Stirling's Brilliant Autumn Hues

 

It's a long time indeed since I posted to this blog ... in fact, I can scarcely believe how long! The fact is that Covid put the kybosh on travelling for a couple years, and life has been "interesting" since the virus began to settle down. Even now, we're a tad reluctant to travel so far that we have to stay overnight, because coming down with that particular plague is our worst-case scenario. (Dave works in aged care, and if the virus finds its way into his facility -- fact: what is an inconvenience to any one of us can cause people to perish. Give one pause! Added to which, the recent strains are incredibly contagious, so easily caught that one could suffer this virus repeatedly. Now, add in the research, that it's also associated with early-onset dementia, and ... why take the risk?) So ...

Since the South Australian state borders opened up again, we haven't "stayed away" at all. We've concentrated on day trips out from home: only what you can do in a day and be home by midnight. And it's amazing, what you can find, and do, within such easy reach. The Adelaide Hills change their face with every season. No season is more beautiful that autumn, and there is absolutely no better place to see the autumn colours that Stirling.

I will add a caveat here: you do need to score a sunny day, to catch these brilliant hues at their best. Having said this, if the weather refuses to cooperate, Stirling also offers some of the best shopping and dining in these hills. There's more gourmet cafes and coffee houses and tearooms than you can count or remember, so I'll just point you at our absolute favourite. Look up Konditorei Coffee Lounge, also known simply as Cafe Kondi. Marvellous atmosphere, inside and under-cover outside dining, great food, the best coffee, and attractive prices. (They're on the mall at 2/37/39 Mount Barker Rd, Stirling SA 5152 ... best yet, they have a woodstove which is lit in winter. There's nothing better than drinking hot chocolate and sitting by the fire while it's raining and howling outside.)

There's many reasons to go to Stirling, but what takes us there every year -- and sometimes several times in a season, to get the weather juuuuust right -- is the autumn colour show. Life meets art. If you're more interested in shopping and dining, you'll find both in Stirling, but for us, it's all about this:

Actually, it's an interesting town. This, from Stirling's Wiki page:

Founded in 1854, Stirling grew rapidly as a result of the expansion of apple growing and market gardening to satisfy the demand of the expanding city of Adelaide, whose centre is only 15 kilometres from Stirling. It also developed as a residential address for English migrants who could afford it, to escape Adelaide's hot summers, often 10 degrees cooler than Adelaide. As a result, many historic, grand mansions can be found in the area. Today, farming has declined as more of the region has been urbanised, with many Stirling residents commuting to Adelaide daily.

Stirling is on the road through to Aldgate, which is another "hills town experience" with its own charm and opportunities for wining and dining, not so much for shopping. Stirling is larger, with over 3,000 residents now, which makes it one of the larger hills towns, and handy for Belair NP, Cleland Wildlife Park, Mount Lofty Summit, the Piccadilly - Summertown - Uraidla scenic drive ... perfect!

So, you know where we'll be next autumn! The leaves an start to turn somewhere around May, and into early June in some years. The climate is getting rather odd lately, and the trees are ... confused. (And I'll try to catch up with this blog momentarily. Truth is, I've got out of the habit of blogging -- and forgotten how much I used to enjoy it!

Shades of Green: Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens in early summer

Mount Lofty Botanic Garden in early December ... how green it is! 2013 was an anomalous year, so cool and wet.

Starting the easy hike clockwise: the view out over the water catchment dam...

...and to give you a sense of where you are ... the map! Notice the big red "You Are Here" icon.

Halfway along the catchment lake. Look at those water levels, in December!

This was just about the first really warm/hot day of the season...

...step into the shade, and the temperature instantly  fell ten degrees C. Nice!

Down by the "duck pond," with its lily pads and ferns and iris.

Not to mention the alien vegetation that has snuck in here!

Moorhens ... they call this the "duck pond" for a good reason. 

The walk takes you right around the pond, up by the rhododendron gully --

...shady here, cooler, with Seriously Odd Trees. Anyone know what they are??

And though it was hot, a glance at the sky shows that the weather's about to change.

Beyond the pond, at the lowest point in the park is the Bog Garden.

If the rest of the gardens were lush, you know how the Bog Garden was!

Tiny lizards -- baby blue tongues -- were scampering around the rocks -- too fast to photograph!

From the bog garden you climb up steeply, and suddenly you're looking down on the pond.
Catch your breath here before pressing on...

The flowering trees are so beautiful. Ker-choo!

Did we say, shades of green? Don't think we're ever seen Mount Lofty Gardens this green!

Everything was in bloom, in fact, except for --

The roses. Alas, these were almost the only roses blooming. We arrived
about a week after every bush had been hard-pruned. Darn.

Heading back down toward the parking lot ... Dave's sharp eyes spotted this guy:
a wild kangaroo taking a nap in the early afternoon shade.

