Today the campervan beckoned … We have booked a campervan so that we can head across to Melbourne. The only issue was that the campervan pick was about an hour’s walk away. So we could have just got a taxi, but no … walking an hour up a steep hill into the Adelaide Hills in 25 degree heat seemed like the best way, so we went for that. It was actually not a bad walk (the hill aside!), though we had to weave around all through Tonsley to find a suitable route. But we made it and the friendly lady at the campervan place took us through the various aspects of the van. Bed – pull it out and lie on it. Cooker-turn it on, boil the kettle and make tea. Fridge – plug it in and it will keep stuff cool ….. Simples … which coincidentally is perhaps the best word to describe the campervan … perhaps more a van which you can sleep in rather than a campervan!
Once briefed, we headed off into the Adelaide Hills – a lovely drive to a place called Hahndorf. The German name reflects the history of the town. It was originally settled by Lutheran migrants who arrived from a small village called Kay in Prussia. They arrived in 1838 on a boat called the Zebra. The captain of the Zebra was called Dirk Meinerts Hahn – hence the town being called Hahndorf. Anti-German sentiment in 1917 meant that many Germanic names were changed and Hahndorf became Ambleside, but in 1935 the name was reinstated. It has now become a tourist centre with all sorts of German produce available – biersteins, sauerkraut, watches and slightly bizarrely cuckoo clocks!
After a very germanic lunch of a Reuben sandwich, we carried on out to Mount Barker and found a campsite there. An hour or so later we had worked out where everything went and organised it all to make enough space to sleep …. !