We left Clare yesterday and spent the day driving through the Clare and Barosso Valleys, both wine regions of South Australia. The Barosso is one of the oldest. Interesting drives. Many wine regions is South Australia. The varieties are distinctive but the scenery is fairly similar -- relatively flat lands. Regrettably, we did not stop at wineries to sample their product (not while driving), but we have sampled the local wines in the evening. We spent in Mu...

The past two days have seen us travel north of Adelaide to the beginning of the Outback and the Flinders Range National Park. While we only got a glimpse of the Outback on the drive from Port Augusta to the Park, the desolation is evident. Flinders Range has some very interesting features, such as Wilpena Pond, a bowl-like feature that appears to be an old volcanic crater, but is not (see the photo and explanation). We spent time yesterday exploring the Range ...

The last two days have been extremely hot. The temperature hit 43 degrees C. in Adelaide today. The air conditioning in the car could barely handle it. We left Kangaroo Island yesterday morning and toured the McLaren Vale wine region ending the day in Hahndorf, a historic German settlement about 45 minutes east of Adelaide. The town is well preserved with plenty of German restaurants and heritage. This morning we toured the Adelaide Hills east of Adelaide. ...

We caught a ferry to Kangaroo Island this morning. We complain about BC Ferries fares; the Sealink 45 minute trip here is $184 for a car with two passengers -- one way. Kangaroo Island is a heavily promoted tourist destination in South Australia. Frankly, with the exceotion of Admirals Arch and Remarkable Rocks, the tourist attraction is mostly hype. Yes there are a few wineries, some seals and some farm products, but the scenery is not that great. Nothing t...

We continued through the wine regions north of the Coonawarra in South Australia, soon reaching grain lands. For several hours we travelled through a landscape not dissimilar to the prairies (although there are still plenty of pasture lands (i.e. sheep). South of Murray Bridge we returned to more rolling topography as we entered the Fleurieu Peninsula. At Goolwa, on the coast, we stopped for a picnic lunch and a view of the start of the Coorong National Park, ...