The route there was from Angaston through vineyards, then farmland with a variety of animals – sheep, cattle, alpaca and mos. Mos? Well, we went past an alpaca farm, where we saw lots of alpaca in different colours, then a mohair farm – but we didn’t see any mos of any colour!! The vegetation was very different – although there are still the mighty eucalypts, we saw lots of more English trees and some exotics too. The colours are changing as it’s autumn here and even some of the eucalypts change colour – the ones we saw that made the most impact were the blood red ones – beautiful. It was a pleasant journey through this much more varied countryside, some of which could have been Oxfordshire or the Cotswolds.
Hahndorf itself is (as you could guess from the name) quite German and nothing like anywhere else we have visited in Oz. It was founded in 1839 by a group of Lutherian refugees, fleeing religious persecution. 
The names of the original settlers are detailed on the inevitable memorial that takes centre stage in the town.
Because of its founders, the entire town has retained a Germanic theme, and would not be out of place in any German valley. The main street is lined with lovely trees; the cafes sell German delicacies and the shops sell candles, steel cutlery, glassware and Christmassy decorations – all with a German feel. Most of the restaurants also have a German theme, and the food shops are awash with cold meats and German sausages, although there has been a bit of artistic licence with some of the names. I’m not sure how Mario would explain these sausages to his parents.
As well as the regular ones, there were some even hotter chilli coated ones. 
There were also the usual tourist shops as well as specialist clothes shops including a plethora (!!) of handknitted garments in alpaca wool and mohair – very expensive, but gorgeous. The sun shone all afternoon and it made for a totally enjoyable visit. Tom even found a free wireless internet café, Kaffeehaus, which had a lovely selection of cakes and savouries, and offered free internet access.
I went off browsing the shops, leaving him to get up to date on the internet, so you will have been able to read up the last 2 days blogs.We received a really long e-mail from Amy, with some up to date photos of Isabel, so that brought us up to date with half of the family. The other half, Andy, seems to have dropped off the face of the earth, and we haven’t heard from him in over 3 weeks. I trust that all is well and that the house purchase is going along ok. Hopefully, we’ll hear from him soon. Another e-mail was from Bruce back in Bedford to let us know that the box we sent from New Zealand has finally arrived safely. The mail has now reached up the stairs to the half landing, and is turning the corner. Another joy to look forward to when we get home!! We also got an e-mail from Peter and Jane Edwards. When we left home, (3 months ago now!!), we didn’t realise quite how important all these e-mails would prove, and how much we would look forward to receiving them, and reading the comments on the blog. Keep it up everyone- it’s humbling to realise how many good friends we have back home, and how much we both miss you all.
After indulging in the blog and e-mails, we left Hahnsdorf at about 4.00pm and had another good journey back, although the sun was low in the sky and flickering through the trees so it was a bit uncomfortable. We stopped just outside Springton at a fantastic tree which had served as a home for the Herbig family between 1855 and 1860 – hard to believe, but documented as fact.
We move on tomorrow to Adelaide, and hope to have better internet access there. It’s all very well using internet cafes, but it’s so much better to have access from the room, and be able to keep in contact at relatively short notice, rather than every couple of days or so. I can’t visualise this sort of journal, or trying to keep in touch pre-digital. As Peter said, how many 35mm films would we have needed, and what would it have cost for D&P? As it is, we’ve now passed the 8000 mark, with a fortnight still to go. The mind boggles. So here we are, back in the Motel for the last night. Alarm is set, and Tom has finished the bottle of wine he started earlier. Time for bed again so night, night all.
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