The Greatest Journey -- Adelaide the Wild and Wines

Having had enough of the city for a while, Isabella and I decided to take a trip into the Adelaide Hills, just east of the city. Adelaide may be a large city but it is quite squashed up against the coast. While north to south Adelaide is expansive, from east to west it is quite a short trip. It didn't take us long to be out of Adelaide. Our first stop that morning was a free wildlife sanctuary outside Adelaide called Warrowong, which housed several native Australian species. It was originally a farm but one of the owners decided to turn it into a sanctuary for Australian animals and that's what we have now.

When we arrived, the sanctuary wasn't open yet so Isabella and I took a trip a little further down the road and found some a park where we could do a short hike. It wasn't particularly spectacular but it was a nice walk through the bush. After about 30 minutes we made our way back to Warrowong to see the exhibits.

Isabella was intent on seeing as many native Australian animals as she could and as we walked in there were some wallabies and small kangaroos. We walked on and saw many native birds but as we got to a pond we were hoping to see a platypus. We waited and waited but, unfortunately, no platypus revealed itself. We walked on and while it was somewhat interesting, the sanctuary wasn't particularly captivating. We saw a demonstration showcasing several animals, mostly reptiles like the large, but mostly harmless python, but in the end, we decided not to stay very long. We'd seen pretty much everything and now it was time to go to another of the treasures just beyond Adelaide, the McLaren Vale.

Adelaide is known for its wines and one of the areas best known for it is the McLaren Vale, just south of the city. It's very pleasant country and has been used for viticulture for about 150 years, I think. I'd been there with my parents and I decided to take Isabella who enjoys a fine wine. Virtually all the wineries have tasting rooms and let you sample their products, some for free, others for a small price.

We drove to about 3 wineries over the course of the afternoon. Isabella, who really knows what she likes, had a bit of wine at our stops. She even convinced me to try some sweet champagne, which I liked. I don't drink alcohol and don't like the taste of champagne because I find it too bitter but this one was nice and sweet. Isabella also found a grape, Traminer, which she was particularly fond of. Neither of us had ever heard of this type of grape before but Isabella thought it was very delicious and even bought herself a 375mL bottle of the stuff, which she would have back in Canada.

A lot of the wineries in the area have little sort of gimmicks to entice you to visit them. One of them had a black sheep statue on the avenue leading up to their cellar since that was their symbol. Another winery had big bottle made out of corks outside, a big cricket ball inside their tastery and a trebuchet with a wine barrel as the counterweight on the lawn. This seemed to be in keeping with Australia's tradition of having items that are "The Big Something".

With the day winding down, Isabella and I made it back to the McLaren Vale Tourist Information Centre to be on time for a local wine and jazz festival. First, Isabella went online and quickly bought herself a bicycle for her trip around New Zealand, at a very reasonable price; it was just one less thing to worry about. We stayed around for the festival which had food stands, wine tasting stands, cooking demonstrations and a jazz band. It was very relaxing and a great way to end off such a wonderful day. Isabella and I headed back to Adelaide to rest up as tomorrow we were off again, this time to Warrnambool in Victoria. It was another long trip but it promised to be a good one as it would be along the coast of the Great Southern Ocean.