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Published: July 17th 2006
Grass trees
At Aldinga scrub. To view as a slide show select to view the Full image and then use Next>> to scroll through.Introduction
This weekend's walk was a new one for us - a visit to the Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park - and as we were all recovering from colds, it was a somewhat truncated walk.
The basis for our walk was George Driscolls's walk number 35 (p76) in his book
50 real bushwalks around Adelaide. This walk is very suitable for children as it is only mildly undulating. The track is mostly sand and I could imagine it getting quite hot during Summer (however the nearby surf might make a nice cool down option).
The interesting thing about this park is that the vegetation is similar to what most of what the Adelaide coastline looked like 200 years ago when only the Kaurna people lived there (pronounced 'garna', the Kaurna are the Indigenous inhabitants of the Adelaide area), and that it was a popular summer stop for food such as the
quandong. The
Friends of Aldinga Scrub have a web site about the park and the Department of Environment and Heritage have produced a
one page pdf document which links to lists of the flora in the park.
How to get there ...
We took South road to the right hand turnoff to Aldinga Beach/Silver Sands (Norman Road), then
turn right at the Esplanade and right again at Wattle Avenue. Park here and enter at Gate 8.
What happened ...
Despite it being a very windy day we were reasonably protected from the Northerly blast at Aldinga, with the sandhills providing considerable shelter. The bush was rather scrubby, as might be expected, with many small trees and bushes growing in sand. These were full of little birds that flittered from one to the other. There were some acacias flowering as well as grevillia and flame heath. There were plenty of other bushes budding up - so I could imagine it being quite a floral display in 4-6 weeks time.
The highlight was the lookout which faced East, looking out over McLaren Vale (we almost missed it as well). Part of the path was a numbered interpretative trail. This starts from the corner of Fraser and Dover Street and includes a boardwalk section. Next time we visit we will start from Fraser street and work our way over to Wattle Street and back again.
Dan says ..
Hello readers!
So it was Dad's choice this week and he chose Aldinga.
I was really getting pampered before the walk. I had a beef burger and deep-fried fat chips (it was fattening - I have the pounds to prove it). Even before the burger incident I was getting pampered - Mum and Dad took me birthday shopping for myself. I got a bike and a Cluedo DVD game.
Anyway, when we got to the walk we found something - a road block on Acacia Terrace and we had to walk for ages to get to the Park. When we did get there it was much like the name. That is, we were in Aldinga, and it was scrubby. But there was one thing they forgot to mention - it was very sandy - which makes it very hard to walk on. It must be something about these short walks - if the walk is short, the terrain is tough.
Okay, so who is ready for the joke.
Drum roll please - Dun Dun alar, Dun Dun alar, Dun Dun alar!
This week's joke:
Q: What is as light as a feather, but hard to hold for very long?
A: Your breath
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Kym Loechel
non-member comment
Happy Birthday Dan
Once again I enjoyed your adventures and you have inspired me to try some walking as well.. As a banksia fan Aldinga is now on my list.. Happy Birthday Dan enjoy the bike and don't worry about one feed of fatty food You'll walk it of in no time.. Keep well all..