Tag Archives: Barossa Valley

Day 37 – That’s Australia!

A cloudy start

A cloudy start

Waking up in the Barossa Valley, the clouds were hanging very low. So low in fact that the tent just wouldn’t dry at all.

We had breakfast, packed up and headed to one of the wineries for a wine tasting. The lady in the tourist information yesterday had suggested a couple of places we might want to look at i.e. if you like red wine. So we went to Peter Lehmann’s.

The wine tasting is in a really posh place. A couple of men in suits with golf clubs under their arms entered right before we did and not being a wine drinker myself, I couldn’t have felt more out of place standing there in my motorcycle gear.

To our suprise, Nina liked both

To our suprise, Nina liked both

However, the lady behind the counter was incredibly nice and while Flo was trying his way through some red wines, she got a bottle of their sweet white wines out for me: Princess Moscato. It’s low on alcohol and guess what…I liked it. Flo bought a bottle of it for my upcoming birthday and also a shiraz for himself.

After that, we felt as if we were good with the Barossa Valley now; after all there is only that much wine you can try in a day without spitting it all out. So we left in the northern direction.

Coming out of the valley, we had the feeling as if the landscape started changing immediately. It got warmer. Lunch was at a small parking area next to the road where a couple of other travellers (in a car) had parked. We had a delicious avocado toast lunch before continuing further north, past Burra and into Petersborough.

The clouds start to break

The clouds start to break

On the way to Petersborough, the whole landscape had changed for sure. I’ve never been to Arizona but this was how I imagine Arizona to be: So much open space everywhere. The land is flat until far on the horizon a hill might block your view. And above all is a vast expanse of sky.

Between Petersborough and Hawker, where we are staying tonight, Flinders Range came into full view. I tried to capture it in the pictures but I’m not convinced that I managed to. The mountains in the otherwise rather flat landscape are quite epic.

Now we’re camping in Hawker, a 300 people village, where the gas station is also the general store and the visitor’s center.  🙂

Day 36 – Chocolate and Wine

Writing the blog at our host's table

Writing the blog at our host’s table

We had a very comfortable start into the day after a very comfortable night. Leaving Victor Habor, we took a couple of roads that Geoff had suggested and ended the ride in Hahndorf for lunch. Hahndorf is a German-founded little town that has a high kitsch factor today. Flo found it very cringeworthy but still enjoyed some Leberkäs’ in the Kaffeehaus.

Then, it was time for my treat. I realized yesterday already that Adelaide has a Haigh’s chocolate factory. Today, we went there, took part in the free tour and bought chocolates. J The founder Haigh learned his chocolate craft in Switzerland with Lindt and it is a real chocolatier. Everything is still handmade.

The teddy bears with the tin suitcases did grab my fancy

The teddy bears with the tin suitcases did grab my fancy

The tour was great and quite informative. I am really happy that more and more people realize that chocolate is like coffee: Different origins produce different flavours.

We ended up buying some hazelnut wafer bars for me, chili and lime dark chocolate seconds for Flo and a bag full of “chocolate nibbles”. Since it is a factory, they sell a small amount of seconds which are products that are totally fine but don’t look quite up to scratch. The bag of chocolate nibbles is filled of chocolate covered nuts, fruit and liquorice. Just a bag full of surprises. 🙂

After the factory visit we drove up to the summit of Mount Lofty to look down at the city of Adelaide. We were lucky that the clouds were high enough for us to have a view, as the view down onto the plains and the city were pretty spectacular.

Our camp for the night at Barossa Backpackers

Our camp for the night at Barossa Backpackers

Next, we drove on through windy back roads into the Barossa Valley. Flo’s favourite Australian wine “Chocolate Box” is made here. It is a big wine region producing about 40% of Australian wine. Got some information about the vineyards and the wine tours for tomorrow from the tourist information and then tried to find a camping spot.

We had read that the Barossa Backpacker also offers campsites but this is only true in summer. A room was too pricey for us and we were just about to leave when the guy at the reception was really interested in our travels and very helpful as well. He called his boss to see if we could be the exemption and still camp and it actually worked out! We are allowed to camp here for a very good price as well. 🙂