Saturday, January 24, 2015

Magnetic Hill – Black Rock South Australia

If you like to experience nature’s amazing things it has to offer, one place you should not miss is the magnetic mountain in Black Rock South Australia. What is interesting in this place is that natural (magnetic) forces will take your car up the hill without the engine power.

Normally if you switch your car off, put it to neutral while at the middle of a hill and release the brake, your car will start moving downhill, but in this mountain your car will start moving up the hill. When I read about the place prior to my visit I thought it is a illusion in the eye. But after visiting the place I got amazed by seeing the way it moved my vehicle up the hill. To experience this I would encourage you to visit this mountain.

Magnetic Hill is located about 260 km from Adelaide and will take about 3 hour 30 minutes. The road to the magnetic hill is a unsealed road, but you can use a 2WD car to reach there.

Until you visit Magnetic Hill your self, enjoy me travelling up the hill while my engine is off.

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Monday, January 05, 2015

Harben Vale Cherry Farm – Balhannah South Australia

If you like Cherries like me, another orchard you should visit is Harben Vale Cherries in Balhannah SA 5242. Located on Altmanns road, this orchard is about 100 hectares and produce Beef cattle, Potatoes and Cherries. This is a family owned farm which was with Altmann’s family for some 160 years.

They have started growing Cherries for about 10 to 12 years now and has a very open rural outlook rather than the steeper more traditional areas around Lenswood. You will find ample free parking in the property. This orchard has about 8 main Cherry varieties grown in 3 Hectares. Picking is easy since the trees are well trained and you can easily pick Cherries without using ladders.

Cherry season is a short 2 month period normally from December to January each year. Produce might even finish before the end of the season depending of the number of people visiting farms, So always call or check their web site before visiting. Current farm managers, Wayne and Julie Altman are very friendly people and they would be happy to help if you contact them.

When visiting, it is better to wear shoes in which you can easily walk on grass. Since it will be summer, hats are also recommended. Buckets will be provided to all visitor groups to pick Cherries into so you do not want to take anything for collecting what you pick. At the time I visited, they did not charge any admission fee and one kilo of Cherries were sold for $ 5. These prices can always change so I recommend you to check with the owners before picking since whatever you pick, you should buy. Since these Cherries are fresh you can keep them for few weeks without any problems, if you freeze you may even be able to keep them for few months. But I like to consume them within 2 – 3 weeks from picking.

Address : Altmanns Road, Balhannah 5242.
Phone : 04 3900 1962
EMail : wjaltman@adam.com.au
Web : http://harbenvale.com/

 

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