Lobethal Lights 2020 – Lobethal – South Australia – Australia

Wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2021.

With the interruptions from bush fires in 2019 and cancellation of many events due to the Covid 19 pandemic, I needed to see how the Lobethal Christmas decorations are done.

Lobethal is a city famous for its Christmas lighting for over sixty years and is located 35 Kilometers from Adelaide city and will take about 45 mins to drive there. Lobethal is up in the Adelaide hills so you should expect to drive in winding roads and to encounter wildlife on road so take care when driving and better drive little bit slower than the allowed maximum speed.

In the true spirit of Christmas this lighting festival has become a tradition and now it has evolved into becoming the largest community Christmas lighting display in the Southern Hemisphere.

Lights will be displayed from 20^th December to 31^st each year, I encourage all of you to visit Lobethal and support this community event.

			Score out of 5
1	Parking Availability	When all events are happening it will bit hard to find parking.	3
2	Wheelchair Access	Easy	5
3	Accessibility	Most of the decorations can be enjoyed being inside the car.	4
4	Facilities	Lobethal city facilities will be available. Toilets – Yes Barbecue – Yes	4
5	Scenery	Nothing much when dark.	2

 

Below is a video I made from the visit.

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Sihala Kala Ranga 2019 (සිහල කළා රංග 2019)

These are some performances done in the 2019 concert by students of Sihala Kala Rangayathanaya in Adelaide Australia.

Port Willunga Beach – Port Willunga South Australia

While we were travelling with some of my friends, we did visit Port Willunga beach which I thought would be a good place to visit by any beach lover. It is about 45 km away from Adelaide city, which will take about 50 minutes if you are travelling by car.

There re two ways to get to the beach,

a. Go past the restaurant and head down to beach. – This is the quickest and shortest way to get to the beach. No stairs are there in this path so is wheel chair friendly.

b. Turn left before the restaurant – You need to walk for about 5 to 10 minutes depending on the pace you are walking to get to the beach and at the end there are some steps you need to go down. The short walk will reward you with the view of jetty pylons and the man made caves.

Facilities – There are toilet and shower facilities but no sitting areas, so portable table and chairs will be handy.

Port Willunga Beach

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Magnetic Hill – Black Rock South Australia

If you like to experience nature’s amazing things it has to offer, one place you should not miss is the magnetic mountain in Black Rock South Australia. What is interesting in this place is that natural (magnetic) forces will take your car up the hill without the engine power.

Normally if you switch your car off, put it to neutral while at the middle of a hill and release the brake, your car will start moving downhill, but in this mountain your car will start moving up the hill. When I read about the place prior to my visit I thought it is a illusion in the eye. But after visiting the place I got amazed by seeing the way it moved my vehicle up the hill. To experience this I would encourage you to visit this mountain.

Magnetic Hill is located about 260 km from Adelaide and will take about 3 hour 30 minutes. The road to the magnetic hill is a unsealed road, but you can use a 2WD car to reach there.

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Until you visit Magnetic Hill your self, enjoy me travelling up the hill while my engine is off.

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Harben Vale Cherry Farm – Balhannah South Australia

If you like Cherries like me, another orchard you should visit is Harben Vale Cherries in Balhannah SA 5242. Located on Altmanns road, this orchard is about 100 hectares and produce Beef cattle, Potatoes and Cherries. This is a family owned farm which was with Altmann’s family for some 160 years.

They have started growing Cherries for about 10 to 12 years now and has a very open rural outlook rather than the steeper more traditional areas around Lenswood. You will find ample free parking in the property. This orchard has about 8 main Cherry varieties grown in 3 Hectares. Picking is easy since the trees are well trained and you can easily pick Cherries without using ladders.

Cherry season is a short 2 month period normally from December to January each year. Produce might even finish before the end of the season depending of the number of people visiting farms, So always call or check their web site before visiting. Current farm managers, Wayne and Julie Altman are very friendly people and they would be happy to help if you contact them.

When visiting, it is better to wear shoes in which you can easily walk on grass. Since it will be summer, hats are also recommended. Buckets will be provided to all visitor groups to pick Cherries into so you do not want to take anything for collecting what you pick. At the time I visited, they did not charge any admission fee and one kilo of Cherries were sold for $ 5. These prices can always change so I recommend you to check with the owners before picking since whatever you pick, you should buy. Since these Cherries are fresh you can keep them for few weeks without any problems, if you freeze you may even be able to keep them for few months. But I like to consume them within 2 – 3 weeks from picking.

Address : Altmanns Road, Balhannah 5242.
Phone : 04 3900 1962
EMail : wjaltman@adam.com.au
Web : http://harbenvale.com/

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Dolphin Cruises – Port Adelaide South Australia

Recently after a friend of mine told me about these cruses, we went for the cruise with few families we are friends with. In Port Adelaide 2 companies are offering Dolphin cruses. Namely they are Dolphin Explorer and Port Princess Dolphin Cruises. (For contact details please read on.)

