Day Fifteen - The Barossa Valley!

Greetings my Bloggy buddies! After yesterday's problems, let's see how I go with the report for Day Fifteen of our most excellent adventures! :0) Not as many photos today, so hopefully blogger won't have fits today. Here we go ...

So ... If you were to ask most Aussies when immediately springs to their mind when South Australia is mentioned, they would say ... The Barossa Valley or wine ... Or Barossa Valley wine ... If they were covering all bases. :0) And since we're in the midst of exploring South Australia ... Today we took ourselves off to the Barossa Valley. However ... In light of the above, our first stop was NOT a winery. In fact, we only visited one winery for the day. Instead, our first stop  ...

... was the farm shop of well known celebrity cook (she doesn't call herself a chef) Maggies Beer. That's her in the portrait with her co-star Simon Bryant from their cooking show "The Cook & The Chef". I stumbled across this program by accident some years ago while channel surfing & loved it. Most episodes showed Maggie (the cook) & Simon (the chef) expounding on seasonal produce from South Australia & then each cooking a number of dishes with some of those ingredients. The friendly banter between the two was fun & it was always interesting to see how they each used the ingredients in different ways. I fell in love with Maggie's no-fuss, let the flavours do the talking kind of cooking & her food philosophy, which is displayed at the entrance to the farm shop ...

Maggie has recently started to campaign for this philosophy to be introduced to food preparation for nursing homes, which I admire. So, I was a bit excited to be visiting the property of one of my heroes where her journey began & to sample her ever-expanding range of commercially available products. YUMMO! :0) We'd have needed a bigger vehicle to travel home if I'd bought ALL of the items I liked, but a few came away with us. And it was a beautiful spot for morning tea ...

This pond/dam/lake was right outside the farm shop/cafe & was so peaceful & pretty. If you look closely at the rocks on the edge of the pond, you'll spot some tortoises. There were LOTS of these critters in there & they kept us entertained while we munched ...

GB had an iced coffee & chocolate brownie while I enjoyed ...

... Coffee & a savoury muffin with chutney ... DEEEEEELICIOUS! After buying our favourite treats from the shop, it was time for more exploricating ... & I have a confession to make ... I forgot to take pics of our next two stops ... OOPS! So you'll have to take my word for it that we stopped at a winery ... Chateau Dorrien ... Where we found a nice cab sav, a couple of nice ports, a blackberry liquor & some spicy cinnamon mead. Something a bit different. :0) We then visited a cheese factory ... Where no cheese was purchased, but a lovely LARGE cheese board came home with me. Our next stop was a lavender farm for lunch ...

The lavender at the entrance to the Lyndoch Lavender Farm was so pretty with its purple haze & was vibrating with happy bees. I bought a headache balm & some raspberry & lavender jam before we enjoyed our lunch ...

Another yummy savoury platter with a lavender iced tea for me & a lavender spider for GB. It was a very peaceful spot to enjoy lunch, with wrens & finches flitting amongst the lavender & many more birds singing in nearby trees. The day was wearing on by this point, so we decided on one more stop at an antiques shop we'd passed on our way to the lavender farm ...

I didn't buy anything as it was mostly larger furniture that we can't carry home, but I loved the stone cottage that housed the shop in the front room. It was then a return trip to my Aunt's place. And that was Thursday done. :0)

We're having a lot of fun exploricating & have more plans for tomorrow ... Stay tuned to see what we get up to! In the meantime, I'm off to bed. I think we'll sleep for a week when we eventually get home! Tee! Hee! Hee! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Monarto Zoo ... Part Two!

Well ... Splitting the post seems to have worked, so ... Where were we ... :0)

Ah yes ... Then it was back on the bus to see more animals ...

It was nap time for the chimpanzees ... Except for ...

... This little bloke. Like many young things he had decided nap time was boring & was entertaining himself by spinning in circles ... First one way, then back the other, before jumping on the nearest sleeping adult. Obviously children of many species share some behaviours.

Zebras grazing.

This black rhino was funny ... He'd have his head down, everyone would take pics, then he would pop his head up when we were finished, before hanging it low again when cameras came back out. I think he was messing with the tourists.

White rhinos ... One of whom is awaiting the arrival of a bubba rhino.

I think the Tasmanian Devil was broken! :0) Nah ... He was just snoozing in the sun.

One of the cheetahs dozing in the shade.

Especially for Fiona ... A spotted dog.

The male lions being moved out of their night habitat. 

We also had the chance to see the giraffes up pretty close ...

Most of the herd enjoying a fresh branch of leaves  ... 

And apparently they love carrots. Look at that blue tongue!

