Melbourne to Adelaide via GOR - Day 4

We woke up early, had a hearty breakfast, enjoyed the autumn colours in the holiday park, had a brief stop at Blue Lake, drove along the John Watson Drive around the lake, and off we departed to Adelaide Hill.

The only breakfast that was not served on our picnic table

The Blue Lake

Due to time constraint, I canceled the original plan (using the coastal road to go to Adelaide), and sacrificed my Coorong National Park. However, I think it was a good decision as the girls were tired of ocean view after days of exploring Great Ocean Road. We drove through Naracoorte Wine Region instead, and we love the endless vineyards.

However, after hours of vineyards, we grew tired of the same old beautiful scenery. So, when we finally reached Murray River, we gladly took a brief stop at a park. We needed some stretching. And, for bonus, here's where we enjoyed taking photos of wild flowers (and plucked some too).













By the time we finally reached Hahndorf, it was almost 2pm. We decided to skip lunch and go straight to Hanhdorf Hill Winery for our ChoccoVino Experience.

We were greeted by 2 over-friendly, super-excited dogs. The moment I opened my door, they came in wagging tails, licking my legs. (I always love over-friendly, super-excited dogs. They always make me immediately feel at home.) I had to keep them busy, make sure they stay with me so the girls could "escape" to "safer place".

Hahndorf Hill Winery @ Adelaide Hills

The ChocoVino Experience is mainly to match their boutique wines to chocolate. 2 of us drink, and 2 of us not. So what does non-drinker do in a winery? Not to worry about me. This Choco Vino experience has been included in CNN's Top 10 Global Adventures for Chocoholics. I grinned when I was reading this online before our trip. I knew this is the place that we MUST visit.

One can always order the wine + chocolate matching experience, or focusing only on sampling the chocolates. All these order came with brief introduction on the wines / chocolates. One can take their own sweet time to pair the wines and chocolates and look for their favorite match. 




I got myself an "Exotic Selection" (you can label anything with "exotic" and I assure you I'll take a second look without fail). From this selection, I love the Amedei '9' Dark the most as it taste sophisticated. At least this is not something that I'd pampered myself with as casual tidbits :)

XT ordered Heart of Darkness. Both of us love the "Cracked Coffee"!! Coffee beans and cacao beans make great combination of taste! (I have to visit Bahen & Co. when I visit Margaret River next year!)

The "pure chocolate" experience costs AUD15 per person while the wine + chocolate experience costs AUD20 per person.

 

Cape Grim sparking water as palate cleanser

The Exotic Selection

After the fun session at Hahndorf Hill Winery, we visited the lovely market and got ourselves lots of fresh fruits and nuts.

After the shopping spree, we finally could make our trip back to the Hahndorf. This Australia's oldest surviving German settlement is a lovely town. The main street is very beautiful and all the souvenir shops, craft shops etc are very interesting. Too bad most of them close at 5pm sharp!

We decided not to cook on the final night of our mobile home trip.After 4 days 3 nights of self-cook meals, we needed a great place to pampered ourselves. After discussed, we all agreed that we could have some German pork knuckles at the famous Hahndorf Inn.

This hotel was built in 1863, and hence the heritage makes it frequently features in Hahndorf postcards and tourism brochure. The restaurant has been serving the local community for over 100 years so we decided to try the classic German cuisine.

We ordered a "Taste of Germany Platter" which supposed to serve 2 as per the menu. We also ordered a "Giant Juicy Pickled Pork Hock". The waitress didn't warn us about having 2 pork knuckles (one from the "Taste of Germany Platter" and one from the "Giant Juicy Pickled Pork Hock"). Most probably these portions normally only enough for 2 or 3 person.

When the "Taste of Germany Platter" was served, 4 of us went crazy. I quickly asked the waitress to cancel our order but it was too late!! What a tragedy. 4 of us can't even finish this plate of food!! (This AUD64.50 dish came with bockwurst, weistwuss, cheese kransky, Vienna sausages, smoked pork kassler chop, pork knuckle, Rhine potatoes, sauerkraut and 2 pretzels!)

Taste of Germany Platter (serves 2) - as stated on the menu

So this plate of giant pork hock just sit there whole night, watching us trying our very best to finish the Germany platter (and failed). This pork hock became our breakfast instead.

Giant Juicy Pickled Pork Hock - AUD29.90

To be fair, the food served were delicious. The sausages were lovely and the pork knuckle was juicy. I actually love the sauerkrat too. Oh, and I have to mention the potatoes! They were creamy and full with butter flavour!

Unfortunately, we had too much meat in one meal! At the end of the dinner, 4 of us swore not to have Germany cuisine for the next few months.

 

After the heavy dinner, we drove for another 10 minutes to Mount Barker as there were no caravan park in Hahndorf. We parked our mobilehome at Mount Barker Caravan & Tourist Park. Again, it was after hours. The office was closed. We called the number given at the main office, and an old lady came to serve us, still smiling and friendly. This holiday park costs us AUD45. Even though without any discount, but still the cheapest of these 4 nights.



Please refer to my post about "Melbourne to Adelaide via GOR on a Mobilehome for 5 Days 4 Nights" for the driving route