Tag: Lobethal

Towards the Final Curtain I

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs

The heatwave continues with temperature soaring to 49c in some parts of the  regions around here. At the moment we have touched 46.5c and that is expected to get even hotter today and tomorrow. Port Augusta recorded 50.1c but the “Official Temperature” was only 44c.  I have problems with this “Official Temperature” guff and I see it the temperature is what that big bright orange ball in the sky beats down on your wee head – that’s the temperature – not some reading on a thermometer, protected from direct sunlight, protected from rain and protected from wind. It may well be “Official”but that doesn’t make it real.

Government: The fires are getting worse and now the outer suburbs of Sydney are at risk

Prime Minister: Yes I know

Government: The temperatures  will soar into the high 40s this entire week and break records across the whole nation

Prime Minister: Yes I know

Government: The Drought is spreading and cattle are dying  and farmers are in desperate straights

Prime Minister: Yes I know.

Prime Minister: Address your concerns to the Deputy Prime Minister, I am going on holiday

Oh I agree, everyone deserves a holiday, but when your house is threatened by fire, it  is not perhaps the best time to take said holiday. At this time the Prime Minister should be here – taking happy family photographs in a warm sunny place while firefightere have died at home, and an area, bigger than Wales is burning , is not a good look.

A temperature reading at Waikerie in South Australia  was 51c and my  thermometer  was reading 50c – which is as high as it can go but the “Official” temperature is 44.3c.    Well, yes, it’s still hot but  6 degrees

Wonder what the “Official”temperature is.

lower than what it really is. Tomorrow (Friday) is going to be the hottest day of the heatwave with Saturday predicted to be thunderstorms – which should be interesting since I have a fundraising day for the RFDS. Fortunately the one that the Council was trying to organise for Saturday evening, has been cancelled. We really needed more than two people although John and I would have managed, we have done it before,  but certainly under less stressful weather conditions. Just had a look at the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) site and it says 45c with overnight  at 28c – another uncomfortable night.  Tomorrow we are looking at about 46+c before the cool change sweeps through, bringing much welcome and needed relief.

Friday and the temperature did indeed reach 45c but in some parts of the state it went higher and a fire started. It is now burning out of control and heading towards the town of Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills.  Everything was thrown at this fire but the high heat, the difficulty of the terrain and the changing winds just blew it out of control. Despite all they have on their hands, New South Wales sent some of their firefighters down to help us. There have been reported injuries to firefighters and police and 28 people have been taken to hospital. The wind whipped up dust storms for a while – which really didn’t help matters. We just have to pray that nothing happened here because our firefighters and units have gone to help fight the fires in the Adelaide Hills.

The fundraising  for the RFDS that was supposed to happen today – didn’t. What with all the heat and the problems thoughout the week dates were mixed up. Well yes, we do have a fundraising

Part of the fire area in South Australia.

event and it is on 22nd December but somehow days got mixed up and it was believed that the 22nd was today (Saturday) – it”s tomorrow (Sunday) and I’m not down to do it – it being Sunday. Anyway, we have put it down as a heat related  mix-up. The fires here in South Australia have claimed two lives and injured 28 – many of those injured are firefighters and the present outlook is not  good.

Hahndorf to Tea Tree Plaza to Home.

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
Foundation Stone

Leaving Hahndorf we headed in the general direction of Adelaide. After all the uphill and down dale and round every corner, the drive out of Hahndorf really floored me. Flat,  good road. and within less than ten minutes we were on the approach road to the South Eastern Freeway, direct to Adelaide then through town to Tea Tree Plaza. A brief stop at Bunnings for young John (not me!!) and on to the  shopping center. I had been given direction where I should find the shop that I wanted, but I’m stuffed if I could find it, and no shopkeeper in the area had ever heard of it. Anyway, by this time  we had to set off for home. I drove to Port Wakefield then had to stop. I had to hand the driving back to John. Generally, I wear dark clip-on shades when driving during the day. I did not for three days.  I had my eyes tested last week and asked for my driving glasses to have an anti-glare coating. This was done  so when I picked up my glasses on the Tuesday  I did not wear any protection from the sun, believing that the anti-glare coating was all I needed, and to be honest, it seemed to be. Wednesday we left and I drove to Adelaide. Thursday we collected the car and although John was driving, I was sitting looking out without any clip-ons. Thursday was a 39c day. I continued like this throughout the day, and took over the driving at Tea Tree Plaza. By the time we reached Port Wakefield  my eyes were so strained and painful, to continue driving was dangerous for both of us, so John took over the driving. I went into my bag and  got the face cloth from my wetpack, poured cold water on it and washed my face and eyes. I  put the clip-on shades back on. By the time we reached the Tin Man (245 k) my eyes had calmed down and I was going to take over the driving again, but John decided he would drive us home – which he did. I felt bad about that but I really did believe that the anti-glare coating would be sufficient. I was wrong. I have eyes that are sensitive to very bright sunlight, which creates a bit of a problem – although I have shades of different degrees of darkness scattered all over the place, house, bedroom,  car, garage and some float around the sheds

If I could I would take him with me – always.

