South Australia

September 14-19, 2012 – Our Awesome Adelaide Adventures

Friday we drove in from Port Augusta, S.A. to Adelaide and got the little Apollo Motor Home serviced, we were having some issues with the refrigerator and our horn was not working, thought maybe we should have that working if we were to be overtaken by a herd of kangaroos or some such.

Saturday, (Day #16 of Return 2 Oz 2012) we arrived at 406 Carrington St. Flat #2 Adelaide, South Australia, home of our friends, Kris and Bill from Ashland (Little Addie, the Springer Spaniel’s parents). So great to see their smiling faces – it has been about 16 months since they left Oregon.  After getting settled into our “guest room” we took a trip out to Port Adelaide region, a nice drive followed by an oyster and beer tasting. We sampled an interesting grouping of beers, including an alcoholic root beer (quite yummy).

Sunday morning we got up and went into Adelaide City proper to watch Bill run in the City to the Bay 12k Run.  We saw him sprinting by us at about the 2k mark, we then drove to the end of the race in the beach resort town of Glenelg to pick him up. The weather went from sunny and cool at the beginning of race time to drizzly and cooler at the end.  We later enjoyed a wonderful Indian Lunch with a great variety of interesting and tasty dishes.

Monday, Kris had organized our Adelaide Activities based on our itinerary notes. Bill had to work but the 3 of us set out on a highly organized plan of attack to see and do it all. We headed southeast of the City to a wine region called the Adelaide Hills. It was beautiful drive through a lot of gum trees, a real adventure of lost roads, confusing maps and missing signs. We arrived at Hahndorf Cellars in an idealic setting. We enjoyed a good tasting and snacked on a cheese platter, cake and coffee. We stopped at Nepanthe Vineyards # 2 winery of 45+ possible stops in this relatively small region.

Tuesday morning and the “fun just keeps on coming”. Our 1^st stop of the day was at the Tandanya Aboriginal Culture Institute. We saw a very interesting and bright display by the late artist Jimmy Pike. The title of the show was Desert Psychedelic – they were beautiful designs many of which were printed on fabric.  The Copper’s Brewery was our next stop, a highlight for Mike, (he loves Coopers Beer). We had a good tour of the brewery followed by an even better tasting. An important note: cans are really the superior vessel for keeping the beer fresh, (think beer keg), also did you know that you can freeze the cans will no ill effects to the product.

Wednesday morning saw the intrepid travelers and their favorite resident tour guide heading towards the Barossa Valley (South Australia’s Napa Valley). Our first stop was the Whispering Wall – an interesting phenomenon at the Barossa Reservoir, with its unique acoustic effects; words whispered at one end can be heard at the other over 100 yards away.  Back on the road we enjoyed the beautiful countryside of South Australia. The day’s stops also included the Lyndoch Lavender Fields, Maggie Beers Farm Store (an Australian celebrity cook a bit like Martha Stewart) and visits and tastes at 3 wineries: Jacob’s Creek, Rockford and Seppeltsfields.  This South Australia wine region has over 200 wineries.  The evening was capped off with a great Vietnamese dinner on Gouger Street at – a toast to our hosts: Kris and Bill. Thanks so much Guys for your hospitality and the great Adelaide visit.