Travelling MoyJos

Today we are setting off on a 2 day organised tour of Kangaroo Island.  When I began researching this trip, I quickly discovered Kangaroo Island was going to be expensive. With the need for a hire car, the ferry fare and the time to get there and back, this tour seemed to be a viable option. Our alarm was set for 4:30 AM this morning and it woke both of us. Surprisingly, we didn’t wake before it and both woke with a bit of a shock. We had showers and made breakfast and waited downstairs for our 6:15am pickup.

The coach traveled around the city, picking up people ready for our tour. We ended up with 46 by the time we left the city. from there it was an approximately 90 minute drive to Cape Jarvis, where our ferry was waiting for us. We had been given ferry tickets when we boarded the bus so we were able to walk straight onto the ferry as soon as we got to the wharf.

We settled in at the front of the ferry and enjoyed the 45 minute crossing. It was not very rough, but did rock backwards and forwards a bit. Mick has discovered that, although he has never suffered from any seasickness, now  with his sight, he could not focus on the horizon and he got dizzy.  He said he did not feel sick, just dizzy.   Once he found a spot on the boat to focus on he was fine.

Arriving on Kangaroo Island, we walked off the ferry and our coach was waiting for us with our driver Danni.

Our first stop, was the Australian sea lion colony at Seal Bay, a short walk down a fairly steep path and then down 42 steps down onto soft sand.

The sealions were very close and we were able to watch them for about 30 minutes

We learnt the difference between sealions and fur seals

Sealions have a pelvis like ours and are able to move their rear limbs and flippers independently. Seals have a fused pelvis and cannot move them same.  They move as if their legs are joined all the way down to their ankles.  They can wiggle their flippers but not each limb.

Another difference is their hair. Sealions have short hair quite similar to ours in density, this means when go they go into the water, they get wet and cold.  So they come to shore and need to sit on the warm sand and rocks to warm up.  Seals have very dense hair and their skin does not get wet when they swim.  In fact they can get quite hot and you can often see them laying out flat on the cool rocks or with a flipper raised  to expose a large vein under their “arm” to help cool their blood.

We had to all stay together as a group as it is currently just before breeding season and a lone person could be seen as a threat.  As mentioned before, sealions have a pelvis like ours and they can actually stand up on their hind limbs.  The males are most likely to do that as an aggressive display.  So it makes sense that a person on their own could easily be mistaken for an aggressive male.

The group we were watching closest to consisted of a teenaged “boys” that were picking fights with each other.  there was one older “boy” that was harassing the younger ones, they were getting their own back though 🙂

We watched the action for around 45 mins before heading back to the bus and off to our next stop for lunch.

We had a lovely lunch of chicken salad and cheesecake at the Vyvone Bay Lodge.  As we were traveling through the countryside, Danni was telling us about the devastating bushfires in 2019.  You can clearly see the number of dead trees and the new growth slowly coming back.

After an enjoyable lunch break, we were off again, this time for a visit to the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park. The park has been an essential part of rehabilitating many animals after the fires.  While KI (as the locals call it) did have a problem with over population of Koalas, It is estimated that over 60% of them were lost to fire.

It is always fun watching international tourists “oohing and Ahhing” at our native wildlife.  I said to Mick that we really are lucky to have our native icons so friendly.  You can’t imagine going to America and cuddling a bear or Africa and hand feeding a lion with no danger.

The next stop was Flinders Chase National  Park.  This park is the first national park in SA and one of the oldest in Australia.  We were here to see “The Remarkable Rocks” and Admirals Arch.  The Remarkables are a rock formation of granite that have been eroded by the wind and sea for millions of years.  They are a rusty orange colour due to the lichen that grows on the rocks.  It was very windy here so we decided to not go walking on the actual rocks themselves and stayed on the boardwalk.

Further through the park we came to Admirals Arch and the Australian Fur Seal Colony.  Admirals Arch was formed in the same way as the 12 Apostles on the Victorian coast.  Again it was very windy so we stayed on the path.  Also on the rocks were lots of fur seals sleeping on the rocks.  Every now and then one would casually go for a quick swim and launch themselves back up on the rocks. They were too far below us to get any good shots of them 🙁 

Back on the bus and we headed for our accommodation for the night.  Danni told us about the food options in town.  She mentioned 3 or 4 options in town where we could get dinner.

We checked into the Seafront Hotel just after 7:00pm and quickly found out that 2 of the 4 options Danni had mentioned were currently closed for the Christmas break.  We thought the Penneshaw Pub might be a good option but on arrival found out that there was a 45 minute wait for food :(.  Down the road at Fire and Smoke pizza shop was similar with a 1 hour wait 🙁

The only option left was the IGA Supermarket.  Sadly, it had been stripped bare of food.  No hot chooks, and just one loaf of bread.  As our hotel room did not have a microwave, we could not even get a frozen meal.    We ended up with the loaf of bread and a packet of ham ( no butter) and a litre of milk.  I toasted my bread and at least had a hot ham toastie, while Mick had his cold.

