yokes across their shoulders. After a few years the 52 pioneer families had completely repaid their debt. They named their settlement Hahndorf (Hahn's village) in honour of Captain Hahn who had helped them achieve their freedom.

During World War One there was anti-German prejudice and this resulted in all the German names of settlements being changed. Hahndorf became Ambleside in 1917. It was reverted to Hahndorf in 1935 as part of South Australia’s centenary celebration.

The villagers are very proud of their German heritage and it is everywhere evident from the taditional menus at the pubs to the structure of the buildings, and the items on sale: clocks; steins and intricate woodwork, candles and German folk art.

I adored the musical boxes (spieldosen), nativity scenes, teddies and santas, little bakers, reindeer and carol singers in lederhosen. The wooden children's toys are outstanding with carvings of old men playing chess, mini fishermen and an entire range of nutcracker soldiers, dentists and beer drinkers!

We called into the German Cake Shop for morning tea, where we had giant pretzel doughnuts and cherry strudel.

Sausages are another German speciality: fresh, cooked, smoked, cured and dried. Several shops display racks of them hung up to tempt buyers with their delectable smell. We bought Aussie-made in the end with a kangaroo salami, and avoided the unsubtly-named bum burner.

Nearby Lobethal was renamed Tweedvale during the anti-German paranoia of WWI but reverted to its original name soon after. It is known for its Christmas festival of lights, its Grand Carnival, weekend markets, and old woolleen mill where the Onkapiringa blankets were made. We appreciated it for its support of the Tour Down Under and its microbrewery.

This artwork made from Paris Creek marble by South Korean sculptor Hwang Seong Woo was commissioned to celebrate Lobethal's woollen mill history - how's that for multicultural!

Naturally we had to visit the microbrewery at Lobethal Bierhaus! Once again we had a tasting paddle so we could sample the wares, beginning with a Bohemian Pilsner (4.8%) - straw colour, yeasty barley taste, crisp and refreshing; recommended as an accompaniment to a fish dish.

We moved onto the Hefeweizen (5.4%) which tasted like those fondant banana sweets and was supposedly good with a summer salad, and then the boldly named Good Bier (4.8%) which was an easy drinking beer with moderate bitterness and citrus flavours - probably a fine match for a cheese and pickle sandwich.

Lobethal Bierhaus, ouside and in.



My favourite was the Bruce (3.5%), which is considered a 'light' beer, although this is actually the usual strength of top English beers (Brakspear's is 3.8%). It's golden brown in colour and made with British malts (including Maris Otter), Whitbread yeast, and a hop combination of UK Challenger and NZ High Alpha variety 'Big Banger'. It's nutty, bitter, hoppy and absolutely yummy.

Their Pale Ale (5.6%) claims to be 'like Little Creatures' although I'm not entirely certain of that. It's an American-hop-based golden copper ale with a sweeter taste and an aroma of pubs. The tasting ntes suggest you pair it with a hot chilli dish or rich food.

The Red Truck Porter ((5.2%) has a roasted malt flavour and a strong suggestion of smoked almonds. And finally the Chocolate Oatmeal Stout (5.8%) relies upon golden rolled oats and English hops and yeast to present hints of chocolate and roasted coffee flavours with a smooth, silky finish. This would invariably be a winter favourite to be savoured in front of a smoky peat fire.

Him Outdoors compares notes with The Friesian

We returned to our hosts to eat our spoils from the markets - date sourdough bread, camembert, fig paste, kangaroo salami, and smoked almonds. Another fine day's touristing.

Willunga Market and Goolwa

In Adelaide for a week of watching cycling and tourism, we began with a trip around the villages in the Adelaide Hills. First stop: Willunga market.

We had a kransky and tomato chutney bun from these guys for breakfast - a delicious way to start the day!

These little posies are called tussie mussies. I think that's cute.

Him Outdoors sniffed out the beer stall - of course - and is sampling some Goodieson ales

Next we headed to Goolwa, a historic port on the Murray River near the Murray mouth. 'Goolwa' means 'elbow' in Ngarrindjeri, the local Aboriginal language. It was briefly considered as the site for the colony's capital and was Australia's first inland port. 

Its's an arty place, featuring a cooperative of 25 local artists exhibiting original work and encouraging art in the community. A gallery features art by award winning artists across all mediums including photography, sculpture, jewellery, pottery, textile and wood, mosaics, metal, glass and much more. There are even mosaics on the streets in public spaces.

Nearby Compass has a festival on Australia Day, which sounds like a typical village fair incorporating food and produce stalls, demonstrations of wood chopping and various activities such as cheese rolling and dung flinging. My favourite, however, is their boast to host Australia's only cow race. What a shame we shall miss it - it sounds like a fun day out!

We did, however, go to the Steam Exchange Brewery in the old Railway Goods Shed. They are Australian and International Beer Award-winning brewers, with over 25 gold, silver and bronze medals. Their marketing claimes they are the 'oldest full grain brewery on the Fleurieu Peninsula and arguably South Australia's leading small brewery production facility.'

Microbreweries are getting good at providing tasting trays of their beers so you can sample all and choose your favourite - a lot like wineries but with beer instead. We had their Steam Ale (4.8% - a well-balanced beer made with three malts and American hops), Pale Ale (5.8% and malty rather than the hoppy I was expecting), Southerly Buster (5.5% - a rich, dark amber ale with strong malt and caramel flavours and roasted nuances) and the Stout (5.2% - chocolate and roast characters with a moderate bitterness and a rich, smooth finish).

My favourite was the Truffles Dessert beer (6.5%). Billed as 'the ultimate double-chocolate vanilla-bourbon porter' this went down rather nicely with everyone present.

The Steam Exchange Brewery

Truffles Dessert beer

Him Outdoors is happy

To finish off our day of tourism we went to a couple of wineries - Deep Creek and Perrini's, where they sell their wine by the (very cheap and clean-skinned unlabelled) box.

After dinner we sat outside on the deck and heard sort of grunting, barking, growling noises which our hosts assured us were koalas mating in the nearby trees.