Monday, April 14, 2008

Part 2..our Easter/School Holiday...


So, I left off on the first part of our trip where we had taken a lovely ride on the tram from Glenelg in South Australia's Capital city of Adelaide. Glenelg is by the bay there, similar to that of our (Melbourne's) St Kilda. Wonderful places to shop and eat and ought I say.....perve :) Oh Shhhh :)

The ride took about 50 minutes if I recall rightly. Being that South Aussie was not on School Vacation yet, we got to see alot of kids getting on the tram in their really nice uniforms. There were quite a few School Buildings along the way that looked like they were built way- back- when. I marvelled in the city Courthouse and other buildings. I always look for the Circa Emblem atop the buildings too.


The people on the tram were lovely and had alot to talk about with Mia and Sarah who sat next to me and asked lots of questions about Adelaide. Mia told one lady that we slept in different places "Every night". At first she looked at me funny, thinking we might have been gypsies? Haha, yet, I promptly told her we were on vacation from Melbourne. Travelled from Halls Gap to Adelaide and planned to see their fine coastline and everything it has to offer.


Anyhow, after the return trip to Glenelg on the tram we stayed at The Adelaide Shores Resort in a self contained unit. The kids loved it because they had this massive jumping pillow which is brightly colored. There were heaps of kids from interstate there having a fun time.


Next morning we travelled the Fleurieu Peninsula. We took Main road South out of Adelaide and up into the hills. We went through some lovely areas like Mclarenvale (famous vineyard there) Willunga and Mt Compass.


We stopped at Victor Harbor and took a ride on the horse drawn tram .The history of this service dates back 150 years, taking passengers 600 metres on a wooden causeway across to Granite Island Kalki. The Island is host to a colony of Fairy Penguins and various other marine life such as Dolphins, Seals and Southern Right Whales too. There is a trail to walk around the little Island and a reataurant to sit and ponder the magnificent setting. 150,000 passengers a year take this experience and well, it is a must I have to say :)


From Victor Harbor we went on to Port Elliot and Goolwa across to the sacred Hindmarsh Island Bridge. It hosts the biggest Fresh Water Marina in the Southern Hemisphere with fourty hectares of basins and lagoons. A massive development is taking place there. Hindmarsh Island is unique as it faces fresh water on one side and salt water on the other - providing wonderful opportunities for birdwatchers and fishing enthusiasts.




We visited the mouth of the River Murray which is certainly a must see when visiting this area. The Mouth of Australia's Largest River pours out into the Southern Ocean with the best viewing from Hindmarsh Island. There is currently a major problem with sand build up which is blocking the flow of water from the Murray River out to the Ocean and a project is underway there which is moving the sand from one area to another to allow flow. There are many ecological problems facing the plants and creatures living in and around this area. Hopefully they can work well against it advancing in the wrong direction.


Part 3 of our journey will have to come in another post as I think there is alot to read here already :)




10 comments:

Betty said...

Some day, I hope to see in person all the places you tell us about in your excellent blog.

Anonymous said...

Gee, you did manage to fit a lot in, in a short time Cazzie. Interesting read.

Mal Kiely [Lancelots Pram] said...

Thanks for all of this! No, seriously! My mum and dad, who've both passed away now, spent their last 'away' holiday together in Victor Harbour, and rode on that same tram as well. So yeah, thanks for the happy memories.

Glad you had a memorable family adventure holiday together. Yay!

Cyalayta
Mal :)

Mom said...

We were in Adelaide five years ago when we took a cruise sip to Australia. Our favorite excursion was a birding trip to the Coorong National Park. My birding husband saw 27 new lifetime birds there. He was so excited. We dug cockles on the beach and steamed them for supper.

G-Man said...

Beautiful Pice as always Cazzie...

(what about perve? I can't pass that one up!)

G-Man said...

Pics...sorry

rosemary said...

What a great post....you did accomplish a lot. Vacation/holiday is a foreign word to me

Keshi said...

wow Caz ur THE traveller!

Keshi.

Cazzie!!! said...

Betty, I hope you do come Down Under from teh US of A....and let me know when you do so I can be your tour guide :)

Andrew, we sure did, and it is not all told as yet. More to come.

Mal, I am so glad it brought memories back to you..and the thing is, that is what I hope to do with the kids, let them learn alot through experiencng the travel, and make lots of great memories too.

Mom, next time we go back, which will be this year, we will have to dig for cockles too...how cool!!

Galen, I so love it when you visit here from your lovely place...take care :)

Rosemary, I know, it has been a foreign word to us also..but, we made it work and now we want to go on more. Thing is, you have to work to fund the whole thing in the first place right :)

Keshi, love ya girl :)

Middle Child said...

You gs seem to be al having a wonderful childhood together... look at those lovely draft horses...they are so wonderful... haven't seen one of those for ages...