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A haven for leisure and quiet reflection
Wide open spaces, rare wildlife and amazing rock formations beckon Philip Lee in Adelaide
If you want temporary relief from the crush of humanity in Singapore, then Adelaide, the pretty coastal capital of South Australia, is the place to be in.
In this elegant city of 1.1 million people, there are no jostling crowds, no traffic jams, no long queues. There, one can breathe easy and take quiet walks along the wide boulevards and spacious public squares. The climate is the dry Mediterranean type, so humidity is very low.
But come the weekends, some areas such as Rundle Street are alive with the sound of music, merriment and the aroma of all kinds of food as people gather in restaurants, pubs and bars to chill out into the small hours.
Aussie odyssey
What you read about the unexpected side of Australia in these pages can also be found in the SPH portal AsiaOne (www.asiaone.com).
Follow the progress of the Unexpected Australia contest, where the winners travel to destinations of their choice. This is the first time that Tourism Australia is using all three SPH media platforms — print, Internet and radio — to propel its latest tourism drive. Watch out for more stories and stay tuned for the excitement. |
South Australia is wine country — with award-winning names such as Penfolds, Wolf Blass, Jacob’s Creek and Seppelt. So it was apt that my first venture out was to visit the Penfolds Winery in Barossa Valley, 60km north-east of Adelaide. As I was a guest of Tourism Australia and the South Australia Tourism Commission, I travelled in grand style in the spacious leathered backseat of a vintage Daimler limousine driven by John Baldwin, a bearded tour owner with polished manners and an affable disposition.
At Penfolds, I was invited to make my own blend of red wine using portions of Shiraz, Grenache and Mouverde. This personal blend was later presented to me as a gift. You can enjoy this as well if you visit www.barossadaimlertours.com.au.
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South Australia is nearly 1 million sq km with a population of 1.5 million people. During the long drives with my tourism escort Bob Latimer, we passed stretches of road without a soul or a vehicle in sight. We zipped by vast fields of wheat and barley lying fallow after the recent harvests. It was an unusual experience.
South Australia is the land for nature tourism with its awesome mountain ranges, creeks, rivers, shorelines, caves and it is great for fishing, diving and water cruises.
Eyre Peninsula, for example, is the one spot famous for swimming with sea lions, playful dolphins and migratory whales. This is the area where one can swim with the Bluefin Tuna in Port Lincoln (www.southaustralia.com/eyrepeninsuladiving.aspx).
Our next destination was the Flinders Ranges, about 200km north of Adelaide. Bob tells me that driving 200km is nothing in Australia. People drive this distance to attend birthday parties!
One famous feature of the Flinders Range is the Wilpena Pound, a 650-million-year-old geological formation that looks like a huge rock amphitheatre. This area is where people go for 4WD excursions, bush walks or take flights to see this magnificent sight from the air.
Vote and win
From tomorrow to March 10, vote for your favourite Unexpected Australia Adventurer at www.asiaone.com/unexpectedaustralia. The top three most deserving entries will get to experience the Unexpected Australia Adventure of their choice.
By voting, you’ll get the chance to win great prizes such as MacBook Air, Sony Ericsson K8501, Nikon D40x, Nintendo Wii and Scandisk Ducati Thumbdrive 4GB. |
The first unusual outing for me was to go for an hour-long camel ride through the bush, an activity run by Pichi Richi Camel Tours (www.pichirichicameltours.com). It took some adjusting to keep in rhythm with the camel’s gait as it moved slowly up slopes and down gentle inclines. After a few minutes, it was enormous fun.
But the best time I had was when I passed the night at the Rawnsley Park Station, where shearing demonstrations take place. During dinner at the Woolshed Restaurant, Bob’s face lit up when he realised that the owner, John Dean, was an old friend he had not seen in years. And so, wine flowed and the chit-chat and songs that followed made it a lovely evening.
The next morning, I was in a Cessna light plane as it flew over the Wilpena Pound. From aloft, the view of the area stretched into the hazy horizon. The area also shelters rare wildlife, fossils and sacred aboriginal art in the caves.
You can book a tour with Banksia Adventures (www.banksia-adventures.com.au) for a unique excursion into the Wilpena Pound and the surrounding region in a 4WD with lunch thrown in. It also has other longer tours which include “feral meals” prepared from the meat of wild animals in the area.
The drive back to Adelaide was punctuated by stops at small cafes along the way. It was a most relaxing journey.
For more information on Adelaide, visit www.southaustralia.com.sg and www.australia.com.
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