On February 25, 2011 we entered into the state of South Australia. This would turn out to be a very busy day touring Adelaide, Australia and the nearby mountains. Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia. It was an early wakeup, rising at 5:30am then a quick breakfast in the ship’s Buffet. We assembled in the Cabaret Lounge with other passengers taking the tour of Adelaide and the Cleland Wildlife Park. The tour got underway by bus at about 7:30am en route to the city center. Adelaide is a very nice and clean city. The home architecture is very different from what we are familiar. The homes have large covered porches running around most of the structure, making them very function when the weather is bad. The roofs are either tin, steel, or tile. It’s obvious that the homeowners take great pride in their homes and landscaping. The bus continued through the suburbs for around 45 minutes until we arrived at Adelaide Oval where there is a majestic view overlooking the city and a large statue of Colonel William Light who laid out the city design (North, South, East, and West streets) along the River Torrens. From there we toured North Adelaide. Then it was on to the downtown area, which included the Art Gallery, the Museum, the State Library, Ayers House finally ending at Rundle Mall, a pedestrian only walking area. We spent about an hour there walking around. We got an espresso at one of the sidewalk coffee houses and then walked around mall looking in many of the stores and shops. It’s interesting that Burger King in Australia is called Hungry Jack’s. Everyone boarded the bus and for our trip to Cleland Wildlife Park.
The Cleland Wildlife Park is 20 minutes from Adelaide up on top of Mount Lofty. It’s a very scenic drive to the park. The hills are cover with Eucalyptus trees which the locals refer to as Gum trees. Once at the park we were amazed just how large the grounds are and the extent of wildlife. There are Euros, Yellow-Footed-Rock-Wallabies, Western Grey Kangaroos, Emus, Potoroos, Mallees, Bandicoots, Betongs, Cape Barren Geese, Tammar Wallabies, Kangaroo Island Kangaroos, Swamp Wallabies, Echidnas, Wombats, Tasmanian Devils, Red Kangaroos, Dingoes, several aviaries, and the most important—Koalas. We had the opportunity to hold and be photographed with an 8 ½ year old Koala. He was just as you would expect quiet, chubby and very friendly. We walked the grounds of the park amongst free rooming animals along pathways passing through the tall Eucalyptus trees. One Yellow-Footed-Rock-Wallaby didn’t like it that we were disturbing his nap, so he through dirt on us. Not just once, but over and over until we moved away from him. There were birds to see throughout the Park. After walking for nearly two hours along the hills in the Park, we were both thirsty and hungry.
Our tour group loaded up on the bus and headed out to the very top of Mount Lofty for lunch a fine restaurant. They served a nice salad, a vegetable quiche, cheeses, breads, and grapes with coffee or tea to top things off. After lunch and some brief shopping it was back down the mountain and through the city to the pier. It took about 1 hour and 15 minutes to get back onboard the ship.
At 4:00pm we sailed away from Adelaide toward our next stop Bunbury in Western Australia. We will arrive there on Monday, February 28th at about 2:00pm