The hike back takes you to the other side of the catchment dam, and across it...

One black swan seems to live on the dam. This is so odd, because swans always come in pairs ...
they also mate for life. We've seen this swan alone here since 2006. Did he lose his mate? It's a little sad.

Back on the low side of the lake: hang a left for the parking lot --

Hey, the Millennium Possum waited for us! (Either that, or it made it back in the nick of time...)
And we'd worked up an appetite by now. Anyone for lunch?!

Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens is one of those little patches of paradise. It's been open to the public for about 35 years -- something like 250 acres of trees and shrubs from around the world, from the magnolias that bloom in August to the rhododendrons that run amok in October, to the deciduous trees that change color on the Australian fall, say April and May -- and we'll revisit the park soon to share those images.

This trip was one of those "Where haven't we been in eons?" outings ... and in fact, we hadn't been to this particular park in three or four years. Other parks, gardens, national parks -- sure; but this botanic garden is perched almost right at the highest point of the Mount Lofty Ranges.

We were lucky with the weather: it changing that very afternoon, heading back into showers and gray skies, but it held together ... hot, bright, dry ... while we did the whole "easy" hike, clockwise around the park. There's a lot more to the  Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens than what you see here, but unless you're a mountain goat, you might think twice about it!

So, here you have December 11, 2013 ... and for contrast we just have to give you a link. One of the most beautiful travel/photo/adventure blogs on the web is "Jill Outside," which used to be called "Arctic Glass" when Jill Homer lived and worked in Juneau, Alaska. She's not in AK any longer, but all the Alaskan posts are still there in the early part of the blog ... and on December 11, 2009, she posted "There's no way to write it down," a picture essay depicting the Blackberry Ridge area. Contrast? Same day, albeit in different years.

From other years, we have the images of the magnolias (August -- winter), the rhododendrons (October -- spring), and the fall colors (April or May -- autumn), and we'll come back to  Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens in future posts and share them.

The Alexandrina Cheese Company ... delicious!

Welcome to the Alexandrina Cheese Company, at Nangkita, South Australia ...

...where abstract art seduces the camera...

...and 80 Jersey cows are hard at "work" making the most wonderful milk we ever tasted!

What could be better than to check out the Cheese Company's cafe ...

...which offers tastings of their multiple award-winning product, and --

-- coffee and baked cheesecake to die for!

Oh, we'll be back. Soon.

We bought several cheeses, plus milk and cream.'Dinner' tonight is a cheese platter, with
venison salami from the nearby deer farm, bread from the local bakery in Clarendon, and so on.

Here's where it all happens. The cafe is the small area to the left of the building. They make cheese magic
in the remainder. And what cheese is is!

As the sign says, welcome ... the green fields beyond say much more: springtime in South Aus.

Native shrubs thrive in these hills...

...which are still as green as winter. You might not believe these pictures were taken in October --

-- on a rather chilly, very blustery day. October is usually a lot warmer in South Australia.

Lola looking sharp in the Nangkita hills...

A galah struts his (or her!) stuff. Other places around the world know these birds as
the  rose-breasted cockatoo, but you don't hear that term locally.

Countryside reminiscent of the Shire, as if Hobbiton is right over the hill... 

...and Bilbo Baggins will be staging a 111th birthday party around here soon.

The images have been enhanced somewhat to make up for the dimness of the day --
it wasn't raining, but it was deeply overcast. Must return on a sunny day.

Now you know you're  in South Australia, not quite Middle Earth!
Don't think Samwise ever drove a tractor.

...and lastly, the ladies who make it all go: the Jersey herd. 

Not far from Nangkita and Mount Compass you'll find the Alexandrina Cheese Company -- difficult to miss them, since they have excellent signage along the main road. Follow those signs and indulge in some of the finest cheeses you'll find anywhere ... and a baked cheesecake that was perfection.

Dave had intended to go to Cheesefest the previous weekend, but when the date came around it just wasn't going to happen. A couple of hours to get there, the same to get back, and a lot of hiking around -- fine, unless you have a brace on one ankle. So, scratch Cheesefest for this year; pencil it in for next year, and instead, head south of Adelaide and a little bit east. Look out for Mount Compass and Mount Jagged, and tucked away in an idyllic area between horse properties and dairy country, you'll find the Alexandrina Cheese Company itself.

Their milk comes courtesy of 80 Jersey cows, each of whom has her own name. They live in what one imagines to be bovine paradise: green pastures, sweet water and pleasant airs. Their paddocks are off the opposite side of the road from the factory-cum-cafe -- these are extreme long-shots, since the ladies were far away. The milk is astonishing. You think of milk as white? This milk is pale gold, ivory colored, and it tastes very different. This would be what our grandparents called milk -- so little wonder the cheese is astonishing, too!