|
Now, I will say that I would recommend not doing a sightseeing tour or rather marathon this way. It would be lovely to sit and relax, stroll through the streets, enjoy a cuppa here or there, with time to soak up the atmosphere of each place that you explore…
BUT…
If you don’t have the time to soak then a plunge can be very full and leave you dripping. Ü
What can you see in 5 days? Oh, do sit back and let me tell you…
Day 1-A short 11.5 hour drive from Canberra you can arrive in the Adelaide Hills.
Day 2- If you started driving through the Barossa Valley at 6:00am when the sun is peeking over the hills. If you don’t drink wine and are only looking at the beauty of the area- knowing your husband would love to sample... if only he were there. In that day you could drive through the entire Barossa Valley region, through the Adelaide Hills region, climb to the top of the Giant Rocking Horse, tour the Melba Chocolate Factory, explore the streets of the VERY cute town of Hahndorf, go into a few cellar doors just to see how pretty they are, go to the top of Mt. Lofty, shop at the Beerenberg Strawberry Farm (it’s too early for pick your own), do a few walks around the Chain of Ponds, a walk at Mt. Crawford and the highlight of our day… the Whispering Wall. You could end the evening driving into Port Adelaide to see where you need to be the next morning , then go and get a hotel room at the Adelaide Inn in the CBD and walk along the street to find some dinner. Did you know you could do all that in one day?
Oh that’s nothing… just wait!
Day 3- wake up and enjoy a big breakfast and a short drive back to Port Adelaide where you wait for the tall sailing ship carrying your son to arrive. Once he docks you can have a tour of the ship and watch as they get it ready and everyone leaves. Once you have your son and all his gear you can hop into the car and drive back into Adleaide. You can go to the Art Gallery of SA, Central Market, Rundle Mall, take some pictures of amazing churches and then …. because that is not enough to do in one day…. drive to Geelong to check out the crowded beach, keep going and stop at the Rose Cottage, a delightful tea room and gardens and enjoy a Devonshire tea. Hop back in the car and go the 10 minutes until you reach Victor Harbor where you ride on the horse drawn trolley to Granite Island, and walk back to town. Do a little shopping in the cute town, noting that you’d like to come back here to spend a relaxing week on the beach. Grab some dinner and back into the car you go… to Goolwar where you cross the bridge and drive on Hindmarsh Island to see the Murray Mouth, scoring a new animal crossing road sign along the way. Keep driving along the lake and go on the ferry at Wellington. Drive for another bit and grab a room in the small town of Meningie for the night.
Day 4- wake up and hop in the car bright and early. Drive down to Kingston to get that all important picture of the giant lobster! Of course, that is high on our list today! Heading down the Princess Highway you can pull off at Beach Port, another very cute town with an amazing scenic drive! Don’t forget to duck into the Pool of Siloam which is 7X’s saltier then the sea, for a quick float. If it is early in the spring and early in the morning it just might be a VERY quick float! Back in the car, and in dry clothes, you would want to keep going so you could stop at Tantanoola Caves for lunch and a hike to the quarry. (yep, it’s just lunch time) Back in the car and a hour so and you are at the information center in Mt. Gambier. Here you would be delighted at the Cave Gardens and the Umpherston Sinkhole! A quick drive takes you up the hill and you find yourself at the Blue Lake. It is starting to change color and you are blessed to be able to see the transformation in progress. While you are up there you might as well do a few walks: Centenary Tower, The Valley Lake, Wildlife Park and boardwalk, Leg of Mutton Lake. At this time you would have to, regretfully, give up the idea of a snorkel at Piccaninnie & Ewans Ponds- deciding a trip back with darling husband would be in order when you can obtain the permits and gear required. So, since you are not going south… you hop back in your car for a quick dash—up north to BoarderTown, racing to make it before dark. You make it with time to spare and are able to find that colony of white Kangaroos that you read about, the only reason for the mad dash up north. You get a special treat of seeing white joeys and their moms (some of which are brown)! Once that excitement is pass and the sun is setting, you would get back into the car and head east and south stopping for the night at the town of Horsham.
Day 5- wake up – bright and early and start the drive into Grampains National Park. Stopping at literally every sign you see along the way & doing the hikes that are marked. Honeycomb falls was a nice walk although there was no water ( a theme for us here). Before you feed your kids breakfast (well, lunch because it takes that long) you can hike at Honeycomb falls, MacKenzie falls, Reed lookout & the balconies, see Lake Wartook, and do the amazing walks from Wonderland carpark! (from the Grand Canyon up to the Pinnacle). A few minutes down the road and you reach the town of Halls Gap. After a trip to the National Park & cultural center you stop at the tiny,but oh so cute, little village... where much to your children’s relief you buy them a large lunch and top it off with a large ice cream from the corner parlor. All that done and assured by the workers at the national park that there is nothing else spectacular to see- you jot down the names of a few places to stay in town as you drive out- noting that you would really like to come back for a week of bike riding and leisurely walks in this area. Back in that car you drive east and then north ending the evening up in your own bed back home in Canberra.
Who knew you could do all of that in just 5 short days? I’ll see you in a few days after I get some rest. (LOL) Devon will be posting about his time at sea soon too.
|
