A day trip south from Adelaide through the southern hinterland including the famous McLaren Vale wine district and the northern Fleurieu Peninsula.

On our way out of Adelaide, we saw The Big Hands at Centennial Park Cemetery symbolically showing you can go up …. or down. And don’t forget to do a will – it’s a dead giveaway.

Onkaparinga National Park protects rugged ridge tops and the nar­row riv­er val­ley of the spec­tac­u­lar Onka­paringa Gorge containing some of the finest remain­ing pock­ets of rem­nant veg­e­ta­tion in the South­ern Ade­laide region. This is the track to Punchbowl Lookout.

White-backed magpie at Onkaparinga

Punchbowl Lookout

The Onkaparinga River in flood

Monarch butterfly on Grass tree (Xanthorrhea)

Grey fantail

Feral European olive trees (Olea europaea) are a major invasive weed in Onkaparinga River National Park, crowding out native plants, creating heavy fuel loads for bushfires, and degrading animal habitats.

McLaren Vale is a premium wine growing area just south of Adelaide.

The Big Bunch of Grapes in McLaren Vale – this really put me in a grape mood!

We were greeted at D’Arenburg Winery by a Big Hand

d’Arenberg Cube is a five-storey building situated within the d’Arenberg vineyards at McLaren Vale. Completed in 2017, the building’s distinctive geometric design (and lure of wine tasting) brings many visitors. The d’Arenberg Cube is a multi-use building that features a restaurant, a wine tasting room, a virtual fermenter, a 360-degree video room and the Alternate Realities Museum, which features numerous art installations including works by Salvador Dali.

More works by Salvador Dali in the D’Arenburg grounds.

There was also a Doctor Seuss exhibition at D’Arenburg. Most drawings were The Cat in the Hat but we were pleased to see The Lorax (who speaks for the trees). We even spotted a Thneed.

Wirra Wirra Winery was established in 1894.

Now here’e something with a siege mentality! Wirra Wirra Winery has a Trebuchet firing range – they usually hurtle watermelons across a long paddock when in use.

The Australian Rules Football goalposts used as a target for the trebuchet. For those not in Australia, Australian Rules football is one of only two football games in the world that award a point if you miss the goal (one point for the ball passing inside the outer posts but not through the middle. Between the two inner posts is six points).

Post and Rail fence (River Red gum style) at Wirra Wirra

Adelaide rosella in a forest area near Wirra Wirra

The Old Butcher’s Shop in Willunga started trading in 1855 and served the community for over a century. This historic property features original large slate floors and a slab-slate verandah.

If a butcher backed into a meat grinder, would they get a little behind in their work?

Typical country road in the hills south of Adelaide

The Big Cherries at Fleurieu Cherries at Pages Flat. We expected to see the Cherries on a Sunday.

I told my wife, “I should have bought the turbo model!”

Fleurieu Peninsula countryside

A local living a bull life.

Normanville is a beachside town on the Fleurieu Peninsula

Red wattle bird at Normanville

The Fleurieu Coast Visitor Centre at Yankalilla features a life-size model of a prehistoric Diprotodon named “Toto”.

The hills at Carrickalinga

Aldinga Conservation Park protects sand dunes, sand blows (mobile dunes) and rem­nant coastal vegetation.

Plants of Aldinga include this wattle…

… Fan flowers (Scaevola)...

… and Clematis vine.

Lacy Coral Lichen is a rare plant in South Australia. This is one of only four locations it is found.

Coastlines near Aldinga

Late drive back into Adelaide