Adelaide Hills, South Australia.

Let's take the time to wrap up the trip to Australia and specifically Adelaide. We now have just the Adelaide Hills and environs to finish. It isn't anything too hard core, and there aren't a great deal of photos of magical stories at all.

The cleanest window I could find in Handorf was in a gallery of art and craft.

What a lovely place to eat, alas we didn't have the time to do that on a busy day of cruising the hills. So, we just enjoyed the view of Bird In Hand's barrel room.

Then we got a tastin'. Bird in Hand have been one of my favourites for some time. I first visited them back in about 2002 or so when they were still quite new. Now they are a goliath.

A pressed ceiling in the hills somewhere.... I just can't remember where!

One of the local birds.

We got some pretty cool clouds one night.

The skin that tells a story. Eucalyptus trees have some really amazing bark that can protect them during fires. They also help make fires hotter, sounds crazy right? But the hotter a fire is the quicker it burns out and actually saves the trees, as a longer fire would kill both the tree and the seeds. Smart trees!

A bit of flora!

Ok, I'm not going to lie. This isn't the hills. It is actually "The Cube" which is the new part of the McLaren Vale winery D'Arenberg something totally different. It is a winery that does strange and interesting wines. Like Mencia, Sagrantino Cinsault and others. But the cube, feels a little like me when back in Adelaide. A little out of place but still able to nestle in hopefully not making too much of a stir.

Adelaide Gallery, South Australia.

Every time I am in Adelaide I try to make at least one trip to the Art Gallery. It is in an iconic building on North Terrace and a really nice place to escape the heat or cold depending on the weather. I don't know if photographing art is a good thing or not, but it helps me remember all the beautiful things that I took my time to stand and admire up close. You can see my last visit here with some different collection items to what is below.

I heart these sideburns!

It is also a great place for people to get an understanding on what the environment looked like for the early European immigrants. How they saw things that were very unfamiliar to them. Isaac Whitehead's Sassafras Valley.

This included the indigenous peoples, by Frazer Crawford.

The War Dance.

But there is something about eucalyptus trees that I will never tire of. By H.J Johnson

Love an old bloke with a beard. This one is Sir Henry Parkes by Tom Roberts.

Now it is all about the sculptures.

snakes love.

Bertram MacKennal's Circe

So, there you go the Art Gallery has visited you now.

Adelaide, Australia - City centre.

Hitting the Adelaide parks and bits. So, what to do with three Poles in Adelaide when it is about 33C? Take them around the city centre and the parks of course. Adelaide is nice because it is all flat and easy to get around. It also has the added advantage of a ring of parks around the city to make it green and cool.

The Adelaide Conservatory is a nice place to spend a little time on a hot day as it feels tropical and refreshing.

There is a great variety of growing plants.

And they make pretty views

Just a little walk away you will find the Amazon Water Lilly Pavilion.

Which has these cool door handles to enter with.

Lots of shade is needed with some strong South Australian sun.

The Palm House is from 1875 and imported from Germany, I really love the Victorian architecture.

You'll also find plenty of succulents inside.

Prickly things too.

And more succulents outside.

With all the heat there are some decent options to refresh as well.

The entrance to the old East End markets still has the rules of inspection.

I am not a big one for candles scented or otherwise, but it is my favourite beach and two of my favourite smells so this could be an option if I had to have one. Found at Urban Cow.

Tasmania, Australia - On the Road.

The last glimpses of Tasmania will come from the road. It is a bit of a compilation of stop offs while cruising about the coolest of islands, yes I do mean that in two ways.  This is about some wineries, some beaches and some happiness, ok, a lot of happiness.

Just round the corner from the gorgeous Wineglass Bay is this little place, Freycinet Vineyard. It is a little over touristified but still a nice place and some pleasant wines, but when the website has a quote from 2008, you know it needs some help.

Where to next? The Devil's Corner, a wine I just recently saw in the UK, too! The Sparkling was lovely and fresh, but the Resolution Pinot was outstanding.

They also have some great snacks available.

I went with the coffee instead, with this view I didn't want to be distracted.

The quaint Spring Vale Winery, their had a nice Pinot, but their Gewürztraminer was a touch sweet for me.

Spiky Beach and its little conservation park. Very cute. 

Spiky Bridge, not sure how this convict built bridge got its name.....

MOMA, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Wow. Just wow.

Like many people, I am truly not the world's most arty person. That means in relation to both creation and observation. I would struggle to tell a Rothko from a Lego but that may be his simplicity. That said I had heard lots of interesting things about Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art. So, we decided to hit it up while we were staying with the coolest kids in Hobart, the Timsar family.

Entrancing the Entrance.

Symbolic

The strange mirrored entrance, I wonder what birds think of it....

A welded intricate industrial art.

You do need to start the right way, coffee with a view.

A light view.

When you enter, you go down three floors into the ground. You get given "The O" which is an audio/reading guide that can give you as much or as little info as you like, all in an iPhone. Seriously good stuff.

The four entrances to the temporary rooms. On the Origin of Art. It was AMAZING. With four guest curators.

Flicker art.

It explored things like art and the impact on the brain.

The brain.

Simpleton and the Brain. 

Some antiques and some antiques.

Who wouldn't like to eat from this? 

Nude archer.

I loved the lighting.

Yayoi Kusama the 80-something Japanese artist.

Modern art can be simple

Interesting

Odd.

Creative.

Just plain gross.

And depressing.

Sidney Nolan's snake.

The great digester, it creates its own poop.... art you say.

Julius Popp's Bit.fall

Is well worth it!