The scenery on the road to Lobethal was  incredible, but with the narrow roads and no stopping areas (unlike Scottish Highlands Roads) I was unable to take photographs. Mind you not that they would have been much

good with trees blocking much of the view.  With John doing his thing at several Beer Places I was able to have a quiet wander around Lobethal. Here I came across the white church and the foundation stone dated 1921. The place was a Uniting Church Building but since the Uniting Church did not exist in 1921, the original church was something else. My smartphone was not being very smart so I had to wait until I came home. As it turned out the white church was founded in 1921 as Tweedvale Presbyterian Church. Tweedvale is the name that was given to Lobethal during the anti-German feeling  in WWI. It reverted back to its original name Lobethal by Government Decree in 1934. So the White Church began life as a Presbyterian Church. The Presbyterian Church had existed there since 1869 but it was 1920 before they had sufficient funds bu build their own place.

This last week has been the first mini heatwave of the season with the temperature peaking at 39c on  Thursday. Friday was 34c and on Friday afternoon the thunderstorm started and it rained.  Saturday morning and was still raining, so we were unable to go out for our morning walk. Benji is curled up in his bed so I don’t think he was too put out. The rain continued until early Sunday morning and by the time  I got up it had stopped. We did go out and  it was interesting to see that the ground is so dry that the water in the pit had already started to soak away into the soil. In some communities in New South Wales, water is being shipped in because their own source of water has dried up. I feel for our fellow citizens but am thankful that we still have a good supply of water and decent rains to back it up. Having said that, it did rain in New South Wales and Queensland over the weekend. Not enough to break the drought but very welcome none the less. Anyway, it was a nice two days away, but nice to get home again. However, this coming Thursday (7th Nov) I head off to Mount Gambier.

Lobethal to Hahndorf

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
Lobethal main street

The largest Brewing Company is owned by the Japanese, but that aside, South Australian  “Beer” is actually  a lager beer, which the boys don’t like. Andrew has a list of the Microbrewery places in South Australia. They consider Lobethal to be one of the best. Actually I think almost all of the beer manufacturing in South Australia is foreign owned.  I liked  Lobethal., a quiet place, not very overtly German, like some of the other towns in the area – particularly our next stop. I had a wander around the  main street, which for a weekday, was very quiet.  I did, of course, find the little white church and took photographs of   the 1922 foundation stone. Around the place there were many  posts and posters highlighting the benefits of the Lobethal Lutheran  School.  All this came about in 1838 when George Fife Angas left South Australia to recruit prospective colonist for the new  Province in South Australia.  A number of Lutherans were anxious to leave the town of Klemzig In Prussia because of persecution by the   King of Prussia. They were led by their Pastor,  Augusta Ludwig Kavel. They settled in  a small parcel of land by the River Torrens which they called Klemzig after the town they had left. Over the years the area has been absorbed into the City of Adelaide. The second wave of German Settlers move further into the interior of the colony and purchased land there. There were a number of settlements of which Lobethal and Hahndorf are

The old church bell at the white Church- Lobethal

but two.  With the anti-German feeling during the World War One, many of the German names were abolished and  changed – Lobethal became Tweedvale. Most of the names were changed back by government decree in 1934 all except  Petersburg. Petersburg became simply Peterborough. In 1934 when the other towns were allowed to return to their original names, Peterborough decided not to and to remain as it was. Interestingly, the first ever Lutheran Church in Australia was built in Lobethal and the 1641 Bible of Pastor Kavel is kept there.  Not too sure about that so I will have to do some searching.

