Hahndorf

 

Today we explored Hahndorf, Australia’s oldest surviving German settlement.  First of all, let me introduce  you to the Hahndorf Resort. 

Hahndorf Resort is situated on 13 hectares of hills and bushlands, overseeing the views of Adelaide Hills.  The resort offers a variety of accommodations and a spacious caravan and camping sites.  We were so tempted to visit one of the caravans; perhaps explore the possibilities of renting one on our next vacation??!

The self-contained home has 2 rooms, a fully equipped kitchen, lounge, and a dining room.  The amenities are very clean.  The whole house is fully air-conditioning and the master bedroom’s bed comes with electric blanket.  My maiden experience sleeping on an electric blanket and I actually made a fool of myself.  Read on to find out more!

Next to our house is a lake.  Ducks and geese make their rounds each morning and it is such a refreshing views!  We could actually see the cold mist early in the morning when the temperature is low.  Love the serenity of this place!

There’s a jumping pillow, swimming pool and a mini golf – all are my kid’s favourite!  They couldn’t wait to burn all their energy into all these fun but we convinced them to discover the town first. 

Our first activity for the day was visiting the Big Rocking Horse at Gumeracha.  Stands at 18 meters tall, my kids and I had a blast climbing up a series of steep ladders to the top.   

Second tier

Third level

We are on top of the world!!!  Too small to be seen though...

Thereafter, we visited the wildlife area right next to it.  There are kangaroos and wallabies (no idea which is which), goats, peacocks, ducks, and alpacas.  My kids love feeding the animals but the enthusiastic animals could be a little bit pushy.  

While Andrew was feeding one of the kangaroos, its sharp claws lean on his arms causing some discomfort to him.  Hence I suggested taking over.  What happened next was unusual and I hope my experience does not prevent you from having an up-close experience with these lovely marsupials.  As I hold the food up high, the kangaroo tried to stand up taller to eat it.  And in that instance its claws scratched my face and I felt a sharp pain.  I wasn’t aware how serious it was until Andrew took a closer look. 

So, Andrew caught the culprit on camera

There were two scratches on my right cheek and blood was flowing out.  I washed the wound and applied some antiseptic cream (given by the caretaker of the park) on it.  So now I was disfigured.  Sob.  Sob.  Andrew was surprised that I did not react to it.  Stay cool... Well, the wound took 2 long months to heal and finally disappeared. 

We strolled around the shop for awhile.  There are many amazing wooden toys but we bought none back home.

For lunch, we went to a local bakery so that Andrew can enjoy the most authentic pies at Otto's Bakery. 

This is what the children had instead... Everything comes in German size!!!

Our dessert was ice cream from the EverCream Ye Olde Ice Creamery.

Hahndorf Farm Barn was our next stop.  This place is a fun combination of a children’s farmyard and a nature wildlife park. 

We were allowed to get inside the pen and pet all the small furry animals.  Bags of pellets and carrots are AUD $3 and you can feed almost everything in the park.  There are chicks, hampsters, bunnies, lambs, cows, sheep, goats, donkeys, deer, emus, kangaroos… etc.  I like the lamb the most as they are so cuddly and they kept sucking/biting your shoelace or jackets.  They are not afraid of us at all!  

The most interesting part is feeding the cow.  We have fed so many animals before but never cow.  Feeding this creature was a real yucky experience as their saliva was all over your palm. 
 

The farm show was nothing great though.  Milking the cow which we have done it several times.  Nevertheless, the children never say no to such experience.

Erwyn was pretty upset when he was not chosen to bottle feed the lamb in the Cavershem Park.  But low and behold, the farm workers handed out a few bottles for the kids to feed the lambs and here’s my boy smiling from ear to ear At last!!! He was beaming and jumping for joy after that.

Back to Hahndorf town, we took a leisure walk along the street.  There is still a strong German flavor in the air.  The bustling main street is filled with shops selling vintage goods and knick knacks, as well as bakeries and eateries. 

