Sunday, May 10, 2020

Pioneer Women's Walking Trail

Over the years we have moved away from organised events and towards more private living history experiences.  Lately,  we have found these to be more enjoyable and fulfilling.  I hope that by blogging our adventures we may help to inspire others to enjoy their lives and love of history without being limited to attending events. I often see comments online
similar to,  "I wish I had somewhere to wear historical clothes...". We only get one life,  so as long as no one is being hurt,  I want to live my life to the fullest. 
Near our home in the Adelaide Hills there is a famous historical walking trail.  The first German Lutheran settler women would walk this trail from Hahndorf into the city of Adelaide to sell their produce. The full trail was over 35kms one way.  In the 1980s the trail was identified and parts of it were repaired and marked for modern pedestrian use. We hope to one day walk the full trail in period.
Today we walked the 3km section of the trail between Verdun (originally known as Grunthal) and Bridgewater (6kms return). This track is stunning at this time of year.  The recent rains meant that the creek and waterfalls were flowing. 
The Autumn leaves also made for a very picturesque scene. The walk had multiple steep inclines and even a stone creek crossing. 
Near the start of the repaired trail at Verdun we found the most amazing giant red mushrooms. 
There was also a miniature steed.
This was a beautiful walk and we should highly recommend it for either historical or modern adventurers. 

3 comments:

  1. Hi Danielle,
    How wonderful of you to follow your spirit. I’m writing a book set partly in SA in the 1840 - 1890’s based on my family. I and am wondering if you can help me fill in a few blanks. I’m particularly interested in the Volunteers - P I see you have a link to a re-enactment group. I need some information on the butts (targets) assume these were barrels, but do you know what size and wether they were full or empty? Cheers, Robyn.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are very lucky. My husband Nicolas is an archaeologist who has publish multiple academic articles on the volunteer movement. You can contact him on eqeta@yahoo.com.au and he cam answer any questions you may have, but I can tell you they were iron targets with soil banks behind them. Nicolas can provide you with far more details including measurements and locations. He may even have original images.

      Delete
  2. WOW, those mushrooms are huge! They look straight out a fairytale! What lovely photos you've shared. It looks like a great outing. I appreciate your encouragement to all of us to make our own adventures.

    Best,
    Quinn

    ReplyDelete