We spent some time wandering around Lobethal before heading off to Hahndorf for a late lunch. John had been there before so he chose the  place where we would have our meal. We had a quiet walk through the local area before entering the  “German Arms Hotel” Hahndorf was one of the areas settled by the  German Settlers who became prosperous in the new settlement.  The South Australian Wine industry, the largest in Australia had its Genesis here with several German families who realised that the cool climate of the Adelaide Hills was perfect

The German Arms
Hahndorf SA

for  growing grapes and producing wine. There are a large number of Wineries in this area and I am led to understand the the Wolf Blass Gallery and Museum will be built at Hahndorf. Unlike Lobethal, Hahndorf displays its German Heritage  in a number of ways, not the least of which is its food and restaurants. Having been here several times, John took me to the German Arms a German Bierhaus and Restaurant. Because of

The German Arms

the long drive ahead of us we settled on Lemonade ( boo — hiss)  John  ordered a Trio of German Wurt with some sauce, -which he said was really good. I was  less adventurous and had  a Chicken and Prawn Pasta with a really nice  cheese sauce. The portions were very large and I was unable to finish my meal. The staff did offer me a take-away box, but I felt it was a long drive and quite warm – too warm to carry in a car for 550 kilometers. Not being a food blogger in any way shape or form, it never really occurred to me to take photographs of our meal.  The place was really nice, the staff friendly,  the service excellent  and it just had a really good atmosphere. I would have liked to have spent a lot more time there.

Leaving the German Arms carpark  John set the  Tom Tom for Tea Tree Plaza. I needed to go there to get some things for the

Lobethal: Car park at back of the  Bierhaus — not customers.

church before heading home. As I said in  the previous post, our drive through to Lobethal and then to Hahndorf was uphill, downhill, narrow roads, sharp twists and turns, well,  less than ten minutes after leaving Hahndorf we  were on the approach road to the South Eastern Freeway and  a short while later at Adelaide. I asked John why we didn’t go that way in the first place,  “my way was more adventurous”.  Sheesh…

Adelaide and Lobethal

by edgar62, posted in House, Garden and Dogs
Adelaide

For the last two days John and I have been in Adelaide and elsewhere. I needed to go down to Adelaide to get some work done on the car. I could have had the parts sent up here by freight and asked my mechanic to do the work, but in this instance even my mechanic advised me to go to Adelaide since the cost of transporting the parts up here was be more than the parts were worth. So to Adelaide I went. John wanted to come with me in the hope that if the alterations were done in time we could head out to Lobethal. He wanted to visit the Lobethal Bierhaus  to get beer – yes you read right – it is a microbrewery and the boys, John and Andrew, really like the beer, so when they are in the vicinity ( or even just in Adelaide) they head to Lobethal and the brewery.

We didn’t get away from home until after 1pm. – Wednesday is Coffee Ladies morning and I  take and collect Annabell. This meant that it was after 6pm before we got to the hotel

Rex Hotel

and booked in.  The reason for the Wednesday departure is simply that the car was due at the workshop at 8am. With the temperature at 34c we drove with the A/C on for most of the way, stopping at the Tin Man and – briefly – at Port Wakefield. We arrived at the hotel at just after 6:16 pm and booked in.  We also discovered that Bunnings (Mile End) was open until 9pm, so after getting the bags  out of the car and into the room, we headed to Bunnings. I had a few things I needed to get as did John. We  got what we wanted then headed back to the hotel for dinner. John had a beer with his dinner, which he suggested was only marginally better than water with  food colouring. The food was very good and  I enjoyed my Shiraz. My reason for staying here is simply that the garage where I am taking the car is just along the road.

Thursday morning and after a good sleep in a very comfortable bed I got washed and dressed and  took the car to the workshop at 7:45. At 8am the  mechanic came out and we had an inspection of the car exterior. That done I went back to the hotel for a coffee. The alterations didn’t take long at I had a call just after 9:40 to tell me the car was ready for collection. We collected and paid for the car and with John driving we set off. The temperature being 39c, we drove with the A/C on. I was very thankful John was driving because Lobethal is up in the Adelaide hills, narrow, climb hills, descend hills, twists and turns the whole way and from where we started to arrival in Lobethal it was a good hour of concentrated driving.

Inside the Brewery.

As it turned out the Brewery was closed, but we met a man and talked to him and told him where we had come from, so he went and spoke to the boss, who came out and invited us inside. They were closed and only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but he said that they always look after their faithful customers so he was quite happy to get

An interesting selection if you like Beers.

John what he wanted. I telephoned Andrew and asked is he wanted anything so we bought two bottles for him. The bottles, by the way, are 2 litres each. Before we left we were taken for a brief tour of the distillery, which was really interesting. Storing the  big bottles in the car and packing them with towels and clothes to keep them safe, we had a wander around the town for a little while. I found an interesting church  – Lobethal Uniting Church – with a foundation stone dated 1922, so with that date it means that it started out as something else as the Uniting Church did not exist then. My thought was for a Congregational Church but I decided to research when I came home.