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Published: August 6th 2007
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A Day in Adelaide Hills
After spending a couple of days in downtown Adelaide we decided to get out of town and explore. Kel had found a conservation park in Adelaide Hills that would allow you to pet the koalas which we all know is the ultimate Australian wildlife experience. We decided to stop and find breakfast on the way so we set out as soon as we were up and ready to go.
After a stop at good old McD’s we drove into the hills surrounding Adelaide to yet another animal park. This one was a little different because it is set up on a large plot of land with not that many animals, thus giving the animals a more natural setting to live in. Cleland Reserve had a couple of animals we were excited about on top of the usual Australian animals that we’ve seen in recent weeks.
We started out by immediately going to the Koala exhibit where they let you stand up close to the little fur-balls. Kel and I both got a chance to meet 10 year old Bonnie who was much more interested in the eucalyptus leaves around her than
either of us. We were allowed to pet her as long as it wasn’t near her head. Koala fur feels exactly like you’d expect, soft but still pretty tough (they actually have 2 levels of fur so that makes it extra thick). From their appearance, you’d think they’d be fun to cuddle with but they are actually pretty dangerous with very sharp claws so we didn’t stick around too long.
Next we got a chance to see dingoes which make you just want to scream out, “the dingo took my baby.” The really funny thing is that Kel’s hair color is the same as the color of the dingo’s fur. They are colored an auburn color to blend with Australia’s iron rich soil. I spent a good part of the morning telling Kel she must be part dingo which got me no laughs at all. I thought it was pretty funny!
Once again we got a chance to hang out with kangaroos and wallabies but these animals were not as tame or friendly as the ones in Tasmania. Kel went up to one with some food and it was more interested in the whole bag than the little
Big Rocking Horse
Who can pass up a chance to see a huge Rocking Horse?? bit in her hand. It reached out with one of its scary claws and tried to grab the bag from her. When she backed up it stood up to follow the food and was almost as tall as she was. We decided quickly to vacate the premises and head to tamer animals before the roo got too excited.
We got to see the echidnas again who are rapidly becoming my favorite Australian animal because they are so funny to watch. We also witnessed more Tasmanian Devils, a wombat (basically a huge hamster), some huge water birds, and a ton of other wallabies and kangaroos. At one point I stopped to feed a swamp wallaby who decided he wanted to get up close and personal with me. After feeding him a bit from my hand he just walked right up to me and leaned over my knee and put his face right into my camera. The picture on this page is a little fuzzy because he got so close my camera couldn’t focus but I thought it would give you some idea how close he decided to get. It was kinda funny!
Cheese Tasting and Serious Licorice When we had gotten our fill of Australian animals we next set out for a nearby Chocolate Factory that had a local cheese producer next store. We were more interested in the cheese than the chocolate because the cheese store had advertised that they did cheese tastings similar to a wine tasting.
We started in the chocolate factory more because they had a restroom than anything. We got a chance to see them making some candies and bought Kel a bag of soft licorice. This licorice was unlike anything we’ve ever tried before. It came in huge rope pieces that were incredibly strong. One piece was enough to keep you tasting licorice for the rest of the day.
After purchasing said licorice, we sidled over to the cheese store and were lucky enough to get there when it was nearly empty. The lady working the counter gave us tastes of about 12 types of cheese (cow and goat’s milk both) and talked us through the differences in how they were made and their tastes. It was really cool because you could really taste the differences between each cheese when you tried them in a row. When you just
have one type of cheese and then try another one days or weeks later you can’t really remember what the previous one tasted like. In this case each cheese was clearly, yet subtly, different.
Since it was lunch time we bought a really cool goat cheese that was garnished with spices and wild flowers as well as some crackers, kalamata olives and some drinks. The lady working there was nice enough to pack everything up for us along with some ice to keep the cheese cold. We set out to find a grocery store and then a place to eat our lunch.
With some plates, cups and some purchased grapes we found a nice road side picnic area to enjoy our fresh cheese lunch. The weather here continues to be gorgeous and cool so sitting outside for a hour in the hills was a great way to spend lunch time. Despite a couple of pesky birds who really wanted our lunch we were completely alone with nature.
Kel suggested we hang around and enjoy the weather and read but I had an agenda item that we needed to accomplish so we jumped back in the car for
Cheese Store
Where we bought lunch more driving. Nearby was yet another site I wanted to see before the day ended. In one of the neighboring towns was a toy factory that had a HUGE rocking horse, billed as the biggest in the world. If you are that close to greatness how can you skip it. HAHAHAHA!
After the short drive, we were standing in the shadow of a gigantic rocking horse made of sheet metal. You could pay to go to the top of the marvel, but why climb it when you can bask in its glory from the ground. The thing is completely idiotic which makes it a worthwhile adventure if you are less than fifteen minutes from it.
With my curiosity satisfied we took a different route back to Adelaide through a scenic gorge that had some incredibly twisty and windy roads. The scenery was beautiful even if the roads were a little scary. As we traveled we had yet another first for both of us. As we came around one bend, the Adelaide Police had set up a drunk driving check point where they tested each driver. This was the first time in either of our lives that we’ve had
to stop for one of these and the first time I’ve ever had to use a breathalyzer. I hadn’t drunk anything so I blew a 0% rating but it was still kinda scary. You never stop having that sinking feeling when the cops pull you over even if you’ve done nothing wrong!
Since returning we have rested, watched TV and had a cheap but fulfilling dinner at the pub around the corner. Two more interesting Aussie learnings from the pub. It’s very common here for pubs to have slot machines here and strangely enough Aussies call these Pokies. The second learning, Aussies have their own sport called football. It is not soccer and not what we call football but something completely different. It’s kind of a cross between rugby and American football with an initial tip-off like the start of a basketball game. We will have to see if we can watch one of these games before we head out of Australia.
Hope you are happy and healthy at home!
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Bon/Mom
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Bonnie the Koala
All we need to do is add John and Catfish to the Koala group photo and we can have a new family portrait for the living room.