‘Really? How do you know that?’ I thought to myself, fighting down a childish impulse to resolve not to go – or if I end up going (dragged, kicking and screaming – metaphorically, of course) to not like it, simply to prove them wrong.
Unsubstantiated claims get my back up.
But on this occasion, they turned out to be correct.
I started to think there might be something there worth seeing after reading this post from Jules, who was visiting with her family (also from Melbourne).
If, at the end of this, you think you might also want to visit, then my first tip is: if it’s peak season (i.e. school holidays) don’t queue up at Constitution Dock to catch the Mona Roma MR-1 (catamaran) 15min before it’s due to depart and hope to get onboard. You may be lucky, but you are more likely to be disappointed. Purchase your tickets in advance – at the ticket booth or online.
Lining up to buy tickets for the MONA ROMA MR-1 at the booth at Constitution Dock.
MONA Roma bus was available to take people who couldn’t fit aboard the MR-1
Art on the glass wall separating the general from the Posh Pit area
Be quick to snare a VIP chair in the Posh Pit
Most of the yummy morsels served on the way to MONA – two didn’t make this photo!
The bar in the Posh Pit
The ‘gold’ couch on the front deck for Posh Pit-ers. Great when it’s not wet.
The crew’s uniforms are practical and militaristic
MONA Roma MR-1 ready to depart Constitution Dock on a sunny day
MR-1 setting off up the blue Derwent River to MONA on a fine day
No, they’re not cheap, but it was very nice. Also, Posh Pit ticket holders “enjoy a complimentary, half-hour private introduction to Moorilla with a tasting of [their] Pinot noir in our Barrel Room, 12.30pm Wednesday-Monday.” Unfortunately we were visiting on a Tuesday, otherwise we would have liked to have done this tasting. (If this is something that interests you, please confirm prior to booking that this offer is still available to avoid disappointment.)
Serenaded with background music striking just the right tone and volume, a few glasses of bubbly and a shared plate of truly delicious morsels later, we arrived in just 30min at David Walsh’s dungeon known as the Museum of Old and New Art (or ‘MONA’ to everyone) to explore the diverse collection, and attempt to use the artwork as life-sized images from a 3D View-Master to peer into David’s mind.
Disembarking from the MR-1, passengers are confronted with the 99 steps leading up to the mirrored entrance. I would have liked to have taken a little more time to appreciate the atheistic of this section (and that was before I read about the amount of consideration that went into their design!), but it started to rain again so we hurried along with everyone else.
Time to proceed up the 99 steps to the main entrance of MONA
You can start admiring the mix of materials – sandstone, iron and and concrete, right away
We already knew that the museum starts at the bottom, but the main entrance (and lockers for backpacks and umbrellas) are on the top (‘ground’) level with a shop and cafe that enjoys very good views across Berriedale Bay to Mt Wellington to the south, and along the Derwent River to the east.
Side view of MONA at ground level – the white chimney looks like a mini lighthouse
Inside MONA looking out towards Mt Wellington; this area gets crowded later
Top ‘ground’ level at MONA. Stephen’s admiring the concertina roof blind above the glass elevator
Having presented our MONA tickets (purchased with our return ferry rides on the MR-1), we descended the spiral staircase in the middle of the building.
Descending into the depths of MONA around the glass elevator shaft
You probably know by now; I love rocks.
I’ve mentioned it before, usually as justification to post photos of forests full of huge granite boulders.
Well, have I also mentioned that it’s not just outdoor rock, but indoor stone that I love?
They didn’t intend the building to be an attraction, but Stephen and I agree it’s probably the ‘installation’ most worth viewing. Built on a tight budget, the architectural style is ‘industrial’. Some people may be turned off by the concrete floors and pillars, the exposed concrete waffle slab ceilings; but I liked seeing the bones of the building. And I’m not turned off by brutalist styles, which might help. If not thought through properly this style might look unfinished and poorly constructed… but here, they’ve made it work.
Top walkway unabashedly displays a mix of materials – most of which are usually covered in other buildings
The lighting and architecture in most of the spaces really make MONA something special
Raw
Look up as you enter and see the bones of the building above
And there’s no way – no way – they could ever have allowed that huge and stunningly gorgeous Jurassic sandstone to be disguised. Perfectly illuminated, it brings warmth, life and colour to what might otherwise be perceived as a stark and artificial subterranean environment.
