Looking at old cars is

of no particular interest to me. I have never had a licence to drive a car. I know almost nothing about the way they work. Like Widdershins, who commented yesterday, I would be inclined to look at "boys" crowded around the open bonnet of a car and say earnestly and seriously, "Yes, it is an engine".
My father and brother are a little more knowledgeable. As my brother came from Sydney for the funeral of our father's brother and have stayed for the weekend we decided on a day out yesterday and went to the National Motor Museum. My brother's partner and I decided that "the boys" could have this pleasure if we also did something else we really all wanted to do.
So, we headed off to Birdwood, a town some distance north of the city, the location of the museum.
Before we even reached our destination we were met with motorbikes and more motor bikes and then still more motorbikes. There was obviously some sort of motorbike riders gathering - not a "bikie" meeting but those earnest, serious sorts who attach themselves to one brand of motorcycle for life and keep the vehicle polished to perfection.
The museum is interesting - although what I found interesting and what the boys found interesting were two quite different things. I would have liked more social history. I found an interactive screen which enabled you to "pass the 1950's driving test". This was purely a theoretical thing back then. I tried it and managed to get full marks. Apparently the road rules have not changed much! Around that there were some photographs, one of a family on a picnic. The women and girls are wearing skirts. One of the men is wearing a tie and the other is wearing a suit jacket. I wondered what they were eating. White bread ham or cheese sandwiches? Sultana cake? Tea from a thermos? Cordial for the children?
There were vehicles that had done long distances - Tom Kruse's "mail truck" looked nothing like it must have looked like as it traversed the outback - and others that looked incredibly impractical like the wickerwork sidecare for a motorbike. Apparently 80% of motorbikes once had sidecars, now there are almost none. More people can afford cars now.
Oh yes, it was all interesting enough. Eventually, some hours later, we left and had a late snack before heading a little "off the beaten track". This meant going down an actual unsealed track for a short distance to a lavender farm.
It is not very big but it is quiet and pleasant. You pay your $2 and are then free to wander around looking at varieties of lavender or sit looking at the view across the Barossa Valley before returning to the point where you can have tea or coffee (included in the entry price). It was all very nice after the noise of multiple motorbikes and the imaginary sound of other motor vehicles.
My father and I came home with a tiny cutting of Bosisto lavender - a deep dark purple colour. I hope it grows. We already have another English variety in the back garden and a French variety in the front. We like lavender. It brings in the bees. They also sound like small engines as they work for the environment.