Southern charm
Sabine morgan discovers that South Australia’s cool capital is the gateway to a tonne of outdoor family fun.
Over the past couple of years, South Australia and its capital city, Adelaide, have quietly got on with the business of becoming cool. With great hotels, kid-friendly festivals and world-class museums – plus easy access to outdoor adventures, wildlife galore and incredible food and wine within a few hours of the city – it’s fab for families.
Radelaide
One of Australia’s most kid-friendly cities, they don’t call South Australia’s capital Radelaide for nothing! The city is famous for its cultural and creative festivals; if you time your visit right, the Fringe, Adelaide Festival and Womadelaide all host fun family events. The Art Gallery of South Australia and the South Australian Museum are also great spots for a culture fix for the kids.
Sports-loving families can not only catch a cricket or AFL football match at Adelaide Oval, but those aged eight years and over can also hit the roof. The Adelaide Oval Roofclimb will take visitors a jaw dropping 50 metres above the green expanse of the pitch for one of the best views in town. If you’d rather do than see, hire a free city bike to ride along the banks of the River Torrens on the Linear Park Trail from Athelstone to West Beach or Henley Beach. Or head to Mega Adventure, an aerial climbing structure where you can play tennis in the sky, row a boat mid-air or take a leap of faith from the Parajump – from the safety of a harness, of course. Pumpt is the place for indoor scooter, skate and BMX fun for everyone from tykes on balance bikes to downhill racers.
A day at Adelaide Zoo to visit its famous giant pandas, Wang Wang and Fu Ni, is a must, as is a trip to Monarto Zoo, the largest open-range zoo in the world. Located about 50 minutes from the city, you could be forgiven for thinking you’re on safari in Africa. Wildlife fans can also head to Glenelg Beach where, along with building sandcastles and splashing in the sea, you can swim with dolphins. Braver souls can even dive with great white sharks, but I’ll pass.
If the kids are hungry, the city is one of Australia’s most innovative dining destinations and the Adelaide Central Market is home to what my hungry clan thinks is one of the country’s best eat streets, Gouger Street.
Head for the hills
Hungry families will also love the Adelaide Hills Kids' Food Trail. Along the way children receive complimentary tastings of locally produced foods and get to meet producers to learn about where their food comes from and how it is made. Little ones will love the summer Cherry Trail, where they can pick bagsful of plump cherries straight off the tree.
An easy 30-minute drive from Adelaide, the area provides a blissful break from the city. Families can explore its pretty valleys and vineyards on horseback, or take to the hills by mountain bike at Eagle Park Mountain Bike Park. Our little ones prefer the area’s quaint villages, like historic Hahndorf. It is a fairytale come to life and with its main street filled with lolly shops, ice-creameries and toy shops it leaves my kids' eyes bulging with delight.
A little further afield is the six-storey-high Big Rocking Horse and Toy Factory in Gumeracha, yet another magical place that has the kids in a spin. There’s also hands-on animal fun to be found at Gorge Wildlife Park, where the kids can cuddle a koala, walk among kangaroos and spot their favoruite native animals, as well as a selection of exotic species including meerkats and monkeys.
The coast with the most
One of South Australia’s most popular tourist regions, the Fleurieu Peninsula, is located right on the capital’s doorstep and is a haven for active families. Its picturesque coastal towns provide ample opportunities for aquatic adventures with surfing, sailing, scuba and snorkelling just a few of the watery activities on the menu.
But it is Oceanic Victor, an in-sea aquarium in Victor Harbor, that provides the area’s most unique aquatic experience. Here you can don wetsuits and masks to swim with southern bluefin tuna. If you don't want to brave the water, venture to the underwater viewing area or feed the tuna on the feeding platform.
Out of the water, a historic paddle-steamer cruise along the Murray River from Goolwa Wharf is a must. You can also enjoy a ride on the Horse Drawn Tram from Victor Harbor to Granite Island and catch the Cockle Train on Australia’s oldest steel railway along coastal cliffs to soak up what we think is some of the most stunning scenery on the Peninsula.
Don’t miss The Cube at d’arenberg. A cellar door that looks for all the world like a giant Rubik’s Cube, visitors can enjoy amazing views over Mclaren Vale. While this mum and dad are all about the wine, the kids love The Cube’s Alternate Realities Museum.
Hop to it
Deserted beaches, amazing animal encounters and surreal landscapes make Kangaroo Island a magical destination for little adventurers. Kangaroo Island's Sealink vehicle and passenger ferry service operates daily between Cape Jervis, just two hours south of Adelaide, and Penneshaw, and is the best way to reach the otherworldly island.
Some of Australia’s best produce and the island’s natural beauty are just part of its appeal. We find ourselves mesmerised by the startlingly blue waters lapping at the rugged coastline and white-sand beaches and epic dunes, which the kids zoom down on sandboards. And then there are its incredible hidden caves, smooth-as-silk beach boulders and the rugged Admirals Arch, where stalactites clutch its rocky ceiling and amazing views await of the long-nosed fur seal colony that calls it home.
But for us the island’s main attraction is its wildlife. Large tracts of wilderness, eucalypt
forest, bush, rivers, creeks, beaches and wetlands make it a haven for bird, plant and animal life. So, along with the fur seals, there are koalas, little penguins, whales, sea lions and (as advertised) kangaroos to spot, all in the wild. Older kids who prefer up-close experiences can take to the waters to swim with dolphins in their natural habitat, but there are plenty of excellent wildlife parks and rehabilitation centres where littlies can get blissfully face to fur, flipper and feather with a variety of native animals and birds.