Sometimes you don’t have to go far from home.  We’re staying on the northeast edge of Gernsbach, with only a couple of houses higher up the hill than us.  There is a narrow bitumen path that leads invitingly further on.  Ian had already been for a walk along it, and came back suggesting I would enjoy it.  It rained this morning and the cloud was hanging thick and low, so we waited until after lunch, when the cloud began to lift and we could see the castle once more – our meteorological indicator.

Open the front door, go down the steps onto the road, and turn right. After passing the last house on the left, and the field full of goats on the right, the path goes by an apple orchard.  From here there are lovely views over the old town, and up to the castle.

Continue past the bench seat, then the old cabin, before the path turns to gravel, and you plunge into the forest with its moss-clad trees.  Is this orienteering terrain?  No way – there are very steep drop offs.  It reminds us of the Dandenongs but with different vegetation. And it reminds us why the Dandenong Ranges Orienteering Club no longer uses any maps in the Dandenong Ranges.

Follow the trail as it bends to the right and leads uphill, still following the contour, around the head of a huge gully.  Try not to tread on a well-camouflaged black and yellow lizard.  At the five way crossroads, choose the right hand trail, signposted to the Hut.  Continue climbing gently until you reach the brand new shelter, complete with a barbecue that looks more like a UFO.  Time for a short rest before retracing your steps down, saying a cheery hallo to the locals who are out riding their bikes or walking their dogs, in the pleasant afternoon sun.

Afterwards, we drove up for a closer look at Schloss Eberstein.  It has been there in one shape or another since the 1200s; today it is a hotel with a very nice view down the Murg Valley.

Time for dinner.  We’re Lacher-Knackered.