TheRamblingWombat Adelaide

“Lovely….. . You gotta buy them, lovely ladies.”

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Certainly not on the regular tourist circuit, Torrens Island Market is tucked away in the middle of no-where – through an industrial wasteland though only 30mins from Adelaide CBD. Its relative isolation means it is authentic, local and as such the place to go. A word of warning though – there are no stuffed kangaroos, cuddly koalas, gaudy boomerangs or other tacky tourist paraphernalia here (not that readers of blog would be seeking anything tacky!). Continue reading ““Lovely….. . You gotta buy them, lovely ladies.”” →

TheRamblingWombat Adelaide

Wittunga Botanic Garden – Australia v South Africa

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The South Australian Government manages three botanic gardens in the Adelaide area:

The Adelaide Botanic Garden
Mount Lofty Botanic Garden
Wittunga Botanic Garden.

The 14 hectares Wittunga Botanic Garden was established by Edwin Ashby in 1902 though it did not come into state ownership until 1965. It was opened to the public in 1975 and contains and extensive collection of plants from Australia and South Africa (mainly from the Cape Province district which has similar climatic conditions to Adelaide). Continue reading “Wittunga Botanic Garden – Australia v South Africa” →

TheRamblingWombat Adelaide

Waterfall Gully to Mount Lofty Summit Walk

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This challenging, well signposted, walk (8km return) begins in Waterfall Gully at the 1st Falls lookout and continues past the 2nd Falls from where the trail climbs steeply up to the remains of Chinaman’s Hut (1.1kms – picture 2). Archaeologists have been unable to find any sign of past Chinese occupation and the hut was more likely occupied by European woodcutters in around 1900.

Continue reading “Waterfall Gully to Mount Lofty Summit Walk” →

TheRamblingWombat Adelaide

Waterfall Gully – Oasis On City Outskirts

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Located in Cleland Conservation Park, Waterfall Gully is home to the largest (18m) of seven waterfalls in the park and is a lovely spot to visit, in itself, from Adelaide (10kms) or as a base for a very popular 4km (each way) walk to Mount Lofty summit (see separate review). Even if not walking the whole way to Mt Lofty summit I recommend you at least go up to the top of the first falls and perhaps as far as the second falls (about 500m). Continue reading “Waterfall Gully – Oasis On City Outskirts” →

TheRamblingWombat Adelaide

Mt Lofty Botanic Garden

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What a great place to escape to from the city.

The Mt Lofty Botanic Garden is one of three botanic gardens managed by the South Australian Department of the Environment and is by far the largest but still very manageable in that you could see nearly all of it in a day and get a great flavour of the Garden in much less time. Do allow at least a few hours though. Continue reading “Mt Lofty Botanic Garden” →

TheRamblingWombat Canberra

Cycle Around Four Lakes

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Readers of others of my reviews and those otherwise vaguely familiar with Canberra will be familiar with Lake Burley Griffin, an artificially created lake in the central Canberra area. There are, in fact, a number of other lakes in Canberra, all of them man-made. The largest of these lakes, each located in a ‘town centre’ are Lake Tuggeranong (in Tuggeranong) , Lake Ginninderra (in Belconnen) and Yerrabi Pond (Gungahlin). These are represented by the numbers 2-4 respectively on the map in picture 2 below. Number 1 marks Lake Burley Griffin.

Continue reading “Cycle Around Four Lakes” →

TheRamblingWombat Canberra

Cycle Around Lake Burley Griffin – West Basin

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Of the three lake rides referred to in my ‘Cycle around Lake Burley Griffin – General’ review (which I recommend you read before this review as it provides some general details on cycling in the Australian Capital Territory and on cycle hire, in addition to a map showing the location of this ride) the West Basin one is the longest at 16kms, the most difficult and the most rewarding scenery-wise providing you with a delightful insight into why Canberra is called the bush capital. Continue reading “Cycle Around Lake Burley Griffin – West Basin” →

TheRamblingWombat Canberra

Cycle Around Lake Burley Griffin – Central Basin

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My review ‘Cycle around Lake Burley Griffin – General’ provides some general information on cycling around Lake Burley Griffin and in the ACT generally. It also provides details on the limited options for hiring bicycles in Canberra. If you have not already read it, do have a look at it before continuing.

This is a short 5km ride along a flat sealed cycle/pedestrian path around the Central Basin of Lake Burley Griffin. Continue reading “Cycle Around Lake Burley Griffin – Central Basin” →