31/5/2022 – Tuesday – 41km

My goodness, what a windy & rocky night again last night, the rain & the wind gusts certainly woke us up a few times, the Karavan shook constantly with the strong wind gusts. Packing up in the morning was a challenge in the light rain & strong wind, I sometimes got nearly blown off my feet. It was not a long drive to Hahndorf up into the Adelaide hills, the road is very good, though it is a very steep climb up into the hills.

Hahndorf is a beautiful old town & we drove through it first to the Beerenberg farm & factory. It is very spacious, warm, well laid out with a great history of the farm & the four generations of family that created Beerenberg. We sat down to some pies & hot drinks. After lunch we drove to our campsite & set our van up & Ron had an important phone conference.

Hans Heysen, the artist, lived at Hahndorf & we visited his house & art studio this afternoon. The house is furnished with all the original furniture & has a lot of his original art works. The studio also has a lot of original works on display & you can imagine him standing at the easel. Han’s daughter Nora was also a very accomplished artist, she was the first Australian female war artist & the first woman to win the Archibald Prize for art.  The Canberra War memorial has about 200 of her work.  Her studio is small & interesting with some very good works also on display. The guide that took us around the property was very informative & knowledgeable. The gardens are also laid out the same with the same plantings. It was an amazing experience, especially seeing we were at the Adelaide Art Gallery the day before & saw some of Hans Heysen’s art works on display there. Unfortunately no photos are allowed inside.

We left at closing time, not having time to do the nature walk in the rain & cold. Back to camp & dinner. Another great day.