MONA’s subterranean entrance-exit from the Void Bar, showing off the Jurassic sandstone, raw-finish commercial construction, and the glass elevator
People on different levels
Having queued and received our iPods and instructions on using the The O app, which provides various explanations of the artworks, we gave the Void Bar a miss (having indulged on the ferry, more alcohol was hardly required at this point) and entered the first exhibition on the lowest level, ‘River of Fundament‘.
My very first impression was ‘how much time are we going to spend looking at The O instead of at the artwork? Fortunately, you can save and email your tour to yourself (and share it with others), so you don’t have to spend your whole day reading all about the pieces and the artist – that can wait until later. The perfect utilisation of modern technology.
But it does mean you see a lot of this:
Visitors to MONA getting the hang of The O app
No crowding around small information plaques here
The O works thanks to lots of Real Time Location Services (RTLS) devices on the ceilings. Which also means your smartphone works, even though you’re three storeys down and under a lot of concrete. Nice work guys!
The secret behind MONA’s O device revealed! Look at the white box on the ceiling
RTLS – Real Time Location Services – this is what makes the O App work (and your phone, too) anywhere in MONA
In contrast to the hidden, mood lighting outside this gallery, the exposed rows of fluorescent tubes lighting the cavernous spaces in the ‘River of Fundament’ exhibition created a warehouse basement feeling to the space as we wandered between groups of people loosely clustered around each art object. I found myself reflecting on the right of individual collectors to own ancient relics. Sure, these objects are (currently) on public display, but was it right to take them from tombs (not everything is from someone’s tomb) in the first place?
This space felt like an underground carkpark with a few temporary walls and art laid out
Egyptian artefacts – four Canopic jars
Egyptian artefact – portion of mural from tomb showing ‘offering bearers’
Close up of part of Egyptian limestone mural
Carved or imprinted Egyptian Artefacts
Carved or imprinted Egyptian artefacts
Egyptian artefacts – some are upsidedown scarabs, some are flat
Egyptian artefact ‘Amulet of a Winged Scarab’
Egyptian artefact ‘Lion Hunt Scarab Of Amenhotep III’
“Osiris – Five Points Make A Man” – Why the pannels from an outer coffin beneath?
Not everything in the collection was originally from ancient Egypt; some of the art has been created to tie in to that theme, but it usually wasn’t until I read the description of the art on The O that I understood how. (Read more about them here.)
%22Rouge Battery%22
%22Canopic Chest%22
I’m still not sure if this is supposed to represent a torso or not
Four, presumably occupied, sarcophagus, with zinc art on top
Is the zinc supposed to be brain and spine? Egyptians didn’t value the brain
%22Boat of Ra%22 being closely guarded
%22Boat of Ra%22 is otherwise creative use of an attic
On the whole I was happy to emerge from the gallery, especially since were back at the sandstone wall again. This small space is just exquisite with water seeping at the top of the wall making such vivid contrasting colours on the rock.
The sandstone wall was already the most ‘alive’ and dynamic (non)exhibit at MONA
Visitors are drawn in wonder to the sandstone wall which, not being an art exhibit, can be touched (gently)
It’s an interesting alcove from any angle
Although patched and bolted together, it’s still a marvelous sandstone wall
As we made our way up the levels there were a few artworks that I found interesting (no, I’m not going to describe the whole place!):
Untitled (White Library)
To me this is room of blank paper is about knowledge, learning, ideas, history and the future.
Kryptos Like something out of the Matrix, there are short sequences of binary code on blackened walls, lit only by wells of super-bright LED’s from the edges of the floor. There is a secret message to find, and a surprise, too.
There is more than one secret to be found here
Finding the words was fun, but only if you really know code will you work out the whole meaning without cheating
I like colours, and in a building with no windows any colour is good. At first the 46m long mural may look like it’s all the one picture repeated over and over, just coloured differently, but you should take a closer look.
First view of Snake
Aborigines faces & abstract shapes
Ferns, feathers and flowers
Changing patters and colours of the Snake
Inconspicuous and unobtrusive were the staff watching over every piece of artwork. There was plenty to see even with a couple of spaces closed pending new exhibitions. We didn’t even see everything; my head needed a break after 2 hours of plumbing the depths of MONA.
Outside, across the tennis court (because – why not?) and up the steps is Moorilla winery. On the lawn on the opposite side of the winery, preparations for New Year celebrations were being made with a stage and outdoor food and drink serving facilities being set up.
The mirrored front of MONA – reflections on the outside, reflections within
Why a tennis court? Why not?
Trucks made from steel lacework
In addition to The Source restaurant, there is the Wine Bar where visitors can pick up a light (or filling), quick meal. We enjoyed a shared vegetarian antipasto platter with a glass of one of the ‘house’ whites each. (I apologise for the poor description – I didn’t order lunch or the wine and I don’t remember which label – probably Muse – or grape variety it was – possibly riesling.) It was a lovely, relaxed lunch – but it was very busy in the Wine Bar; we were lucky to spot a couple of stools to commandeer along the wall near where the chef was deftly putting lunch orders together.
Stage equipment being set up outside Moorilla Estate ready for New Years celebrations
The Wine Bar is a popular venue for lunch
Moorilla’s Winery, containing The Source restaurant
The weather had improved for the ride back on the ferry so I stood out on the front deck and admired the scenery. Unfortunately missing out on the sweet treats served to Posh Pits guests. When I popped in to see if they’d been handed out, all I found was an empty plate! At least Stephen enjoyed them.
The first kids onboard quickly ‘bags’ the (model) sheep to ride on the return trip to Hobart
We pass the Incat shipyard where the MONA Roma MR-1 was made. That cat is a LOT bigger!
The cliffs on the north side of the Derwent River are quite crumbly and full of caves
Small sail boats in Lindisfarne Bay
The yachts from the Sydney to Hobart crowd into Sullivans Cove
Coming in to dock at Princes Wharf where the Taste of Tasmania was in full swing
Departing from Constitution Dock at 9:30am and arriving back at 2:15pm (catching the 1:45pm ferry from MONA), we had plenty of time to look at everything we wanted and enjoyed an unhurried lunch. Taking the first ferry for the day also meant we had time to do other things in town when we got back.
I am very pleased we made time to go and see MONA.
Thanks to stretching adequately after the walk last night, climbing down from the top bunk wasn’t painful this morning, although an extra rung at the bottom of the ladder would have been helpful…
Another bottom rung wouldn’t have gone astray. It was a bit of a long step down in the morning.
Sunrise was beautiful. I might have been the only one out taking full advantage of it – I’m not 100% sure as I didn’t turn around to check, but I didn’t hear anyone else up and about.
Dawn’s glow on the clouds behind the Lighthouse
Glowing clouds in the east
The sun’s almost peaking through
Good morning Starshine!
Bright light along the veranda heralds a fabulous day
Yesterday we had arranged a lightstation tour for 10am today with Renata. Our tour started in the museum at the base of the lighthouse and heard how the lightstation used to also be a radar station during WWII. RAAF personnel were stationed on the point also; there are a number of photos from this time and physical remnants left on the point. The museum is open to the public.
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After that we were allowed into the lighthouse! The lighthouse is still owned, operated and maintained by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and public access is available only to groups under the supervision of a Park Ranger. At a height of only 19m (I think that’s to the beacon – the balcony is a couple of metres below) it’s not a big climb. Because the lighthouse sits atop granite cliffs the elevation above sea level is 117m, giving the beacon’s range 18 nautical miles (33km). Given the number of rocks and islands in this part of Bass Strait, the channel is reasonably narrow, and thus the lighthouse remains a very important visual navigation aid to sea-going vessels. There are also a couple of off-shore lights and lighthouses to help ships navigate Bass Strait.
The way is open – entering the lighthouse
The top platform beneath the lantern, which is as far as the public is allowed
Looking up to the light
How blue is the ocean!? I could gaze at it all day!
The top of the lighthouse from the platform
The buildings of Wilsons Promontory Lightstation from the top of the lighthouse
The bay to the west
Stephen & me
AMSA certificate for 150 years of service (lit 15 July 1859) & previous methods of illumination
Going down – the granite here is marvellous
Another perspective
Window in the lighthouse
Four lighthouse keepers and their families lived here, although the only original buildings left from that time are the cottage that we stayed in (Cottage #2) and the lighthouse itself. There was no road to the lightstation, so if anyone had to leave (e.g. for serious medical care) it was a long, hard journey back to civilisation – probably all the way back to Foster or Fish Creek. The township at Tidal River wasn’t constructed until 1946, and even the earlier camp at Darby River wasn’t established until the early 1900’s (when The Prom was given National Park status).
Read more about the details and history of the lighthouse here.
Renata also offered (and we accepted) a look in the other accommodation cottages available, as no one was in them at the time. Here’s a marked-up photo to help set the scene:
Note: the drinking tap I’ve highlighted on the centre path is provided primarily for day visitors. Overnight guests have the same fresh, filtered water from the convenience of taps in the cottages.
Parks Victoria Rangers Cottage (cottage #3) where you check in – if you’re not met at the top of the path like we were, after dragging yourself up the hill!
Parks Victoria Rangers Cottage & site of Victorian State School No 2278 for 6 months in 1880
The newly renovated Couples Cottage (Cottage #4) is amazing! Such a view to the west! And there’s a window facing east in the bedroom. How can they make you leave after just two nights? The additional charge to stay here also includes a queen size bed and linen – that’ll make the pack a bit lighter! Definitely choosing this option next time.
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Cottage no 5 at the end of the row is another multi-share cottage. Colin was busy painting inside when we visited, so we didn’t go through every room. Less spacious than the old lighthouse keepers cottage that we were staying in, but comfortable and probably the coziest in winter.
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Finally, Cottage No 2 – the original Lighthouse Keepers Cottage – our home away from home for the two nights we were lucky to be there.
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And separately, the kitchen! Let there be no more surprises here – there is a refrigerator, microwave, microwavable containers in the cupboards, gas oven and stovetop, plenty of pots, pans, dishes, plates, utensils, chopping boards, glasses, mugs – and a spare food draw!
Kitchen cupboards, refrigerator, microwave, toaster, etc – and Stephen doing the dishes
Gas oven & stovetop
Pots, pans & baking trays
Kitchen draws – cutlery & utensils
Kitchen draws – Knives (not the sharpest), peelers & more utensils
Soon the first day visitors had arrived. Without packs, not wearing what I’d call hiking gear, and carrying only disposable (thin plastic) drink bottles. We were somewhat surprised by their attire. It’s as though they weren’t miles from anywhere, but at a local park.
Renata said they average 30-40 day visitors per day (a significant flaw in an otherwise perfect location – the presence of other people). Sure, the lighthouse may only be an interesting side trip for most people walking between Waterloo Bay and Roaring Meg camp sites, but surely that only explains the lack of backpacks?
Day visitors to the lighthouse – people hike like this?
If one of these young blokes (or girls, but the majority were young blokes) dropped their plastic water bottle and it broke, he’d better hope he could reply on a friend to share water with him until the next stop. They mightn’t be walking 25km in one go like we were, but if it was a hot day like yesterday, being one bottle down (assuming they had more than one) was a serious blow all the same. The owners of Black Cockatoo Cottages told us they hadn’t had rain this year, and the park at the end of summer was definitely looking dry. We were carrying water purification tablets, but I doubt these kids were, or had anything similar, and it’s not safe to drink the water straight from the creeks.
Don’t get me started on their shoes!
When the lightstation was first built back in the 1850’s, equipment and supplies were brought in by boat every six months. A flying fox was set up from a site just below the hill known as the ‘eastern landing’ to the top of the point, because even just lugging yourself up the hill in those days must have been much more of a challenge – there wasn’t a nice concrete path back then! There was a western landing used at one time too, but the eastern side proved better (probably more sheltered from the prevailing winds). Offloading cargo from either side was tricky business at the best of times.
After lunch we decided to brave the steep path once again to see the eastern landing.
There used to be a flying fox to haul supplies up the hill from the dock at east landing
The remnants of the flying fox and the east bay where the supplies were brought in
Walking down the hill is easier than walking up was yesterday (hmmm, no surprise there), but I was very glad that we weren’t wearing back packs today.
The path down the hill from the lightstation. It is every bit as steep as it looks and possibly more.
We continue straight on to the East Landing, instead of turning off to the path on the left we came in on
There’s no beach or convenient looking place for a swim – something that used to torment the early lighthouse keepers during hot summer days. I think Renata said seals are sometimes seen on the rocks. The deep, clear water and healthy kelp attached to the rocks looks like great seal habitat.
Nice big hazard warning signs, but you couldn’t wish for better conditions than what we enjoyed
Eastern Landing!
These granite slabs are huge and beautiful
It’s so similar to northern and eastern Tasmania – we are so close here, so it’s not that surprising
I did’t even see the steps until after… to busy having fun climbing around the rocks!
The blue, blue sea. I wasn’t thinking of a swim… more along the lines of seals and sharks?
A deep circular pool full of life that scuttled into the depths when I approached
There were quite a few crabs in crevices. “Don’t look!” one might be saying to the other
Some of the marine life in the circular rock pool
A silver gull
Looking back up the hill at the lightstation
The platform where the crane to help unload the boats would have been bolted
A blue-tongue lizard sunning itself on the path
The oranged rocks are so reminiscent of the north and eastern coast of Tasmania – which is not very far away, so it’s hardly a surprise.
We discovered that walking up the hill isn’t half as bad when you’re refreshed and not carrying a heavy pack. Still very steep though.
The rest of the afternoon was passed lounging around drinking wine (trying to finish it so we didn’t have to carry it out), eating cheese (trying to finish it so we didn’t have to carry it out), then taking a stroll around the place to walk off the wine and cheese before dinner.
Enjoying wine and cheese on the veranda
Information on the Bureau of Meterology’s weather station at the lightstation
White-bellied Sea-eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster)
Swamp Wallaby (Wallabia bicolor)
The swamp wallabies and wombats do well at keeping down the grass
Swampies camouflage very well
I saw a juvenile White-bellied Sea-eagle too, but without significantly more zoom than what currently I’ve got I can’t show you a decent photo, so you’re just going to have to take my word for it. I was pretty chuffed when I realised what I had seen.
Other hikers planning to stay had arrived and that night not only was our cottage full (sleeping 10 in 4 rooms) but people had arrived to stay at the couple’s cottage next to the rangers cottage. I bet they wished they had come for more than one night! (Neal and Elle reported that you can’t book accommodation at the lightstation for a Thursday night).
Sunset was in a gorgeous purple theme…
Dusk at Wilsons Promontory Lightstation
Sunset colours the clouds at Wilsons Promontory Lightstation
It’s too beautiful an evening to be inside
Wilsons Prom Lighthouse and Rodondo Island
Sunset from the corner garden
Purple hued sunset
Unlike the previous night when it (actually!) rained, tonight was clear and had the bonus of a more-than-half-full waxing moon. After dinner we grabbed torches and cameras and went out.
The wombat and baby had already been spotted earlier (in the back garden) but heading to the top of the path we again disturbed the pair of swamp wallabies as we took photos of the moonlight on the eastern bay.
The moon shines brightly on a calm ocean
Torches not required with a moon this bright
Approaching it’s 155th anniversary, the lighthouse shines on
The lightstation at night
You can just make out the mother wombat & young near the light in the garden
A glowing beacon in the velvety night
The lighthouse and cottages at Wilsons Promontory National Park Lightstation
Stephen noticed he didn’t really need his torch to find wombats – he could hear them chewing as he was positioning his camera to photograph something else! They’re noisy enough when they’re only about a metre away. I guess you should carry a torch to make sure you don’t trip over one?!
Wombat munching away
I was watching two in the garden outside the rangers cottage when something startled one. There was a rustle, then in a split second they were both gone! It’s amazing how fast they can move! They must have both been not much further than a metre or two from a burrow entrance.
Today was a day of ups and downs – and not just because we were taking the Mini for a spin through the Adelaide Hills again.
The plan was to do a loop out to Birdwood to see the National Motor Museum, then head north to Nurioopta and Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop, then back down the highway stopping at the RM Williams factory at Salisbury if time permitted.
It’s not a short drive to Birdwood (at almost an hour) but once you’re out of the suburbs it’s a pleasant drive in the country. Keep your eye out for wildlife. I spotted an emu and a kangaroo (but where there’s one, there’s undoubtably more). Birdwood is one of the larger villages that you’ll pass through, thanks to the presence of the National Motor Museum.
National Motor Museum (it’s on the north side of the road).
The entrance to the National Motor Museum, behind the old mill on the main road.
More than a catalogue of cars made or assembled in Australia, the museum attempts to tell some of the stories of our motoring history. As a collection, Stephen thinks some cars could easily have been left out and not be missed, replaced with other cars that had a greater role in our motoring history. I’m not quite the motoring enthusiast he is, so didn’t really notice. Mind you, the museum is sponsored by Holden so there’s a bit of a bias there (which even I noticed), Ford is a little under-represented, and there is much more to tell about the story of Mitsubishi (of which there were a few cars) and Nissan (of which there were none).
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For someone like me, who doesn’t know much about the history of car making, who’s first guess at the model of the really old style cars is always “Model T Ford?” (although lately, from that era, my favourite has to be a Hispano Suiza which – before you even think of thinking the question – is not part the collection), it was still interesting. There were short plaques to read, not everything was about cars per se – one of the interesting displays was a history of Shell.
A brief history about Shell petroleum
A brief history of the Shell logo
Possibly my favourite display though was a short video on how a combustion engine works and is assembled. There was no narration, just a bit of background music to accompany the images. Having a rough idea of the various parts of a car engine helped (all those hours helping dad fix the cars weren’t for naught, it seems).
A still of the very interesting video on how a combustion engine works and is constructed
Finished at the museum and hoping for a pie for lunch, we tried the bakery across the street. At the back of a bit of a queue we heard that there were no pies left! Spotting another bakery back on the same side of the street as the museum (pretty much right next-door) we dived in, fingers crossed – it must have worked. Not only did they have a huge range of fresh, hot pies, by golly they were damn good as well! Tasty, and good consistency, and beautiful pastry. Ditto for the spinach and ricotta roll which is what I ended up having, but I’d tasted Stephen’s pie – for research purposes.
Lovells Bakery – highly recommended
Birdswood is a large-ish town, thanks to the National Motor Museum. We didn’t stop in at this pub.
Mill that fronts the National Motor Museum
Back in the car, it was onwards through Angaston (a regional centre by the look of it, quite a nice place, and the home of Angus Park dried fruits – we passed the factory) to Nurioopta and Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop.
Trees lining the roadside
Dry fields and very open woodland – if that’s not stretching the term too far
Red ribbons on trees are simple but effective Christmas decorations
Heading towards the Barossa Valley
The home of Angus Park dried fruit at Angaston. Had we realised there was a shop we’d have stopped.
Despite the notices on the webpage saying busses & coaches have to book ahead, and that no bookings would be taken over the New Year’s week, and only in the morning usually, when we rocked up at about 2pm it was at the same time as a bus and mini-bus groups were unloading. On top of an already full house, judging by the carpark, it was rather like being in the city when Myers open for their Boxing Day sales (or Chadstone on any usual shopping day).
So instead of enjoyable browsing of the shelves, a few fun photos, and maybe a walk around the pond, it was a quick couple of photos, trying not to stand on other people’s feet or trip over walking aides, grab a few things that looked good and get out of there with a sense of having escaped.
The rather large, and quite full carpark at Maggie Beer’s Farm
It’s packed in here!
Browsing the shelves just became grab, pay & run
Why is no one in here?
The Cook, The Chef & The Tourist
Maggie’s farm pond
Maggie’s quinces
Maggie’s dried peach halves were absolutely delicious, though. Should’ve bought two packets. The cider was quite nice, too.
Leaving so quickly did mean, however, that we were back at Salisbury in time to stop at the RMW factory outlet shop. Again, it wasn’t quite what we’d hoped. Being right next to the factory where they make stuff, you’d think there’d be more Australian made clothes there. But, no. And, naturally, a lot of the clothes that caught my eye were sizes 10-12. They had a large range of boots (those, thankfully still Australian made) – but we weren’t after boots. RM Williams boots, at least, don’t wear out too quickly.
Looks pretty dry after harvest
Lots of hay bales
On the way back to Adelaide from Maggie Beer’s @ Nurioopta – the Barossa
Oh well. A day of ups and downs.
FRIDAY
Surprise of surprises! Today I wore the jeans and rugby top I packed thinking I’d just be taking these clothes on holiday. Yet today turned out to be even cooler than yesterday. How pleasant!
South Australia’s State Library is… not quite what I expected. But when we wandered through a bit and went up some stairs and found the Treasures Wall, well… how beautiful and marvellous!
The Treasures Wall Black granite, coal, green glass (wine), slate, steel car duco (not for much longer)
Treasures Wall – Green glass, slate, steel car duco
Treasures Wall – slate, steel car duco, bluestone, green granite, grape vines, iron ore, cattle hide, copper, lead, zinc, silver…
I love tactile things. Of course all the rock could be touched – the slate, bluestone, limestone – and the minerals like copper and zinc but obviously the silver and gold, even though just foil was encased. Touching things makes them real. The more senses that are involved in an experience, the more likely you are to remember it, right?
Through a short glass connection is the Mortlock Wing exhibition. The classical library, reminiscent of classical Sherlock Holmes and so quintessentially ‘libraryish’ that I almost expected to hear an ‘Ook’ from the restricted top level.
The Mortlock Wing of the South Australian State Library oozes ‘libariness’
Fun & games
All the chairs are anagrammed
Ancient texts on winemaking
Wine labels
Forbidden stairs up to the first level
Games over the ages
Under the clock
The clock came all the way from London
Balustrade detail
It’s just not cricket, chaps
The Mortlock Wing
We have a proud tennis history even if it doesn’t show too much these days
Even the door handles are anagrammed
The Mortlock Wing from the first floor
We couldn’t linger all day. ‘t 1pm we had an appointment across town. With Haigh’s…
Although we’d been warned that not all trams run the full length of the line to Glenelg, we made the mistake of not checking the timetable properly and just missed the tram we meant to get (they actually run on time in Adelaide – one line, no competing traffic, etc) and didn’t check the destination display of the next tram. So when the announcement was, “South Terrace. This service terminates here.” (or something to that effect) we were rather in a bit of a hurry to cut across the park and along a block to be at the chocolate factory in time for the tour!
Some years ago I was touring NZ with my mum and we did the Cadbury factory tour in Dunedin. It was large, informative (for people who don’t know how cocoa was made) and there was bugger all chocolate to be had, except at the end where you could buy it for the same price the local supermarket sold it when it was on special.
Haigh’s Chocolates is owned and run by the Haigh family. The factory is still where it first began, and the first shop still exists in the Beehive building at the corner of Rundle Mall and King Williams St, Adelaide. They’re not stingy about chocolate. Not just on the (free) factory tour, but even when you purchase something from their shop they give you a sample chocolate drop or two. And if you compare a Freddo Frog with a Haigh’s Frog, you’ll see what I mean immediately.
The factory is not large. The visitor area is about 20m long, and to walk a circuit around it if you were an employee looks like it would take no more than a minute or two. No photography is allowed of the factory, or I could show you. We saw people making cartons for chocolate boxes, hearts ready to be wrapped in foil for Valentines Day, and a lady putting the second layer of chocolate on truffles by hand.
The only downside was there was no time for questions. Usually there are three tour groups per day. On a white board we saw the tour times indicated for today and it looked like there was one about every half an hour! Stephen and I both had questions we would have liked to ask, but we’ll save them for next time I suppose.
We didn’t gorge ourselves on chocolate – the only chocolate we ate was what was handed out in the tour (I quite like the berry balls) – because dinner tonight, our last in Adelaide, was at Jolley’s Boathouse Restaurant.
Jolleys Boathouse Restaurant
Boatsheds nextdoor to Jolleys Boathouse Restaurant
Popeye Ferries tied up for the night, with the roof of the Adelaide Oval in the background.
Red-rumped parrots
As the name suggests it’s right on the river. We’d passed it on the way to the zoo, and Stephen had read some good reviews about it. Naturally it was booked out on New Years Eve, but we were lucky enough to get in tonight. Some people on Urban Spoon suggested the shared lamb for 2 people was good, so we opted for that. Here’s how it reads on the menu:
“Lamb Shoulder, Slow Braised for 12 hours with Turkish Flavours, Imam Bayildi, Spiced Pumpkin, Fetta and Walnut Salad.”
The lamb and imam bayildi (a zucchini thing with sultanas in a Turkish style) were good but the accompanying pumpkin, feta (very soft) and walnut salad, spiced with paprika maybe(?) an garnished with rocket – was just perfect!
We were recommended a red blend from the Barossa that complimented the lamb very well.
For dessert Stephen had the Peanut and Caramel Semifreddo with Chocolate Caramel Mousse and found it very rich and somewhat overwhelming after the large dinner. I chose the Crème Fraiche Parfait, Citrus Prunes and Spiced Apricots which was much lighter (though probably just as indulgent) and delicious.
In all, we were very happy with the experience.
To top off the day I finally got to photograph their parliament house on the way home. A beautiful building of marble on granite.
Elder Park Rotunda
The back of South Australia’s Parliament House, the casino beyond.
Front of Parliament House
Curved steps to a different door into the Parliament House building
South Australia’s Parliament House – A royal lion hiding off to the side of the main steps
Cheeky royal lion at South Australia’s Parliament House
The lions’ story
Evening light through the columns at Parliament House
SATURDAY
Somewhat disappointed that I had not found a giftshop equal to my (seemingly) very high expectations, we had one last shot at finding something in the mall. Stephen had found reference to a place called the Jam Factory. Once we’d found the place I’d realised we’d been by it before. I’d thought it was just an upmarket glass homewares shop. As we stood outside the locked doors, with the pressure to be on the road nagging at us, we decided we didn’t want to want until the 10am opening time on the chance that there might be something that I couldn’t see through the glass front that I might decide I needed to buy.
There is a second shop on Morphett St (though still not open until 10am) that might have had different products.
I really had hoped to find a gift shop that had everything. The best of South Australia in one place. Not just food which is gone once consumed, not just fairy wrens painted on pottery, not just indigenous designs painted in bright colours on cases for your reading glasses, not just RM Williams boots which I can buy a couple of kilometres from home, not just glass vases and bits of jewellery and wooden plates and stuffed toys that could be from anywhere.
Where is the gallery or shop that has brought together the work of unique South Australian artists who, combined, do all the above? Who make things that speak of the place they were made? That are uniquely South Australian? All under the one roof, so to speak.
There is a gift shop in Kings Park, WA that has almost done it – the only exception is they source beautiful work from across Australia, not just West Australian artists. Branching out from one shop to one area is, of course, Salamanca Place in Hobart. You could possibly add The Rocks, Sydney to the list, too.
Anyway, we’d run out of time this holiday. But there were still a couple of surprises left in the bag for us…
Packed and leaving town, at the start of the highway, just as we were beginning the ascent into the Adelaide Hills, the traffic across all four lanes gradually came to a stop. We thought at first it was an accident, but as we were only a couple of cars from the front we soon saw that a koala was the reason for the arm waving going on. It wasn’t a particularly effect method of trying to convince the poor thing to divert course – not that there was any way that it could have climbed over the concrete barrier down the middle of the highway.
Someone came up from the side of the road with a small towel – I was hoping they weren’t going to be silly and try to pick the koala up! The last thing we wanted to see was a well-intentioned idiot being torn to shreds! But fortunately it was the last straw for the koala who ran back to the side. You don’t realise how long their limbs are, when they’re sitting up in a tree. Panicked, it tried to climb a steel pole first which obviously didn’t work, but didn’t waste more than one attempt at that before finding a nice solid, and above all wooden tree to scale; very easily with those claws sharpened and strengthened with terror. I hope it doesn’t try crossing the road again!
Leaving Adelaide – surrounding park & hills
Tollhouse on highway entering Adelaide at the end of the freeway
Koala running off road
Koala – failed to climb the pole, heading for a tree
Koala climbing tree
Koala – safe at last!
We were once again lucky that it was not a blazing hot day as it was earlier in the week, and so it was pretty smooth sailing for most of the way. The only other excitement was a few hours down the road. We hadn’t yet crossed the border into Victoria. Aside from the ever present magpies (I had no idea just how abundant they were in the country) I really hadn’t seen much in the way of wildlife; well, not since Tailem Bend again. Ok, definitely more mammals than what we’ve ever encountered in any other capital city, and lots of ducks and moorhens… maybe it was the lack of crimson rosellas that are a dime a dozen in Victoria that I was missing?
Out of the blue, skippy decided to cross the road in front of us – and there was a ute or truck coming in the other direction, too! Bloody ‘roos! Lucky Stephen was alert and the brakes on the Mini and pretty damn good. Having put new tires on the car just before Christmas probably wasn’t a bad thing, either. The kangaroo, could have been a Grey Kangaroo, took a few bounds, realised its peril, slid to a halt just over the mid line (I could’ help but think it was almost a perfect slide tackle if it wanted to be a real socceroo – but wrong time and place for that) and into the other lane, scrambling to get back upright and back to where it came from. Stephen swerved and gave it plenty of clearance on our side and neither of us remember what happened to the vehicle coming the other way, but the roo, I think, was ok. This time. Daft bugger.
Stephen said afterwards that he’d seen it bounding in the bush alongside the road so was not caught totally by surprise when it decided to jump out. Thank goodness for that!
The SA-VIC border
It’s a big claim, but we call it home
At the end of every holiday, the question that we ask ourselves is ‘would we go back again?’… the answer is yes, but we’ll do our next trip a little differently.
There were a few things we didn’t get to see. Tours at the Adelaide Oval weren’t available when we enquired, and there’s the Bradman Museum there to see, too. The National Wine Centre of Australia would be lovely to visit also. Would we drive next time? Maybe; if we were staying for more than a couple of days, of course. Somewhere in the Adelaide Hills would be nice, and actually do some bushwalking, which was totally absent this trip!
Kangaroo Island is on our To Do list, but as a completely separate holiday destination in and of itself, not as an adjunct to Adelaide.
< Adelaide Part 1: Driving to Adelaide, Rundle Mall, Adelaide Central Markets, Adelaide Zoo
< Adelaide Part 2: Harndorf, Mt Lofty, SA Museum, Adelaide Botanic Gardens, Glenelg
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