Adelaide, South Australia

February 25.26.27, 2009

Adelaide is a city of over a million but it has a small town feel. The brilliant folks who laid it out made sure that there was a big chunk of parkland all around the central core. The downtown is an easy to navigate grid with a big pedestrian shopping mall near the centre.

There are no pretentious fashions here. Everyone, except for the odd guy in a suit, looks comfortable. We found an amazing Scout Outdoor store that was on a level with Mountain Equipment Coop for outdoor gear. (I have to stop taking Lana to these outdoor stores – all of a sudden she likes them and it is getting very expensive).

We did the South Australian Art Gallery, the South Australian Museum and the Botanical Gardens (part of that greenspace I mentioned). One day we went up to Mt. Lofty, which is the highest point overlooking the City. Our planned bush walk was cancelled due to a high fire alert. (When that happens they close all the trails.)

We did, however, go to the Cleland Wildlife Park near the summit. Run by the government this is really a great place to go. Basically, you walk through different fenced natural environments and interact directly with the animals. Nothing like having an emu peck the feed (purchase at the entry) from your hand. Or you can have a grey kangaroo grab your hand to make sure you hold it in place while they chow down.

The areas that you are walking through are big paddocks and most of the animals in there keep their distance. On the day we went it was too hot but on other days you can even cuddle a koala (with a keeper standing there). We saw a talk with the koalas and they showed that, despite sleeping for 20 hours per day, they can move fast when they put their minds to it.

The place also has lots of snakes (no interaction there) and lizards and birds. Very different park and very neat.