The weather is magical, we are certainly having a good run. Our destination today was Hahndorf situated in the Adelaide Hills. We had a side trip to Bunning's to get a new table top for our aluminium folding table. The elastic has finally given up after 10+ years, so Glen is replacing it with a plywood top – which will just store on top of our bed. It will save fighting with the individual slats which have come apart. We then visited Officeworks and printed out copies of our final house plans to look through.
I can’t believe how close everything is here. Hahndorf famous for wines and German origin is just 30 kms from the centre of Adelaide. We took the M1 to the hills and went through a couple of tunnels and suddenly we were at the Hahndorf turn off. We wanted to visit the historic town, but more importantly our visit to “Cedars” the home of Hans Heysen. He was a very prolific painter and conservationist. His home and studio were just fantastic and time has stood still. There were Rembrandt drawings (yes original!) hung on the walls. Every space on the walls was filled with his paintings. Although he is known for his Australian landscapes including the Flinders and Gum Trees, the paintings of flowers and fruit were absolutely out of this world. The house was filled with priceless antiquities and artworks.
Cedars was the property name before Hans Heysen bought the property. Hahndorf was named after the Danish Captain (Hahn) (dorf meaning village) who assisted his German passengers to buy the land and settle there.
The autumn colours were just beginning to show. It is a little higher and cooler than Adelaide. Busy, Busy, Busy – lots of people, lots of cafes, bars, restaurants and shops. We accidentally found a hidden car parking area behind the main street with a thorough fare to the main street. There were plenty of car parks there but everyone was looking to park in the main street. We had called into Cedars around lunch time and the next tour involved a bus group, so we booked a tour at 3pm and went into the village for lunch.
It was very tricky trying to get photos without cars and people blocking the view, so don’t be fooled by the lack of people and cars in my photos.
There was no parking outside this hotel – lots of yellow lines. You could enjoy your side walk lunch.
After lunch we headed back to Cedars to do the tour. The tour was of the artists studio and residence. Unfortunately no photographs were allowed inside the buildings. Hans Heysen’s daughter Nora was also a famous portrait artist and was the first woman to win the Archibald Prize.
Below are some photos from the garden at Cedars
We ran out of time, I would have liked to have done a walk around the property. They had marker boards showing paintings and the position that he sat to do the sketches.
We both enjoyed our outing to Hahndorf and Cedars.
My Mum had two Hans Heysen prints of ghost gums hanging behind the settee as long as I can remember!
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