In our cruise Dolphin Explorer took 2 and half hours to take us along the Port river. The ride is comfortable since it is not going to rough sea. On the way you will see big ships which comes into port. Unfortunately on the day we went it started raining so it was bit cold. Since the big boats are having fully covered restaurants no need to worry about the weather.

When talking about Dolphins it is bit frustrating since in our cruise we only saw few Dolphins at the start. But noting on our way, sometimes this might be because of the bad weather we had on the day. Since it costs $18 for an adult with meal I think it is value for money, so we thought to have another go later some day to check out more Dolphins. Until then I will post few photos I captured to make you interested.

There are plenty of free and paid parking in the area, so not to worry on parking. You will be able to find more information including the meal menus and other costs on their web sites.

	Dolphin Explorer	Port Princess Dolphin Cruises
Address :	Dolphin Explorer PO Box 177, Port Adelaide, SA 5015.	Port Princess Dolphin Cruises, Commercial Road, Port Adelaide SA 5015.
Phone :	(08) 8447 2366	(08) 8243 2757 (04) 1881 7837
Fax :	(08) 8447 1344
EMail :	info@dolphinexplorer.com.au
Web :	http://www.dolphinexplorer.com.au	http://www.portprincess.com.au

 

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Aviation Museum – Port Adelaide South Australia

If you are an aviation fan you might enjoy a visit to South Australian Aviation Museum. They do have some aircrafts on display where you can get on board to have a look without a passport. This is a non profit organization managed by aviation enthusiasts. There is also a shop for you to buy related things such as model aircrafts and magazines.

Entry tickets are priced at $9 per adult and free parking is available onsite.

Address: 66 Lipson Street, Port Adelaide, SA 5015
Phone: 08 8240 1230
EMail: saam@adam.com.au
Web: http://www.saam.org.au/

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Beerenberg Strawberry Farm – Hahndorf South Australia

If you like Strawberries and would like to pick your own, then there is a good place you can do it in Hahndorf South Australia.

It is called Beerenberg Strawberry farm, located on the Mount Barker road. If you are planning to visit them to pick your own strawberries you need to visit them from October to May which is the Strawberry season. Else you can buy their produce from the shop.

Normally they are open everyday except Christmas day from 9:00AM to 04:00PM. Anyway it is always good idea to give them a call before going.

There is enough parking on site and there will be a helper on busy days.

Once you are there you can visit the shop to get permission to enter the patch. When I was there entry was $ 3 per person. They will also provide containers to bring the Strawberries you pick. Remember to pick whatever amount of Strawberries you would like to buy. Normally you can keep them from few days to about 10 days in fridge (obviously you can keep bit more days than this but then they wont be tasting fresh). Once you have enough Strawberries picked you can bring them back to the shop where they will weigh it, so you can pay. While I was there they sold a Kilo of Strawberry for $ 9, but the price always changes from season to season, so it is always best to check the price they are selling before heading to the Strawberry patch.

If you are travelling with young children, I do not recommend a pram since the ride will be bumpy, best is to use a child carrier sling.

Address: Beerenberg Strawberry Farm,
Mount Barker Road Hahndorf,
South Australia, 5245
Phone: +61 8 8388 7272
Fax: +61 8 8388 1108
Email: admin@beerenberg.com.au
Web: http://www.beerenberg.com.au/

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Beetaloo Reservoir – Beetaloo South Australia

If you like to enjoy nature like me another place you can visit in South Australia is the Beetaloo Reservoir in Beetaloo which is managed by SA Water. It is about 220 kms from Adelaide. It is a reservoir built in the year of 1885 with a capacity of 3150 mega liters of water and having a catchment area of 4856 hectares. Its wall is 33.53 meters high and the maximum water level could reach 23.88 meters.

After parking your car you need to walk for about 10 minutes to visit the lookout area. Walk is not difficult, but if it rains some areas might be slippery. You do not need a 4WD to reach Beetaloo Reservoir. Its gate is open from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM each weekday and on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays open till 5:00 PM.

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Aldinga Beach – South Australia

If you are a beach person then Aldinga beach is a place not to miss. One speciality in this South Australian beach is that you can take your vehicle into the beach and have a drive. Since the sand is hard on this beach you do not need a 4WD, a normal 2WD car will do the job, but do not get over excited since then there is a chance you can get into trouble.

Without trying to explain using words I will upload some photos I have taken since a picture is worth thousand words.

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While we were there, we experienced an extraordinary scene provided by mother nature. Suddenly on top of wet sand we started seeing sand flying with wind for few minutes. Just enjoy it by watching the following video.

Aldinga Beach – Sandy Wind

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