We made cups of tea watched some TV and went to bed.  We were being collected in the morning at 9:15am

The dinner food issue was the only complaint we had about the whole day.  I would have been much better if SeaLink had organised some meal options available, especially for those people who needed to be on the 7:30pm ferry back to the mainland.

As mentioned in yesterday’s post, we only have the hire car for 2 days and have planned each day to be quite busy.  We will have a quiet day of “nothing” on Sunday.

After breakfast, we drove 40 minutes or so via the North Expressway to Gawler, where there is an information centre where I planned on seeing what attractions I may have missed in my research.  We arived just before 9:00am only to find that the centre was not open until 10:00. :(.    We decided not to hang around but continue the  30kms onto to Nuriootpa and visit Maggie Beer’s Farm for morning tea.  We have been “Maggie fans” for ages and have watched her “The Cook and The Chef” show many times over, so it was fun seeing the place where it was filmed.

We had a lovely morning tea of tea/coffee, carrot cake and apple cake looking over the lake.  Looking around the shop I like the look of aparticular jar of preserve.  It is Spiced Tomato,Cornichon & Roasted Garlic.   I spoke to the girl at the counter ( who I am pretty sure was Maggie Beer’s daughter Elli ) and asked if I was correct in thinking it would be good with cheese or on hot roast lamb or beef.  She nodded and said she likes it on cheese and toasted :). I will wait until we get home to open it as I don’t want to risk it spilling all through my luggage.

After Maggie Beer’s, it was on to Seppeltsfield.  We had been told to visit here by a number of friends and we were not disapointed.  

Approaching the estate on Seppeltsfield Road, you are greeted by over 5kms of date palm lined trees.  I could not find any mention at the estate as to the significance of them, but I did find this   

The history ,architecture and landscaping of the place is amazing.  Having been to Tuscany, I can honestly say that it is up there with the best.  

There was of course lots of information about the wines but sadly not a huge amont about the estate iteslf.  There were some photos in the gallery which did have some stories attached, but I was hoping for more, and was surprised that there was not a gift shop. .  I would have loved a coffee table book of the estate.

We wandered around looking at the bulidings before moving onto Tanunda to visit the Barossa Information Centre and lunch.  The main street of Tanundah was very busy and I eneded up having to park at the street behind the main street and walk through an arcade and across the road to the information centre.

At the information centre I noticed a flyer for the Carl Lindner Collection of Jaguars.  I noticed it because I had seen a plaque at Seppeltsfield at the door to the Cellar Door in memeory of Carl Lindner thanking him for all he meant to Seppeltsfield.  So I guessed he was of some importance.

We decided it was time for lunch and saw a bar and grill across the road from the information centre.  Unfortunately we did not stay as the menu was all for big full meals ( Steak, Schnitzels etc) with no salads other than a garden side salad. Neither of us wanted a big lunch so we went back to the information centre for some recommendations.  We were directed to a cafe a couple of doors down, but nothing grabbed our attention.  It was  a vegetarian restaraunt so lots of grains and tofu.

We decided to keep going on to our next stop which was to be Penfolds.  As we drove around the block to get back onto the main road, I saw a large pub, ( which actually turned out to be a Community Club with a rich history of its own) we thought surely they might have some lighter lunch options. They did 🙂 and we both got a lovely big salad.  Mick had Caesar  and I had a Mexican Chicken Salad.  I could not finish all of mine it was so big!

I was in this dining room that we noticed an alcove with a table and a sign saying “Carl’s Corner”. Hmmm. wonder who on earth this “Carl” guy was??

After lunch the next stop was actually a small winery called Kellermeister Wines.  Although we do not drink much at all now, I did want to buy a couple of bottles of their “Sable“

Sable is a delicous  blend of Tanwy Port, Chocolate and Brandy. I used to have a friend who would bring bottles back on any trip to Adelaide and I had always loved it.  As Kellermeister is a smaller winery, Sable is not available anywhere except at the winery or online.  I asked for a taste to confirm it was as good as I remembered…It was!!  So buying some while here it is a must.. I reckon 2 bottles will last me at least a year or so.

Back on the road again, and we headed back down the through the Adelaide Hills to Penfolds. Of course Penfolds is most famous for its “Grange” wine and at the cellar door they have a display of every Grange bottle since the early 1950’s.

The whole estate is impressive  (not as impressive as Seppeltsfield) with buildings dating back to the mid 1800’s.  The main Cellar Door building was redeveloped  in the early 2000’s.

Again though I was disapointed that there was not a Gift Shop with souveniers.

From Penfolds when drove the car back to the airport to drop it off and then catch the bus back to the city. We had no issues dropping back the car and there was bus waiting at the bus stop when we got there.  We asked the driver how long it was until he left and he said two minutes.

