Hahndorf, South Australia

I just got invited to a wedding! My wedding, that is. Michelle had an invite sent to me. The only mail I've received so far... *ahem* hint hint family.

 

I think the invitations turned out great! Glad I got to see one. Only odd thing is it was mailed (posted) to the office here, and the admin apparently felt it was necessary to open a pretty blatantly personal letter.

 

Time to wrap up the Adelaide trip then wrap up a little bit more work.

 

About an hour bus ride south/southeast of Adelaide is a little German town called Hahndorf. Back in the 1800s, Germans escaping religious persecution sailed all the way from Europe to Adelaide. A bunch of them (I believe led by a guy named Hahn, if I recall the quick little museum we ducked into) started the town of Hahndorf. Unfortunately, during WWI (and I'm assuming WWII?) Germans were kind of persecuted in this area and many Angloized their names.

 

Nowadays, it's a cute town with German shops, food, etc. A little touristy, but worth a quick visit. Also in the area is Adelaide Hills, a wine region known for its white wines. However, we didn't get a chance to go there.

 

Below are some of the shops that we stepped into. My dad would have died if he was here. Lots of tasty candy stores (oddly enough, you weren't allowed to take photos in a lot of these stores. But I risk it all for my dear readers' enjoyment).

 

Worth noting, some things we call candy are called lollies in Australia. What we call lollies or lolly pops are just called lolly pops here.

Lots of black licorice

And what German town would be complete without...

Cuckoo Clocks!

There were even some bath salt and candle shops.

The vibe in the town was also a little unique (besides the whole German thing). There was small psychic convention going on (and I do mean small, and kinda sad looking...), and we noticed more tattoos in this part of Australia than in Sydney. Here's a wall in one of the coffee shops we went to.

Cool, eh?

It was a fun town and I'm glad we were able to make time and stop over. Next trip is Melbourne in 2 weekends (pronounced Mel-bin, not Mel-born).