Then it was back to the visitors' centre to adopt some souvenirs ... Most of which help support community employment in several African areas. We had a fabulous time & were very impressed. We would definitely go back.

But right now I'm plum tuckered out from all of our zoo-ing & need to head for bed. And tomorrow is another day of adventure on our magical carpet ride ... Stay tuned! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Day Fourteen - Monarto Zoo!

Hello all! I actually tried to upload this update last night, but it absolutely refused to play nicely, so I'll try dividing the post in two to see how that goes ... It may be the large number of photos causing it to have conniptions. So ... Part one ...

Do you remember that song from kindergarten days ... We're going to the zoo ... Zoo ... Zoo. How about you ... You ... You? You can come too ... Too ... Too. We're going to the zoo. Well ... It has nothing to do with today's post. Just kidding! On day fourteen of our rambling adventures, we were off to Monarto Zoo. Fair warning ... There are a LOT of photos ... This may even be a TWO CUPPA post! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Monarto is the largest open range zoo in Australia & plays a part in a number of important breeding programs to assist declining populations in a number of animal species including white rhinos, lions & giraffes. It is a not-for-profit conservation charity that relies on donations, public support & volunteers ... Of which my Aunt is one. So she sent us off with instructions this morning for our day at the zoo ...

I had to take this picture ... The old & new technologies together ... Siri directing via GB's phone & sticky note instructions from my Aunt. :0) After a half hour drive, we checked into the zoo. Now my Aunt had booked us on a special experience with the lions (more on that shortly) but we had a bit of time before it started so we decided to visit one of my faves critters ... The meerkats ...

This little bloke had set himself up as the sentry, before he scurried down to dig in the dirt with his family. Then suddenly, all of the meerkats did this ...

We wondered what had their attention ... It was their keeper with food! :0) Then it was time to ...

... Get on the bus. Being an open range zoo means enclosures cover a large area, so buses are used to move people around. It also stops tourists becoming a Scooby Snack for a hungry carnivore! We were booked on the Lions 360 experience ... Which is kind of what it sounds like.

... For a change, the lions are on the outside & the humans are in the cage.

It's an amazing thing to see these majestic creatures up close ...

... VERY close! To the point you can end up being drooled on from above. It's quite sobering to look above your head & discover that a large, hungry lion is looking at you from less than a metre away & wishing she could work out how to get through this wire.

This lioness looks like she's licking her lips in anticipation of munching GB, but still had just been given a meaty treat. If you are ever in a position to visit Monarto, I highly recommend you pay the extra to participate in this program ... It's AMAZING!! Then it was back on the bus to see more animals ...

I'll try posting this & be back with part two if it works! Fingers crossed! :0)

Day Thirteen - Back On The Mainland!

Happy Tuesday to you all! At least ... My phone is telling me it's Tuesday ... The days are blurring together a little, but that's half the fun of holidays, right?!?! Well it's Day Thirteen of our holiday & it once again started out somewhat earlier than we night owls prefer, as we had to catch the 8:30am ferry back to the mainland from Kangaroo Island. All other ferry runs were booked out except the last one, which didn't work as we had an over two hour trip from the ferry terminal to our temporary home. But we weren't the only ones up early ...

Mr Pelican was cruising in the bay of KI as we prepared to leave. 45 minutes later & we were ready to do some more exploricating. WARNING! Lots of photos following. :0)

We decided to take a slightly circuitous route to pass through the McLaren Vale area to visit a few more wineries. First stop ... Coriole vineyards. While I didn't find any wines that tickled my tastebuds, I LOVED the setting ...

The stone buildings, the views ... The GARDENS ...

There is just something warm about the look of stone buildings. They seem to have grown up out of the ground.

Cornflowers, lilies. Iris & more ...

Half wine barrels holding more flowers & everywhere the image of relaxed cottage charm. NICE! :0) Then there was something a little different ...

D'Arenberg wines had possibly been indulging in a bit too much of their own products before building this! :0) We didn't go in ... There was a charge just to head inside for a look ... But decided to pop across the road from the Cube to Lloyd wines who advertised olives & wine. EXCELLENT decision! :0) Along with the super helpful, friendly service, we had a DEEEEEEEEELICIOUS platter of locally produced goodies ...

Cheeses, olives, pate, baby gherkins, almonds, crusty bread, olive oil & dipping crunchies. And did we enjoy it?

Smiles say ... YES!! :0) Our lovely sommelier also helped us find a couple of wines that just HAD to come home with us. :0) We're starting to joke about the Big Blue being a mobile wine cellar on the way home! Tee! Hee! Hee! Mind you ... We'll be stocked up for a while. :0)

We decided to end our tastings today on that high note & headed into Adelaide for a visit to the Botanic Gardens ... Via another public rose garden ...

