Seasonal surprise: There's more to Adelaide Hills than world-class wine

Are they rare?" my seven-year-old son asks. I look down at his palm at four small red leaves and a familiar feeling washes over me - mum guilt. As a Gold Coast resident since he was two years old he doesn't remember encountering autumn and its beautiful turning leaves. He doesn't remember looking up at the trees as their leaves create a spattering of gold and crimson across the sky, feeling a satisfying crunch of freshly fallen leaves under foot, breathing in the crisp air - smelling winter on its way.

Although our trip to the Adelaide Hills was motivated by autumn leaves, as I tuck into our first cheese at Woodside Cheese Wrights in Woodside in the Adelaide Hills this is far from my mind - I am 100 per cent here for cheese. We are guided through our cheese journey by the cheese steward, from cow cheese to goat cheese dusted in native saltbush, and finishing on a buffalo-milk chevre rolled in outback bush tomato. We leave with some buffalo Persian feta, secretly relieved that the award-winning goat chevre encrusted with green ants wasn't part of our tasting, and head next door to Melba's Chocolates and Confectionery.

Wall-to-wall lollies and chocolates make this place a heaven for kids. The former cheese factory building closed in 1977 before being taken over by Melba's 14 years later. You enter through the original turnstiles, and as most of the confectionery is made on site we see slabs of chocolate being prepared, Turkish delight being dusted with icing sugar and large rotating drums coating nuts with chocolate. After an intense decision-making process we leave with dark chocolate ginger, chocolate-covered coffee beans, rocky road "cow pats" and freckle frogs.

We hop in the car and drive through the rolling hills, punctuated with bursts of autumnal colour. I enthusiastically point these out to my son, who already seems to have lost interest after the first couple of sightings, his attention now on a passing train. We arrive for a late lunch at Grunthal Brew, a beer and cider microbrewery that also houses Udder Delights Cheese, in the small town of Verdun.

We opt for the fondue of gruyere and Emmental. After a full health and safety introduction on the operation of the fondue by the efficient waitress, which leaves us slightly fearful, we dip slices of apple, chunks of salami, delicious pickles and freshly made bread into the melted cheese as it bubbles away. With full bellies we retreat to our accommodation for some respite and a cleansing cup of green tea.

We stay at the Discovery Park in Hahndorf, the earliest German settlement in Australia established in 1839. Our superior cabin, overlooking the duck pond, is more like a swanky hotel room, with the added bonus of a kitchenette and deck. Feeling revitalised we set off on a leaf-crunching, calorie-burning stroll to Hahndorf's main street, admiring (and even sniffing) unidentified hedge rows (possibly pine?), collecting fallen acorns and marvelling at the cool temperature.

Mount Barker Road, the main street in Hahndorf, is picture perfect, flanked by trees in various stages of autumnal glory and twee stone buildings. After a quick stop at the Menz FruChocs Shop to stock up on Violet Crumbles we head over the road to the German Inn.

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Although the German lager, cosy wood-panelled bar and roaring fires went down a treat, the food, likely having been rolled out to tourists for decades, was pretty average and highly priced. My husband, who has visited Oktoberfest in Munich seven times, left a little disappointed.

We pull our coats tightly around us on the walk back. "Will it snow?" my seven-year-old asks, as my phone reports back a crisp 7 degrees. On the approach to our cabin, rabbits flash their white tails at us as they hop away adding a little more magic to our wintery walk.

The next morning we realise that, aside from an apple, we haven't eaten any fruit or vegetables for 24 hours. Luckily Hahndorf Fruit and Veg Market opposite enables us to counteract our previous day's feasting with some freshly squeezed orange juice and a banana before heading to a coffee shop, Pot. We stuff our faces with the bougie ham and cheese croissants washed down with perfect flat whites for the adults before jumping in the car to Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens. It covers 100 hectares and we underestimated how much walking and how much incline would be involved but we enthusiastically egg each other on, sucking in deep breaths of crisp air while slipping chocolates from our pockets into our mouths.

With veggies on our mind we head back into Hahndorf to Kitchen 2C for lunch. A fresh juice and lentil soup later and we feel ready for more chocolate. We drive just a few minutes up the road to Hahndorf Hill Winery for ChocoVino - a wine and chocolate tasting experience, with a chocolate-only option. The amount of knowledge displayed by our sommelier is impressive and feels a little wasted on us after my husband shares his passion for anything cold and wet.

From the glass-enclosed balcony we reflect on reaching the end of our trip as we stare out at the vines. We had hoped for autumn leaves but ended up with so much more, washing away any traces of mum-guilt, with nature, culture, history and, of course, chocolate and cheese. We all agree we have fallen for the Adelaide Hills.

Then my son asks, "For our next holiday can we see snow?"

Getting there: Qantas, Virgin, Jetstar and Rex fly to Adelaide from Melbourne and Sydney.

Getting around: We hired a car from Budget. There are multiple other car hire companies based at Adelaide Airport.

Staying there: The Discovery Parks, Hahndorf, was the perfect central base to explore the Adelaide Hills region. Superior lakeview cabins are from $418 for two nights. See gdayparks.com.au

Explore more: hahndorfsa.org.au; southaustralia.com

The writer travelled as a guest of the South Australian Tourism Commission.