Hill Billies and City Slickers

Adelaide Hills, Adelaide City and Mt Gambier

South Australia

April 16 to May 1, 2016

Autumn caught up with us in the Adelaide Hills. The trees and vines were just turning red and gold when we arrived; by the time we left a week later they had assumed their full autumnal mantle.

And it was cold, averaging 14 degrees and falling to five overnight. But we were snug in our house sit at Kersbrook. We scored this time. A beautiful home on 18ha with two dogs, two cats and two horses.

Southern stands proud in front of her home.

This was the star of the show: Southern, a blue heeler so called because as a puppy she reminded her owners Dave, Nic and Miles of a Southern Hairy-Nosed Wombat. She played a very amusing game of trying to outstare the cats.  If they looked away she'd give them a nip and they'd react with a paw swipe. She always played this game crouched under a chair or table.

Giddy keeps Southern in her sights.

Watch out Pee Wee.

Chivers - a border collie cross - was an older lady with an inoperable tumour in her paw. She was cheerful and friendly and hobbled after us all day. The cats were aloof but not psycho like Pepper at our WA house sit. We were tolerated because we fed them. 

We had to rug and de-rug the horses Terry and Jez each day. They were reluctant participants in this ritual until we introduced them to carrots. Then they loved us.

Jez looking for another carrot.

The house sit was just 15 minutes from the Barossa Valley so we spent many hours exploring its environs.

Rockford's Cellar Door.

Checking out the old wine presses. They are still used today.

Fortified again. Yay.

Yalumba's Cellar Door, above, and the original warehouse, below.

Garry getting his Henschke red fix.

We also ventured south to Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens, German-infused Hahndorf and Mt Barker. 

Mt Lofty Gardens in all their autumn glory. Gorgeous.

Hahndorf. Quaint but awash with tourists, wurst and sauerkraut. 

While at Kersbrook, the Hannay clan announced they had not one but two birthdays to celebrate: Paul and Mikayla on  the same day! Another party was promptly organised.

Birthday buddies Paul and Mikayla.

The light was a bit strange in these photos so I went to black and white.

Our week in the hills passed all too quickly. Before we knew it, it was time to pack up and move to the big city.

Southern was perplexed when she saw us moving back into Myrtle. Fabulous pup dog. We invited her along for the ride but she declined. Dad Dave is her super hero.

We moved to Seacliff just south of Adelaide City. I have some very dear former Fiji friends - the Morse mob - who live nearby so a catch-up and much reminiscing about the old days was on the cards. 

Seacliff Beach. Can you see Myrtle? She's tucked in just behind the sand dune.

Just one sunset pic. Looking across the Gulf of St Vincent.

 

With the Morse mob.

 From left: Peter, Jeni, Betty, Bodi, Janet and Brian.

Incredibly, Betty turns 90 next week. She is as fit and sharp as ever, just like her namesake in England. She was my Mum's special friend in Fiji. It was just wonderful to see her again. 

Thank you Janet for your marvellous hospitality.

Garry talking turkey to a black swan in the Torrens River.

Adelaide charmed us. 

As we do in each capital city, we undertook a tour of South Australia's Parliament House, learning all sorts of interesting things about the state's history and politics.

Speak up Gazman.

Queen Elizabeth sat in this chair when she opened the SA parliament in 1954.

The beautiful upper house.

Interestingly, SA's Parliament House was built in two stages. The left hand side with the Lower House was built in 1874. Sixty five years later, the second half with the Legislative Council was completed after Sir John Langdon Bonython, the proprietor of The Advertiser newspaper, donated 100,000 pounds. Can't see Fairfax or News Ltd doing that!

Garry checking out Adelaide Oval.

The lily enclosure in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.

Port Adelaide's beautiful historical precinct.

Lovely old hotel. Pity about the crass banner.

Hallett Cove, just to the south of Seacliff, provides an extraordinary snapshot of the geology of the area. It was once a warm shallow sea, then a glacier, then a river flat before emerging from the water.  The curiously weathered Sugarloaf is representative of these changes over 270 million years.

We started to wend our way along the Limestone Coast to the SA/Victorian border, stopping overnight at Kingston SE. Just one more sunset pic. I don't think I've posted one with a jetty in it before, have I? This was the view from our camp site. Stunning spot.

The Limestone Coast is pretty wild with a trail of shipwrecks bearing witness to its treachery.  

A deceptively calm day. 

The Naracoorte Caves National Park is the only site in the world that preserves a continuous fossil record of the past 500,000 years and has been declared a World Heritage Area. The fossils enabled scientists to recreate the mega fauna that once roamed the area. It's an impressive exhibit.

Up close to a giant wombat. 

The Coonawarra wine district was beckoning. We ducked into Wynns to sample some of their wines and were greeted with a cheery: "Good afternoon ladies". Oops. And this after Garry had had a hair cut in Adelaide. Proof below.

We laughed and proceeded to have a very jolly tasting. 

Selfie outside Wynns Coonawarra Estate cellar door.

Mt Gambier was our last stop in South Australia. A truly beautiful area with an amazing volcanic history.

This sink hole called Cave Garden is right in the centre of town. Where's Wally?

Blue Lake which lies within the crater of an extinct volcano.

Blue Lake provides the water supply for Mt Gambier.

Another crater lake, Valley Lake. 

Walking up Mt Schank, yet another volcano.

No lake in this crater.

View from the crater edge. Beautiful rolling green country. 

Ewens Ponds where the underground river that feeds Blue Lake emerges before it flows into the sea. The clarity of the water is amazing. Can you see the plants growing six metres below the surface? Scuba diving and snorkelling is allowed but no swimming.  Curious. Would love to return to swim/snorkel one day.

Garry was impressed by this Classic Car Collection - mostly Chryslers - at Port MacDonnell.

Owner Don has quite a sense of humour. Look closely at this fellow perched on the dunny.

The weather was changing by the time we reached Port MacDonnell. This is not a black and white photo.

Eerie light. 

I couldn't go past this building in Mt Gambier.

It needs an apostrophe for me to claim ownership but a grand gesture nevertheless.

And so we bid farewell to South Australia. It's been wonderful.
A big tick is their recycling policy. All cans and bottles returned receive 10 cents refund and there are no free plastic bags in supermarkets. Brilliant. Consequently, there is very little litter in South Australia. Why can't all the states do this? So easy.