On to Adelaide for a BBQ and a trip to the Zoo

We left the ranges and entered the wine country north of Adelaide, stopping for lunch in a lovely park in a tiny town, obviously well cared for by the gardener that Rich struck up a conversation with, while the kids played. We snickered when he said he was looking forward to “getting away from all this” and taking his own van on holiday.  We carried on to the old town of Clare where we set the van up before venturing back into town for some Chinese food.

Next day we hitched up the van and headed into Clare town, stopping for some bakery treats along the way. We walked around town for while – checking out an interesting Victoria Cross display, and then drove out of town to a heritage mining town called Burra, where we followed the tourist drive, getting some great photos.  Pretty much the whole town is composed of heritage buildings, most of which are being used in some fashion, with old advertisements, shop names and other features often preserved.

We pushed on down to Adelaide and set up camp at Semaphore on the coast. We checked out the adjoining beach, and all went for a swim in the pool. We then tidied ourselves up (showers!) and headed to soon-to-be-married Gary and Leah’s house for a BBQ.

Gary showed us his BBQ skills, cooking up a feast and the kids enjoyed playing with and talking to Gary and Leah. It was great catching up with Gazza and Leah on the lead up to their big day and seeing them in their natural surrounds.

 

We ventured into Adelaide the next day to the Adelaide Zoo. Although the weather wasn’t great, we all enjoyed the small zoo where it feels like you can get reasonably close to the animals, especially the resident pandas Funi and Wang-Wang, and the lions.  The day was made that much more exciting by a female lion charging at a fellow trying to take her photo and Kel and the kids just dodging spray from the male lion.