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South Australian holiday ideas
SATISFY EVERY SENSE IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA
While vineyards and festivals leap to mind, there is much more to Adelaide and the state of South Australia.
Wine and tourism go hand in hand in many parts of Australia, but nowhere is it done with the scale and style of South Australia. The Barossa, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra and Clare are valleys whose bottled products are sought around the world. There are no fewer than 250 cellar door operations in 15 wine regions of South Australia, each with its own character and presentation style. The one thing they all share is a deep passion and enthusiasm for the experience they offer their visitors.
But more of that later, as South Australia is also crammed with experiences quite unrelated to Wagner’s Ring Cycle and the most recent harvest of Semillon grapes.
It may be the driest state in the nation, but water in the form of 4,700 kilometres of coastline and 650 kilometres of Murray River provides fishing, boating and 4WD experiences second to none.
You’ll find quality around the coast, but most anglers have their favourite spots on Yorke Peninsula, Eyre Peninsula and Kangaroo Island. On Eyre Peninsula, there’s excellent fishing for mulloway, salmon trout and King George whiting (about which South Australians are in raptures).
Seafood lovers who have diving and snorkelling skills should keep an eye out for abalone, razor fish, scallops and lobsters in most bays. You can join a fishing tour or charter a boat for a half day or longer. Yellowtail kingfish, one of the strongest and best fighting fish in the ocean, is abundant in the shallow waters of Coffin Bay and around Port Augusta.
You don’t need your passport for your “overseas”
visit to Kangaroo Island off Cape Jervis south of Adelaide. It’s
a 30 minute flight to Kingscote from Adelaide, or a scenic ferry trip
to Penneshaw from Cape Jervis on the Fleurieu Peninsula.
It’s the third largest island off the Australian coastline and home
to abundant native wildlife, including sea lion, fur seal and koala colonies,
thanks mainly to the absence of rabbits and foxes and a deep commitment
by the island’s inhabitants to preserve its natural heritage. Allow
for a couple of days on the island, as it has so much to see and do, and
some of the distances between natural attractions are significant. Many
roads are unsealed but are well maintained, so there’s no reason
why you shouldn’t bring your car across on the ferry.
South Australia is a paradise for photographers – be it the parks, gardens and heritage buildings in Adelaide; the unspoilt coastline where whales are often sighted; the stark beauty of the Flinders Ranges; or the atmospheric towns such as Tanunda in the Barossa Valley and Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills, where German pioneers practised their architectural and culinary skills.
In the outback, towns like Coober Pedy, the world centre of the opal mining industry, are like no other, with houses and hotels carved out of the desert to allow a little respite from the blasting desert heat. Enjoy an iced beer (Coopers, of course) in an underground hotel.
Of huge appeal to kids of any age is the South Australian Society of Model Engineers at Sasmee Park, Millswood in Adelaide. Open on the first and third Sundays of the month from 2pm to 4.30pm, visitors have the opportunity to see magnificent scale models of steam trains, boats and industrial machinery at work. Free rides are offered on the two miniature rail systems.
There’s barely a weekend in the year when a festival of some sort isn’t underway in South Australia – wine, seafood, jazz, classical music, indigenous music, world music and country music, to name but a few.
On this site, you can choose superior accommodation that will only enhance your South Australian experience at the following link >> accommodation South Australia
