Adelaide, Barossa Valley and Kangaroo Island

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We spent some time exploring Flinders Chase National Park, on the southwestern part of Kangaroo Island.



This was a vast National Park to explore...





Flyers in the Park Visitor Centre described a walking route to various watering holes where you could maybe spot a platypus or two if you were lucky, but we didn't have the time to try our luck. We did get lucky in that an elusive echidna crossed the road not 100m in front of us while we were driving in the park...thankfully I didn't run over it.

There was spectacular scenery in the park on the drive to Cape du Couedic.

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Some of the most stunning scenery we encountered on this trip was at Cape du Couedic, with its lighthouse, two islets and seals.







Apart from a wooden walkway and platform, you were surrounded by nature. Vegetation in glorious shades of green, orange and red. Strong, cold winds, and the sound of waves crashing violently on the rocks below.







Not far off, seals were sunning themselves on the rocks, oblivious to visitors snapping photos just meters away.



Perhaps not wholly oblivious -- at least one seal turned to look at us before resuming its nap.

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We spent some time quadbiking as well. This was a very professionally run operation, where both adults and children (on different sizes of quad bike) where tutored on how to operate these gasoline powered machines (yes, even young children, including our ten year old), kitted out in proper crash helmets, trained on a short circuit, and then taken on a one hour guided quad bike tour of the surrounding landscape, each on his/her own quad bike.





My kids found this to be the most memorable part of the trip...given that prior to this, they had never been given sole charge of any powered vehicle.

Another highlight was sandboarding at another part of the island, nicknamed "Little Sahara" on account of a naturally occurring sand dune there. Also fun, and good exercise, although at the end of it, you had sand in everything, shoes, socks, pockets, ears...did you know that sand has taste?

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Before heading back to Penneshaw to catch the ferry back to the mainland, we stopped for lunch at The Oyster Farm Shop...



Apart from oysters, the marron (a lobster/crayfish-like creature) is a local delicacy. They are black in colour. The nice lady at the counter offered us one by placing a frisky, live one on the counter, terrifying the kids when it suddenly lurched backwards.

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The marron was much less intimidating, and more delicious, when cooked, when they turn a bright red.



We also had oysters...



And whiting fillets...



And abalini, which were tender and bursting with flavour...

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We left Kangaroo Island resolving to plan a longer stay if the opportunity arose to visit again...

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We ended our stay in Adelaide with dinner at Andre's Cucina & Polenta Bar, an Italian restaurant within walking distance of Rundle Mall, and collocated with the Mantra on Frome service apartment where we stayed in Adelaide.

We chose mainly items from their daily specials menu.



Carpaccio of beef...



Ravioli...



Ultra tender beef cheek braised in barolo...



Accompanied by their signature polenta...



Dessert was warm chocolate cake...



...which disappeared quickly...

[yflyer]

Back to familiar territory now...

We checked in at Adelaide airport for our flight home on Qantas, via Sydney.

The terminal at Adelaide airport where we checked in was a bright, slick and efficient place. This was a much larger and more modern terminal than my previous trip to Adelaide many years ago.

Our first stop was the Qantas Club, also the designated Oneworld Sapphire and Emerald lounge.



This was a very large lounge, with ample seating...







And a large work area....



An automatic self service coffee machine was available, however no-one was using it. Folks were all lining up for fresh barista-brewed coffee!

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There was a bar area which would open in the afternoon.



There was a small kids' zone...



And a breakfast spread containing mainly continental selections.







Nectarines...



And the inevitable Vegemite...

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The biggest hit was an automatic pancake machine, a device that I never encountered before. This was an endless source of amusement for the kids.



Simply hit a button, and after some whirring and spinning, a fresh pancake would emerge from the side

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Carpeting in the lounge looked strangely familiar...

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The aircraft taking us on the short hop from Adelaide to Sydney today would be VH-VXA, a 738 that had been specially painted for The Ashes cricket test series that was taking place in Australia, with matches taking place in Adelaide that very week.







Adelaide airport is very close to the city. The city skyline was clearly visible from the aircraft as we pushed back and taxied to the runway for take-off. Anyone have any idea what that white tailed aircraft in the picture is?



VH-VXA is a domestic-configured 738, with conventional 3-3 layout and decent seat pitch, but no seat back video (unlike our SYD-ADL flight a few days earlier, where the QF 738 had modern widescreen IFE).





The plane filled up rapidly. This was a completely full flight, packed either with holiday makers or cricket fans. Spirits were high.



This flight took place between meal times, so food service was restricted to a single cookie and beverages.



This would be our last opportunity to see QF cabin crew in their old uniforms.



They would soon be switching to sleek new form-fitting outfits...



They did offer headsets for the in-seat audio, and played short features on the movie screen (With audio! No need for silly silent features a la Silkair).



On this flight, they screened a very interesting programme, a retrospective on David Attenborough and his famous "Life on Earth" series.

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And on one of the radio channels, of all things, you had "The Fox" from YLVIS, probably put on the right channel i.e. The comedy channel, "The Smile High Club". Someone in QF has a sense of humour! Speaking of which, I wonder why SQ dropped the comedy channel from their radio line-up.

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We arrived in Sydney after a smooth flight.

The current safety video on QF features a female pilot. As we deplaned I noticed that this was so on our flight as well, as a glance through the cockpit window would confirm.



Here is another view of VH-VXA as we rode the complimentary shuttle bus between the domestic and international terminals.

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I planned the transit stop so that we would have time to have lunch at the QF F Lounge in the international terminal, and a very nice lunch it was.



More on our visit to the QF F lounge here.