Admiring the toys

How I wish to have one (cheapest is AUD $1k)

Funny finding a Nepalese shop in a German town

The rest of the free time we pampered ourselves with a few games of mini golf.  Andrew insisted that I record down in this blog that He managed to get a hole-in-one TWICE. Blah .....beginners luck

The kids would love to have some fun at the swimming pool and jumping pillow but it was locked.  Of course, I wouldn’t agree for them to dip in the water at this time of the year, although some pool is heated. 

A visit to Hahndorf is never complete without spoiling ourselves in some authentic German food.  In the evening, we went to Hahndorf Inn to have a taste of their famous pork knuckle.  This is simply amazing!  For someone like me who is not a food lover, I had such a good meal.  The portion is huge, so do remember to bring your appetite. 

Ever since I arrived at Adelaide, I have been feeling so cold.  So, when I discovered the electric blanket, I was astonished.  I would snuggle under the blanket and enjoy the heat.  Since this was our last night here, I have decided to turn on the electric blanket without a timer.  It was past midnight and I woke up sweating!!!  haha… I couldn’t sleep for awhile after that.  Finally when the bed was cold and I was shivering again, I tucked myself in comfortably and back to my dreamland.  Since then on, I did not switch on the electric blanket anymore in other motels/hotels that we stayed.  Laughing at my silliness but definitely learned my lesson.

Before we left this beautiful little town, Audrey brought us to Chocolate @ No5 for some sweet indulgence.  The crispy waffle with its mouth-watering chocolate sauce is heaven-like.  So satisfying.  I miss it till this day.  Oh, if you do visit this place, don’t forget to take a peek at their bathroom.  The design is spectacular! 

So, that’s the end of our Hahndorf trip. 

Next stop:Victory Habour

First Sabbath in Perth

It was a bright Sunday morning and we were ready for church.  Together with Bi Ee Ean, we visited Victory Life Centre at Osborne Park, Bi Ee Ean's home church for the past decades.

Love the acoustic during worship although knew none of the songs.  Since it was Pentecostal Sunday, the senior Pastor, Pastor Margaret Court, was led to engage the church in a time of speaking in tongues.  Not much of sharing as a result. 

The children, on the other hand, went to the Children Church.  Elyse and Erwyn were given a Welcome Pack and Elyse was chosen to play a part in a skit.  Consequently, the teacher asked her to keep the AUD3.50 that was used in the play.  The advantage of being the ‘new kid’.  LOL

After the service, we hanged around at the foyer, taking a sip of the coffee served; and browsing through the bookstore.  Interestingly, I found out that the same worship team would lead the exact same songs for all three services.  Pretty tiring for the same group, but it’s a great way to optimizing manpower.

Finally, we made our way to IKEA.  Just when we thought we were early, take a look at the crowd!!!

First call of business was to drop my two kiddos off at “Smaland Magic Forest” play area for up to an hour. Now the adults had one precious hour of uninterrupted shopping time.

The stuff is pretty much the same back in Malaysia.  We glanced through the items loosely, not expecting to carry anything back home.  But hubby set his eyes on one particular item – the sheep fur.  He claimed that it is cheaper here. 

Time’s up and we went back to pick our children up and had lunch at the IKEA Cafe.  Hubby ordered a plate of curry chicken rice for me.  Surprisingly I cleaned the plate with much delight.  First rule of thumb: I can’t take spicy food but I do like the curry taste.  So, this Australian version of curry chicken rice is just perfect for me!

Throughout the past one week we had been having home cooked food by Bi Ee Ean.  Such a blessings!  Tomorrow we'd be flying off to Adelaide, meeting up with Andrew's sis (thus no more home cooked food).  Thank God that I was well and both kids and hubby were not afflicted by my virus.  But poor Bi Ee Ean, she was falling sick instead.  Hope she gets enough rest with us out of the way.

A good night's sleep.  A brand new day.

It was R&R today as we would be traveling to Adelaide in the late afternoon.  Just watched some TV programs, played board games, and re-packed our luggage. 

This was our 2^nd flight and our ETA was around 10pm.  We board the plane anticipating another new escapade.  Hopefully this flight would be much better and thank God it was.  Audrey was already looking out for us at the arrival hall.  The temperature in Adelaide was 8 degrees and we kept ourselves warm with layers of clothes, except Andrew.  He had not used his jacket to this day.  Not even once.  T-shirt and pants.  That’s all he needs.  Pretty cool, isn’t it?

