Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

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CHAPTER 10 . ADELAIDE & SOUTH AUSTRALIA
ESSENTIALS
GETTING THERE The Adelaide Hills are 25 minutes from Adelaide by car
via Greenhill and Glen Osmond roads. Adelaide Sightseeing (& 08/8231 4144;
www.adelaidesightseeing.com.au) runs outings to the gorgeous town of Hahndorf
(see below) as well as to Cleland Wildlife Park. An afternoon excursion to Hahndorf
costs A$43 (US$28) for adults and A$23 (US$15) for children; the tour to
Cleland costs A$38 (US$25) for adults and A$23 (US$15) for children, including
park entry. Check their website to compare trips to the Barossa valley, Flinders
Ranges, Great Ocean Road, and Kangaroo Island.
VISITOR INFORMATION Visitor information and bookings are available
through the Adelaide Hills Tourist Information Centre, 41 Main St., Hahndorf,
Adelaide, SA 5245 (& 08/8388 1185). It’s open Monday through Friday
from 9am to 4pm. Otherwise, maps are available at the South Australia Travel
Centre in Adelaide.
WOODSIDE: CHOCOLATE LOVERS UNITE!
Visitors come here for Melba’s Chocolate Factory, Henry Street (& 08/8389
7868), where chocoholics will find a huge range of handmade chocolates. Melba’s
is part of Heritage Park, a complex that includes a wood turner, a cheese maker, a
ceramics studio, a leather maker, and a crafts shop. It’s open Monday through Friday
from 10am to 4pm, and Saturday, Sunday, and holidays from noon to 5pm.
MYLOR: GETTING BACK TO NATURE
Mylor is located 25km (16 miles) southeast of Adelaide, and 10km (6 miles)
south of Mt. Lofty via the town of Crafters. Here you’ll find the Warrawong
Sanctuary, Stock Road, Mylor (P.O. Box 1135), Stirling, SA 5152 (& 08/8370
9197; fax 08/8370 8332; www.efl.com.au). Unlike many other wildlife parks,
the animals here are not kept in enclosed runs. Instead, park founder Dr. John
Wamsley took a 14-hectare (35-acre) tract of farmland, replanted it with natural
bush, fenced it off, and went around shooting the introduced rabbits, cats, dogs,
and foxes that plague much of Australia. Then the good doctor took to reintroducing
animals native to the site—such as kangaroos, various types of wallabies,
bandicoots, beetongs, platypuses, possums, frogs, birds, and reptiles. They are all
thriving, not only because he eliminated their unnatural predators, but also
because he re-created waterways, rainforests, and blackwater ponds. The animals
roam free, and you’re guided through on 1 1 ⁄2-hour dawn or sunset walks that cost
A$18 (US$12) for adults and A$12 (US$7.80) for children. There’s a restaurant
on the premises, and you can even stay overnight in large cabins with bathrooms,
wall-to-wall carpeting, and air-conditioning. The cabins cost A$125 (US$81) per
person with both dawn and dusk tours, a two-course dinner, and breakfast.
Compared to Cleland Wildlife Park (see below), there is less variety of animals
here (you won’t find any koalas, for example), but it’s more educational and
you get the feeling that you’re in the wild rather than in a zoo.
HAHNDORF: GERMAN HERITAGE, CRAFTS & MORE
This historic German-style village is one of South Australia’s most popular tourist
destinations. Lutherans fleeing religious persecution in eastern Prussia founded
the town, which is 29km (18 miles) southeast of Adelaide, in 1839. They brought
with them their winemaking skills, foods, and architectural inheritance, and put
it all together here. Hahndorf still resembles a small German town in appearance
and atmosphere, and is included on the World Heritage List as a Historical German
Settlement. Walking around you’ll see St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, erected