The colours were so vibrant they almost hurt your eyes.

The plants were covered in blooms ...

... And spelled AMAZING! Then on to the Botanic Gardens. There was lots to see & enjoy & we walked around the gardens for quite some time ... Mainly cos there weren't many signs & we became geographically misplaced. :0) But we enjoyed the rainforest display ...

It was planted in the protective & warmed building in this pic that looks like the aliens' mother ship has landed!

The water lily garden was amazing. It felt like you could sit on those lily pads ... They were huge! And as we headed back to the ute to come home (once we worked out where we were & where we needed to be!) we met ...

... One of the locals ... A blue tongue lizard who was soaking up the sun.

And that was the last thing on today's itinerary. :0) Tomorrow we have a special treat ... But I'm not going to tell you yet! Right now, though, I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open, so I'll sign off & hit the pillow. Thanks for traveling along with us! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

OOPS! I ran out of today & it is now tomorrow! I'll try to do better next time!

Day Twelve ... Kangaroo Island!

I'm writing to you all from overseas tonight ... It's Day Twelve of our adventures & we're on Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia. Before I start rolling out the photos ... I'll warn you there are quite a few tonight, so you might want to grab a cuppa/adult beverage & make yourself comfy. :0)

Our morning started much earlier than we night owls would prefer to drive just over two hours to catch the ferry to Kangaroo Island ...

You can see we had sun & lovely blue skies ... Though a few clouds tried creeping in. A 45 minute boat ride later, we unloaded ourselves (& Big Blue) to go exploring. We had originally planned to spend a day & a half on KI (as the locals refer to it!) but ... We could only book an early return on the ferry to the mainland tomorrow, so we had to fit as many island adventures into three quarters of a day as we could. First stop ...

... A local honey farm ... Which was more interesting than GB's expression hints at! :0P The bees on KI are unique . They are an Italian variety of bee imported many decades ago & due to the geographical isolation, they have remained unchanged & unaffected by the diseases impacting on all other bees worldwide. In short ... These bees are more Italian than Italian bees! Tee! Hee! Hee! We stocked up on the beeswax lip balm requested by my Mum (who discovered it when she & Dad visited KI last year) & headed on our way. Next stop ...

K.I.S.

King Island Spirits.

You can see GB was happier to be tasting gin & limoncello than honey! :0) After tasting these locally distilled spirits, we decided to follow the suggestion of the lovely gals at K.I.S. & bought lunch from the cafe nearby called Frogs & Roses to take back to K.I.S. ...

MMMMMM!! Freshly made pizza cooked in a pizza oven & accompanied by a limoncello & cranberry cocktail. Hmmm ... We may need to rename this "Kris & GB's Drinking Tour" Tee! Hee! Hee! Thus fortified, it was time for a drive to the other end of the island to take in some spectacular views ...

Look at the colours! Amazing.

Our first glimpse of Remarkable Rocks from a distance ...

Much bigger close up ...

This one looked like a giant snapping turtle was trying to eat my Beloved! Yes ... My imagination gets me into a lot of trouble! :0)

Those colours just kept grabbing me. We then drove a little further ...

... Passed the leaning lighthouse of KI. :0) Actually, it was more likely to be ME leaning ... Into the wind so I didn't get blown off the end of the island! The wind was incredibly strong. A short walk from the lighthouse, we saw some of the locals sunning themselves ...

Can you spot the seal? He's just below the water line in the middle ... They were masters of disguise, blending perfectly with the rocks ...

A couple more sunbakers. We watched them for ages, before walking down a series ramps & quite a few sets of steps to see ...

... The Admiral's Arch. Pretty spectacular. Then we had to walk back UP the steps & ramps ... SIGH! On the upside, my Fitbit was VERY impressed with me, ;0) By that stage, the day had got away from us & we headed back to the other end of the island to meet up with a friend for dinner.

Kerri was in Bourke during the time we lived there & has been living on KI for the last 8 years. She was pretty excited to have people visiting ... She DOES live a little out of the way. :0)

So ... That's been our whirlwind visit to KI. There were a few more things we would have liked to do & more sights to see, but we fitted as much into our window of time as possible, so it was good. We'll be up early again tomorrow morning (GROAN!) to catch the ferry back to the mainland to see what mischief we can get into. :0) Stay tuned!!

I hope you've enjoyed our latest travel episode ... & your cuppa/adult beverage! :0) I'm off to catch a few ZZZZ's. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS