South Australia by Anthea Gerrie
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In a country packed with show-stoppers like Ayers Rock, Sydney Harbour and the Great Barrier Reef, it’s not surprising South Australia remains relatively undiscovered by foreign visitors.
But that’s a real shame, for in packed into one square, easy-to-navigate state (if “packed” is the right word for such magnificently empty and far-ranging territory) are so many tourist treats, from beautiful wine country to breathtaking outback and some of the most spectacular clean, white, deserted beaches in the world - all within an easy drive of Adelaide international airport.
The prettily-named Fleurieu Peninsula is the place to head for a heady combination of vineyards, beach and wildlife, and a good focus is centrally-placed McLaren Vale, known for a handful of acclaimed vintages.
Touring and tasting has been made easy by an ingenious cheese and wine trail initiative which involves picking up a hamper from the town’s Blessed Cheese cafe. It contains a map and suggestions for wines to pair with the local cheeses packed with crackers and other picnic fare.
In practice, the wineries will take visitors through a tasting of their whole range - and the best part of the scheme is the voucher to exchange for a take-home bottle of your favourite tipple.
A particularly good vineyard to visit is the highly-rated Wirra Wirra, which has lovely grounds and is close to a delightful country gallery, the Red Poles, which has a garden, some enticing jewellery and pottery as well as pictures and rooms to stay. But it would be hard to find a more sybaritic dwelling than the Vintage B&B, just outside McLaren Vale with a fabulous view of vines.
It’s a shame the DIY breakfast lets down the quality of the beautifully-decorated suites - on the second morning we opted to breakfast on good toast with Vegemite and a cappuccino at Blessed Cheese before picking up our hamper.
The best place to dine among the vineyards in the area is the award-winning Salopian Inn, which serves Frenchified fare with soft lights and sweet music. But for lunch on a sunny day, there is no better place to be than the Star of Greece, a sophisticated and colourful beach-side restaurant named for a nearby shipwreck which has attracted celebs from Kylie to Sting, yet displays no attitude and serves delicious food, wine and cocktails all day at reasonable prices.
It’s at Port Willunga, less than a 15-minute drive from McLaren Vale at the top of a long stretch of fabulous clean, white sand which on the weekday we visited was pretty well deserted.
After whiling away the post-lunchtime hours swimming and beach-combing for pebbles, we moseyed down to nearby Aldinga Beach just for the pleasure of driving the long stretch of sand designated for vehicles and photographing the arty shelter complete with canine sculpture and touching inscription in memory of a much-loved local fisherman and his dog who had hung out there for years..
At the bottom of the peninsula is the resort of Victor Harbour, which has all the attractions strangely absent along the Aldinga stretch, perhaps the reason that beach is so delightfully underused. Victor Harbour has less charm and more crowds, but for bird lovers it’s the jumping off point fot Granite Island.
Here, 2000 of the tiny fairy penguins only found in the Antipodes return each night after a hard day’s fishing, and visitors can book tours and travel the causeway leading to the island on an old-fashioned horsedrawn tram.
However, a more intimate option is to take the tram by day, enjoy a super fish lunch at the outdoor cafe overlooking the rocks, then inspect the little birds up close and personal at the rescue centre set up by Brit Dorothy Longden and her husband Keith.
Wildlife enthusiasts with time to spare will also want to visit Kangaroo Island, only a 45-minute crossing from the Fleurieu, which boasts not just a collection of marvellous marsupials, but many of the other curiously endearing animals for which Australia is famous, from shy echidnas to even more bashful koalas; here, also, are white dunes and spectacular boulder-strewn beaches.
Foodies on a tight schedule may prefer to stick to the wine country - there is so much of it to explore in South Australia, notably the Barossa, where the big-name vineyards which supply the supermarkets are situated, and the more rarefied boutique operations of the Adelaide Hills. Here, the lunch-only Petaluma Restaurant at Bridgewater Mill winery is one of South Australia’s most attractive and acclaimed.
But there are also unmissable surprises not far from the vines. Heading north from McLaren Vale and skirting the Barossa, pausing perhaps at the pretty town of Hahndorf for a delightful alfresco lunch of dips and local cheeses at Udder Delights and for a tasting at the top-rated Henschke winery near Keyneton, visitors will suddenly find themselves encountering unexpected and breathtaking Outback close to the Sturt Highway which connects Adelaide with wild bush.
This is the jumping-off point for Portee Station, home to thousands of sheep coloured pink by the red earth, a long stretch of river frontage clad with ochre-coloured banks and an absolutely delightful Victorian homestead run with great panache as an inn by Pat Kent, who also runs an air touring company, and his wife Sally, a British former air stewardess.
The river view from the house is so stunning, it’s tempting to just crash in the spacious and comfortable bedrooms with their picture windows, or the delightful verandah with a chilled bottle from the reasonably-priced wine list. However, the delights which come as standard with the first night’s stay are not to be missed.
This is wombat country, and at dusk there’s a chance to dfrive out along the outback plains and look for the shy little creatures emerging from their huge burrows.
The trip is timed to coincide with a breathtaking sunset along a private stretch of beach where Pat waits with to pour bubbly over hibiscus flowers at a table set up by the river.
Then it’s back to the ranch for dinner under the stars cooked by the rancher’s daughter and served elegantly on white linen tablecloths; observant guests are, of course, catered to with advance notice, as this is very much a tailor-made experience.