On the hike from Chambers Gully to Mount Lofty, we all saw five kangaroos and an extraordinary 17 koalas, most relaxing on the tops of the trees. Photo / Ashley Swallow
On the hike from Chambers Gully to Mount Lofty, we all saw five kangaroos and an extraordinary 17 koalas, most relaxing on the tops of the trees. Photo / Ashley Swallow
Kiwis love heading to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. However, far from these hot spots, the Adelaide Hills offers off-grid adventures accompanied by incredible food and wine, writes David Williams.
Despite being only a three-hour flight away, I’m actually nervous about visiting our closest neighbours for the firsttime in more than 20 years. I have also never been to South Australia, so I don’t know what to expect from The Festival State.
I’m spending three days in the Adelaide Hills, a spot roughly 30-40 minutes outside the city centre, which offers cooler climates, wineries galore, and restaurants serving everything from pub food to fine dining.
After a warm March morning exploring Adelaide Central, I’m met by a group of four Australians, two Americans and one New Zealander who will be my best friends for the next three days. We are ferried out of the city to our first lunch at Sidewood Estate, a family-run winery in the Adelaide Hills.
I saw a kangaroo bounce past within two hours of arriving at my accommodation in CABN in the Adelaide Hills.
The restaurant sits 380m above sea level and produces its own grapes, cider and food. Since opening in 2004, Sidewood has won over 50 trophies and 400 Gold Medals for its wines. We are treated to Zhoug roasted lamb shoulder, provolone, pickled onion, mint and margarita, cherry tomato, and basil pizzas from the wood oven pizza. We also eat a charcuterie board with three kinds of cheese, hummus, oil with pomegranate glaze, apple, leg ham, prosciutto, olives, lavosh and bread. Not a bad start to the trip.
Later, we are shown around our accommodation, CABN (pronounced cabin) Hahndorf, a group of micro homes on a rural property.
“If you look around rural Australia, so much of it isn’t scrub land or remnant bush, it’s all been cleared for farming and grazing,” says CABN owner Michael Lamprell.
We used AllTrails to the top of Mount Lofty. The app catalogues thousands of hikes worldwide and details the route’s inclines, including the steepest parts and points of interest where people could stop and observe. Photo / Ashley Swallow
The cabins are placed so as not to disturb native flora and fauna. The owners planted 1,400 native vegetation trees and plan to plant native grasses along the hilltop to stop soil erosion and attract more wildlife. The whole system is off the grid. Everything in the cabins is run from a range of solar panels and will soon run off reclaimed water.
The wildlife I hear and see is truly Australian. Determined to see a kangaroo on this trip, I’m successful within a few hours of arriving when two bound past me in the bush without a care in the world. If you haven’t seen a kangaroo move, they really do bounce how one would expect.
The Australian bush is different from the New Zealand bush. Try to stand, sit or lie down and listen to the squeaking and squawking of the native birds and wind blowing through the bright white gum trees. I stand quietly in the forest for so long that the birds must have forgotten I am here. They move closer and start landing on nearby branches and their squeaking becomes more confident.
Ondeen uses each ingredient from South Australia and Culinary Director Kane Pollard makes a concerted effort to waste as little food as possible.
The Adelaide Hills are replete with pubs and taverns, each one makes you feel as though you are in the outback.
We eat at two pubs during three days, the Stanley Bridge Tavern and The Uraidla Hotel. South Australian pubs have evolved from jars of lager and locals looking at you like aliens and menus now include olives, dumplings, salads, local fish and bountiful wine cellars.
The Australian colleagues in the group recommend a pub staple called a “Chicken Snitty” - an enormous piece of chicken schnitzel covering an equally large portion of fries, with salad and pepper sauce on the side.
When I tell my Australian friends in New Zealand I hadn’t tried one, they gasped, saying “You’ve got to have a snitty!”
On Thursday, we hike 8 km from Chambers Gully to the top of Mount Lofty, the 710m peak of the Mount Lofty Ranges within Cleland National Park.
We use AllTrails to navigate along the trail, an app that catalogues thousands of hikes worldwide and details the route’s inclines, including the steepest parts and points of interest where you can stop and observe.
Excited squeals erupt when we spot a koala lazing in the tree top, unaware that it’s only the first of 17 koalas and five kangaroos we’ll see.
Unfortunately, our hike is plagued by muggy conditions, rain, and an early morning chill. We all take our raincoats off and put them back on at least four or five times before eventually abandoning them altogether.
The celebrated South Australian restaurant Ondeen uses ingredients from around the nearby region, a process it calls “closed-loop cooking”.
Almost all of the hike is a slow incline where we can enjoy our walk, the animals, and the bird sounds; however, it turns vertical in the final 1km to the summit, and hikers descending shoot us looks of pity as we trudge upwards. Once we reach the top, we are met with the beautiful sight of ... fog. I would recommend the hike, but check the conditions before departing. The koalas, kangaroos, and jasmine smell are worth braving the trail, but not enough in the rain or sweltering heat.
On our last morning, the group participates in an early morning hike to the top of Mount George Conservation Park. The fog hasn’t fully subsided, and the terrain is precarious in certain areas, but walking through the Australian bush in the early morning with no one around is sublime nonetheless.
We ate a shelled-out whole roasted South Australian fig, stuffed with a lemon-scented ricotta made at the restaurant and served in a pool of fig bean sauce at Ondeen.
Our final lunch of the trip is at the celebrated restaurant Ondeen. The distillery, winery and restaurant use ingredients from around the nearby region, a process it calls “closed-loop cooking”. Each ingredient is from South Australia, and Culinary Director Kane Pollard makes a concerted effort to waste as little food as possible.
For example, we eat a shelled-out South Australian fig, stuffed with a lemon-scented ricotta made at the restaurant. The chefs place the bottom of the fig back on, roast it and serve it in a pool of fig bean sauce. They use any leftover reds from the wine tasting, cook them down with brown sugar and spices and add the centre of the fig to create a sauce. On the outside of the dish is a fig leaf oil.
I spent three days with four Australians, two Americans and one New Zealander hiking, eating and drinking in the Adelaide Hills. Photo / Ashley Swallow
I acknowledge Aboriginal people as the First Peoples and Nations of the lands and pay my respect to their elders past, present and emerging. I also recognise the Karuna and Peramangk people on whose land I experienced this trip.
Air New Zealand flies direct between Auckland and Adelaide on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday and some Thursdays. The flight time is around five hours.
Visitors can also fly to Adelaide with Qantas and Jetstar Australia, transiting through Melbourne and Sydney.
GETTING AROUND
The Heysen Trail begins at Cape Jervis, on the southeastern tip of the St Vincent Gulf, where Adelaide is located. It’s best to hire a car to explore the Adelaide Hills. While there are public transportation links, any rural destination requires a vehicle.
