Day 15 - Adelaide

Today's adventure was to the Adelaide Hills, to the east of the city.

The first stop was Mt Lofty which is the highest point in the ranges and has great views over the city of Adelaide. You can actually see the Yorke Peninsular on the horizon. (This will be the next major destination). Mt Lofty sometimes has snowfalls but none today

From Mt Lofty it was on to the town of Hahndorf which was settled mainly by Germans in the 1840s. It is now very touristy - sort of a large Leura - but not much heritage. We resisted the urge to buy a cuckoo clock or have German sausages for lunch but Diane did find a German grocery shop that sold Dr Oetker pudding mix (if you like Diane's fruit flan you will understand the significance of this purchase). Diane also found a really good candle shop

A short distance out of town we visited Beerenberg Farm.  The range of sauces, jams and condiments available is amazing and all of it available for tasting

There were a number of interesting items purchased here, they may not make it home to NSW

We returned to North Adelaide and decided to enjoy a walk around the neighbourhood  before leaving for the Yorke Peninsular. Many of the dwellings date from the late 1800s and are either well preserved or restored. 

Even though its more recently constructed, our accommodation fits in quite well - it definitely has a very English feel to it.

Day 14 - Adelaide

After brekkie we enjoyed a walk through the parklands to the City.

We decided to get the Tram out to Glenelg, which is the Adelaide equivalent of say Bondi or Manly. The tram is fast and modern and travels most of the way on a reserved corridor. Once at Glenelg we had time for coffee before some exploring.

Whilst wandering around we discovered that one of the original Glenelg trams, dating from the 1920s has been preserved for display. Diane was insistent that Geoff pose with the destination of the tram visible (not sure why, it wasn't going anywhere)

After lunch we caught the Tram back to Adelaide

We wandered around the City exploring the City Markets, bookshops, etc. We then headed back through the parklands to our apartment in North Adelaide.

We had dinner nearby - the Queens Head hotel. Great food, Note the size of the cheese board.

A great night out

O

Day 13 - Adelaide

We have a really modern apartment in North Adelaide. As you can see, very comfy and well equipped.

Today we headed over to Port Adelaide, making a detour to the Sunday markets at a place called Geppes Cross. These enormous and very crowded markets are held in a drive in theatre, and consist mostly of produce and 'trash and treasure' in the traditional sense. Not a lot of mass produced rubbish, but quite a lot of interesting rubbish from

people's homes. It's a pity there's nothing like this in Sydney any more

From Geppes Cross on to Port Adelaide where we spent some time exploring the Sunday Market.  This is held in a huge old wharf shed and is more orientated towards antiques and curios. Quite different to the other markets we had just visited

We had a break for lunch at the surprisingly good Argo Hellenic Cafe Restaurant. 

After the very satisfying Greek cuisine, back to the markets!

From the markets we drove over to the seaside suburb of Semaphore for a late afternoon stroll then back to the apartment for a quiet evening

 

Day 12 - to Adelaide

Before we left we took some photos of our accommodation

The old PO also had an impressive kitchen

From Eudunda We drove directly to Adelaide. It was the second last day of the Turner exhibition at the SA Art Gallery so we decided to check it out and were not disappointed with over 100 of his works on display

His set of colours was also on display. This dates from about 1800. The only colour in a tube was yellow, the rest were in pig bladders to be ground and mixed when needed or in glass bottles

We took a break and had lunch at a food court off Rundle Mall. Geoff tried Bing Boy. Can't wait till this arrives in Sydney. 

A wander around the Mall then back to the exhibition

After this we headed over to our accommodation at North Adelaide

We spent the rest of the afternoon / evening relaxing over a few quiet drinks ( you can't see the drinks in the photo)

Then on to dinner at  the Himalayan Kitchen - Yummm 

 

Between courses we had time to try our hand at the Tibetan 'singing bowls'. 

Day 11 - Barossa

OK, yesterday was day 10. And another thing, one of our blogees (ie follower of this blog) has suggested that the bloggers ought to appear in more photos. Today we decided to comply with that request.

We headed over to the Barossa, first stop the little town of Angaston. We wandered around the shops for a while, coffee etc, then spent a few moments with a friendly horse and its owner in the park.

Here is a photo of Diane being sensible

Here is a photo of Geoff being silly

Here is another one

After Angaston, off to Tanunda, the largest town in the Barossa. Spent some tie exploring an amazing second had book shop, then on to lunch and tasting at the Charles Melton vineyard. Diane kept busy while we waited for our order to arrive.......yes, it's Candy Crush!

Worth the wait. Beautiful savoury tarts, which we both enjoyed.

The glass of rose in the photo above belongs to Diane, Geoff was being sensible at this point as he is the designated driver.

After eating we moved inside to experience some amazing red wines. While Geoff tasted these, Diane enjoyed some more rose

The two Dalmatians who acted like they owned the establishment were feeling left out by this stage - one went to sleep.....

......the other waited outside the kitchen waiting for leftovers

On the way back home to Eudunda, we stopped to photograph some old ruins with the storm approaching. 

There was even a rainbow!

Happy ending to another great day on the road

Day 10 - Clare Valley

Our accommodation in Eudunda for three nights is 'Between the Valleys', which is the original Eudunda post office. It was built in 1881, and was later converted to the post master's residence before being sold. It is a substantial building so we have a lot of space!

This morning we headed over to the Clare Valley. After a coffee stop at Auburn, we drove to Mintaro to visit Martindale Hall. This is Australia's very own 'Downton Abbey'. It is a Georgian Mansion constructed in 1879 and has been completely preserved as a 'living museum'. 

It feels like the original owners (and their 14 servants) have just stepped out. How the idle rich lived in Australia! The owner described his occupation as 'gentleman'! This is my new career aspiration.

 We explored the mansion via a self guided tour. I found it interesting that the 14 servants had flushing toilets downstairs, but residents and guests upstairs had commodes which they would summon servants to empty once their ablutions were completed. A crappy job!

This is the main entrance hall - stunning

This is the ultimate boy's room, otherwise known as the smoking room. Full of the owners' travel souvenirs, but nothing cheap and nasty here. Not shown is one of the few sets of samurai armour outside Japan in private ownership. 

After Martindale Hall we went on to the Skillogalee vineyard for a relaxing lunch and some tasting and purchasing of quality wines.

From Skillogalee it's not far to Sevenhill, which is not just any vineyard. It was the very first winery in the Clare Valley being established by German Jesuits in 1851.

it has a really old feel to it - They are still harvesting from the original vines that are now over 150 years old.  The Jesuits still operate the vineyard as well as a retreat centre and church, which was built in 1875.

There is also a hand - excavated cellar and museum. 

After purchasing a number of interesting fortified varieties, we headed back to Eudunda. A quick stroll around the town to investigate the old buildings and shops, and it was time to head back to our old PO to get warm and make dinner.