For the next 45 minutes, we hid ourselves in the comfort of Audrey’s car as she drove us straight to Hahndorf, a beautiful small town in South Australia.  We rest our sleepy head in Hahndorf Resort for the night although our hearts were pumping with excitement.

Fremantle

Day 5:

Today, we headed to Fremantle, a vibrant and hip coastal town, south of Perth.  Instead of driving, we’ve decided to take a train.  Unexpectedly, we met lots of little Elsa at the station.  Perhaps there’s a Frozen themed party going on somewhere???  Eventually, we found out the reason.  The answer shall be revealed in a later post.  (*wink*)  About an hour plus later, we reached this seaside harbour port at the mouth of Swan River.

Our ticket to board the train - Family Ride (2 adults 2 kids)

Children playing in the train; other children were fascinated with their games

Town Hall - beautiful architecture

Another beautiful masterpiece

Playing a fool with ... (dunno what this is called??)

Our first destination is the Fremantle Prison.  This prison was built in 1859 for UK to ‘unload’ its convicts in Australia.  Various tours are available but we didn’t sign up for any.  However, we were still allowed to visit the Prisoner Gallery, Visitor Centre, Gift Shop and the Convict Café for free.  

Prisoner Gallery

From the prison, about 300m walk away we stopped at the Fremantle Market, which offers lots of local produce and artisan handicrafts.  Though Mommy was keen to explore the place longer, kids were getting a bit restless.  So, we finished walking around the market within ten minutes and marched towards the well known Kailis Café for lunch. 

yummy cheese... if only Mr Boss can transport them back to homeland

colourful!!!

It was not even lunch time yet the crowd was enormous.  Managed to find a seat in the café though dining outdoor seems alluring.  The scenery of the boats and ferries with the cold sea breezes… sounds pretty enticing, right?  Not to mentioned the sea gulls flying around you hoping to get a nibble.  However, we ended up sitting inside because it was heated.  Andrew thought that it was too cold for the mother outside though he would love to eat in that nice cold breeze.  Not knowing that yours sincerely was willing to endure the cold to experience the beautiful scenery…. miscommunication 101.

So, we got ourselves the traditional Fish and Chips.  Andrew bought a family set for 5 of us.  At first he was worried that it may not be enough.  The doubt became amazement when the plate arrived.  This set of fish & chips is very filling even though we were hungry at the beginning; we couldn’t finish the chips completely.

Mountain of chips

Lobsters!!  Anyone?

Fish and Chips Ice Cream - one of its kind. 

After the lunch, we strolled around admiring the building and enjoying the cold breeze.  Taking lots of pictures in between as well.

Standing right on the railway track... warn me if you see a train

This girl has found some affiliation here?!!

Finally, we returned to the Train Station and headed towards Elizabeth Quay.  It is a nice waterfront attraction with easy access by CAT bus services (Blue Line).  Taking a ferry from the jetty at Elizabeth Quay to Mends Street Jetty, South Perth; this is the cheapest way of viewing the city from the Swan River.  It only took us around 10 minutes.  Four years ago we had a surprised visit by the dolphins as we crossed the river.  Will they be there for us again this time?  The answer is ‘NO’.  Children were a little disappointed.  Thus this ferry ride doesn’t intrigue them anymore.  My kids have really grown!

Upon our return, we walked along the curvy Elizabeth Bridge and chanced upon this children playground.  The maritime themed Island Playground is very interesting and flooded with kids.  After a whole day of sight seeing and walking, this place was a gold mine for my two kiddos.  They joined in the fun and wished that time would cease.

Eventually, we got the kids out (after much persuasion and a little scolding).  Standing in front of us is the Bell Tower, one of Perth’s most significant buildings.  We missed the opening hours, hence were unable to feast our eyes with the stunning 360 degree view of the Swan River, Elizabeth Quay and Perth city from the observation deck. 

As time was running late, we left with haste.  After a full day of venturing the city, time to snuggle in our bed and rest for the night.