Monday, March 19 – Southern Australia and Adelaide

We had another great breakfast this morning at Lanzerac, before it was once again time to pack up and go. We had a goodly amount of wine already, so our luggage was getting heavier. But no worries, we can handle it! There's plenty of room in the Audi.

Today’s first destination was to the north-northwest, and in the opposite direction of Adelaide. Chris had read about a "pink lake" in Southern Australia, and we thought it would be neat to see it if we were this close. Justin told us it wasn't worth the drive, but other reviews were positive, so we figured we'd give it a shot if we got an early start.

Our Audi Q5 at Bumbunga Lake

So after an hour and a half of driving, mostly on rural 2-lane roads, we arrived at the town of Lochiel. And there it was – a pink lake, in the middle of nowhere! We found a pullout and walked to the lake shore. 

Walking on Pink Water?

Funny, the lake looked dry as we approached the shore. And solid! 

We tentatively stepped on it, and started to walk out. 

It looked wet out in the distance, but as we walked further from the shore, the waterline never came closer. 

It was all a dry salt pan, with a pinkish hue from dissolved minerals. Lake Bumbunga - an optical illusion!

We saw tire tracks where people had driven on it, so we weren’t worried about falling through. 

What a neat place! And nobody else around.

Easy to drop your camera in the lake here

Some sunshine would have been nice.








You can't take pictures like this on most lakes!

Lake Bergs? Or Salt Bergs?

From here, we turned back South and drove towards Adelaide. We made good time, and it was still early afternoon when we drew even with the city, so we decided to go on past Adelaide and visit a few sites to the East.

Scenic Viewpoint. Victor Harbor Road, Southern Australia

Our original plan had been to stop in that area on Thursday during the beginning of our drive east, but that would have made for a very ambitious and busy day. So we drove through McLaren Vale, then over the hills at the neck of the Fleurieu Peninsula. There were some nice views along the way.

We ended up at Port Elliott. This was a cute seaside town with beautiful coastal views.

The surf crashed wildly into the rocky shoreline. 

There were beaches down below but we didn’t climb down. 

We decided to look for lunch instead. 

Unfortunately, we were at that witching hour, right between lunch and dinner, and every restaurant / pub that we checked was not cooking food at that time. 

The perils of shoulder season – so we grabbed a meat pie at a walk-in place and sat outside nibbling, while planning our next move.

From here, we had a short bit of driving to get to the mouth of the Murray River. The longest river system in Australia empties into the Southern Ocean here. It’s not really flowing that strongly at the moment.








There is dredging work going on to keep the channel clear, necessary because the river current isn’t so strong now. Check that off the list, and now it’s time to get back to Adelaide!

A little traffic but nothing too bad, and we were back in Adelaide by 5:00. We were quite excited that we’d been able to knock off some of Thursday’s itinerary ahead of time. Unfortunately that meant we’d have no time for the city of Adelaide itself, but there is only so much time in a day. 

We checked in to our hotel, parked in the garage, started a load of laundry, and set about finding dinner. TripAdvisor to the rescue! We found a place a block away, called George’s on Waymouth, that sounded like it was a good place to try. 

It was a nice restaurant, owned by George from Greece, and the menu reflected that. We went early, but it filled up after us, so we felt lucky to get a table. 

They had a halloumi cheese special appetizer which I ordered.

Chris had a shrimp appetizer, where they were wrapped in what looked like shredded wheat, cooked crispy, and served with a sweet sauce. It was called Kataifi Wrapped Prawns, and it was delicious!

I had a lamb dish for my main course. The shredded meat had been pressed into a solid brick. It was served with a pesto-like sauce with lots of mint. Really tasty!

Chris had a nice preparation of swordfish. 

We tried several different Greek wines by the glass, both whites and reds, and were very happy.

We had a glimpse at the Town Hall on the walk home from dinner, but that was about it. Our hotel is to the right of this building. It's the former treasury.

Back at our hotel (Adina Apartments), we took inventory and split up our luggage so we could travel light to our next stop. 

Tomorrow we are going to the Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island for two nights, so no need to take everything with us. We were parking the car in the airport lot for the duration, so we could leave our extra stuff in it. That means we only have to take one suitcase with us. 

So while we sorted and repacked, we had a chance to have a glass of wine from our stash. The wine stash was also staying behind, as the Lodge is all-inclusive. So we may as well put a small dent in it. I'm hoping that two days in the car doesn't cook our wine, though. The forecast isn't too hot or sunny until Thursday when we return. Let's hope the tinted windows keep it cooler.

Not too early a wake-up call tomorrow, as our flight isn’t until 9:30. It's on a tiny regional airline, REX (Regional Express). We checked in on line - impressive, for such a tiny airline - and with that, we turned in for the night. But I’m sure we’ll be up early.