The airpot is a short bus trip back to the city.  We got off at our stop at dropped into Coles and picked up some nice rissoles and a satchet of gravy to go with our leftover veges we had bought from the markets.

We relaxed and watched TV for a bit and were in bed early.  We had a couple of jam packed busy days and will be thankful for a quiet day tomorrow.

Oh.. I also “googled” Carl Lindner and he was indeed a noteable Barossa citizen.
Read more here…

We had breakfast early this morning as we caught a bus to the airport we we collected a hire car.  We are only having the car for 2 days so we planned on packing a fair bit into these 2 days.

Today’s itiinerary is..
Collect Car
Drive to Glenelg
Drive to “Urban Desserts”
Drive to Victor Harbor
Drive to Maclaren Vale
Drive to Hahndorf
Drive back to the Mantra

The bus stop to the airport is just across the road from the hotel, we only had to wait a few minutes for the bus.  It was a short 15 minute ride to the airport where we collected our hire car.

I put in Glenelg into the navigation and off we set.  We stayed at Glenelg last time we were here in 2009 but only for a night or two.  Mick was ill that trip so we did not get to “do” Adelaide that time.  We parked the car and had a look around.  It is a lovely stretch of beach and we would like to come back sometime.

After Glenelg we headed to Noarlunga Centre to visit a dessert bar I have been following on Facebook for a while.  This was to be morning tea.

The guy that started Urban Desserts was a contestant on the 2o16 season of the Great Australian Bake Off.  The desserts are gorgeous to look and and just as yummy to eat.  We bought a selection of Lemon, Milo, Golden Gaytime and Strawberry flavours.  I ate 1 and Mick ate the rest 🙂  We washed them down with a cup of tea and coffee.

After that we headed toward Victor Harbor.  Travelling down the highway, I saw a sign that said there was a lookout point.  I turned off and went up to the lookout.  It was a lovely view over the valley to the ocean  I walked over to the sign block thing to see what I was looking at.   Hahaha.. The brass plaques were not there…so I have no idea what we were looking at.  🙂

From there we drove to Victor Harbor to ride the Horse Drawn Tramway
Arriving into Victor Harbor it was VERY busy. I could see where we needed to be, but ended up having to park a few minutes away.  The walked to the jettey and waited for the tram.  It was fun to do the return journey.

After our tram ride, we headed toward Maclaren Vale to see “The Cube” at D’arenberg winery.  It is certainly a sight to see, towering 5 stories over the vineyard. Sadly it cost $20 each to enter which included tasting, but as we do not drink, and we decided not to go in, but keep going on to Hahndorf for a late lunch.

The drive to Hahdorf was a pleasant 40 minute country drive through many vineyards and farms.  Arriving into Hahndorf, it was VERY busy and we did not think we would get a park at all, even though it was now nearly 3:00pm.
We finally found a spot to park and walked a short distance to the German Arms Hotel for lunch.  It was busy, but were served quite quickly.  I had a Roast Pork dinner and Mick had steak, chips and salad.

After lunch, we walked up and down the steet looking into the shops and looking at the buildings.  Many of the shops date back to the 1800’s and have be restored well.  Again we said it would be good to come back with some more time to explore more.

Back to the car and we made the short 20 minute trip back to the Mantra.  No need for dinner :). 
A bit of TV and bed, ready for tomorrow’s trip up to the Barossa Valley.

We both slept really well, sleeping in until 6:00am.  Our room comes with a full buffet breakfast included so we wandered down to the restaurant at 7:00 and enjoyed bacon, sausages and eggs.

The chef was very friendly and asked us where we were from and how long we were here for.  As the plan today was to visit the Adelaide Central Market to buy something nice for dinner, I asked him what his favourite stalls were at the market.  He mentioned a good butcher and baker and said any of the green grocers were good.

After breakfast, we walked around the corner to the bus stop to the Market.  The market was very busy, but were able to see everything.  There were not many tables free anywhere, so we decided not to get anything to eat or drink.

After doing a full lap of the market and knowing what we wanted for dinner, we caught a free city loop bus that took us for a tip around Adelaide.  The loop takes around an hour.

We completed the loop back at the markets and went back in and found a cafe we have seen and had lunch.  Mick had a pumpkin and tomato quiche and I had a morrocan chicken baguette.  Both were served warm and were very yummy.

Then we bought some veges, a loaf of lovely rye sourdough bread and the most amazing piece of dry aged ribeye steak and some Maggie Beer mushroom sauce/gravy. Our entire shop cost just under $50

It was a short bus trip back to the hotel.  We put a load of washing on in the guest laundry and settled in for the night.

I was going to use butter to cook our steak in but when I looked at it and we realised that we would have to cut it off the bone to fit it in the pan, I decided to cut a piece of fat off it and rendered it s-l-o-w-l-y.  I got about a tablespoon of lovely oil to cook the steak in.    

We enjoyed our dinner and had a quiet night watching TV.  Tomorrow we collect a hire car and do some further out exploring.