Category: South Australia

Adelaide – heat wave

With only having a cat , our second week in Adelaide was very relaxing , but also very hot . Valentine’s Day was sweet , with a little ( but dry) Italian round the corner

Being tourists and with plenty of time we did a Port River cruise
Sadly not on this boat
Adelaide’s port is still busy , with big containers coming in
But is famous for it’s Bottlenose Ruver dolphins. Which was the point of the cruise. We were lucky and had one swim by the boat . The local news and local people said sightings are rare – due to river toxicity
Up stream was a nature reserve and ships graveyard
Coco the cat . Much easier than dog sitting , except when he brought a live Miner Bird in during the night
Anita’s use of a stubby holder to chill wine in 38 degree heat
Saturday market in Largs
Saturday night at the movies
Two friends of Anita , Joel and Nicole , who she met in Penang took us to the local Brewery in Pirt Adelaide for Sunday lunch
Good choice of beer
Unusual clumps of seaweed covered parts of our beach
We explored some of the southern Adelaide beaches

Adelinga beach . Dog walkers arrived in their cars and parked on the beach

Brighten beach
Adelinga Beach offered a different walking opportunity in the local bush
Early morning walk to Semophore – named after it’s signal station

That afternoon the thermometer was rising

Cruise ship at Outer Harbour
After a cool , 1 mile swim we headed South to the McLaren Vale . First stop Shingleback for a quick tasting . Here’s your wine enjoy!
Oliver’s Taranga gave us a much better , personal tasting
So bought a few bottles
A cool spot
Dr Who lamp post Semaphore
Largs station on way to Fringe
Outside Ross Noble tent at the Fringe – a crazy and much overweight Geordie

Largs Bay

Adelaide wasn’t planned . But after a Melbourne sit cancelled this one came up . One cat , near the beach , so why not

Largs Bay is in the North end of Adelaide . Long beaches and plenty of piers
Piers , at the end of which the boats sailed to and from England
Windy and fairly empty beaches
But plenty of sun and a Mediterranean climate
With scrub and dunes behind the beaches
One tom cat called Coco . Who pops in for food regularly
Port Adelaide is just next to us
After 10k mileage our car needed a service . After a random local selection I found a garage with an owner from Consett and a proper jersey on the wall
Adelaide has beaches from North to South . This is our little spot on Glenelg beach
With it’s own pier
Coco likes a stretch and roll after his lunch
I think he can escape
We have unlimited supply of grapes
Figs
And peaches
With a local pub quiz when we were briefly second
With so much sun why waste the walking tracks
Adelaide also has great golf courses
This one designed by Mackenzie
Local lamp posts
But Adelaide is best for wine
And the biggest area is the Adelaide hills
Home of the Pinot Noir
And we didn’t leave empty handed

Road Trip 1

Now begins our 15 hr , 3 day trip from Canberra to Adelaide . ACT to NSW , then Victoria & finally South Australia across the Hay plain

First stop was in Narrendera. Not much here . Most of the bars and hotels seemed shut . The highlight according to the motel manager is a fountain
Not very impressive, but made in Stoke by Royal Doulton
Nearby is a Koala walk
So I sneaked a quick 7k walk before we popped out to the RSL
Not the best shots
But mum and baby up a tree
First wild Koalas for me on this trip , after endless hours staring up into gums
Old iron bridge
The small town of Hay for a cup of coffee on the way to Mildura
Swimming pool stop
Next to a race course
But at 23 degrees it was too cold to open the pool
Mildur’s best gin distillery
The road from Mildura to Adelaide, passes through the Barossa Valley
So a spot of wine tasting seemed sensible

Good way to end the journey