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.

Sicily - Taormina and Riposto

I am slowly getting through photos now that the summer is here and there is a little less work for an old teacher. Which means you get flooded with my past holidays, sorry, kind of not sorry. Here we return to Sicily, ahhhh my beautiful Sicily. I wish I'd learned Italian at school, or just from some of my Italian friends when I was growing up.

Here we visit Taormina, a place made famous by many famous people all the way back to dandiest dandy, Oscar Wilde. For me though, it didn't have the appeal, maybe I was having a bad day, but it just felt bland and cliche.

These stairs were pretty though

The side alleyways are nice.

Nothing like a pothead.

Even though these are smoking related, something I detest, they are still displayed in a nice way.

Our old buddy Etna just hanging around.

So after Taormina and a few stops along the coast on our way back to our accommodation, we decided we would like fish for dinner, so stopped at a lovely little seaside village Riposto. Probably once a grand town, not is it just a series of boarded up houses and some recently updated holiday cottages. That said it was full of rugged beauty. That and the fish was super fresh, super cheap and exquisite when I cooked it in a little olive oil. Alas, it was so lovely I forgot to take photos.

The new

vs the old

If I labelled this modern art I could probably sell if for a fortune.

At the end of the day we decided to make an environmental survey and came up with these lovelies, that are now pressed and dried as a momento. Ahhhh the simple life.

Country bits.

Another trip to the "East side" of Poland. A place that always seems to have been positively changing for 7 years now, even though the living standard, apparently, hasn't improved. Don't tell that to all the BMW, Audi and Volvo drivers out there though. So let's have a look at nature instead.

It is wildflower time!

burdocks to the left of me, burdocks to the right. Stuck in the basket by you.

A quiet country lane.

fun clouds at sunset

pretty flappy friends

home of some bird song

Listen to the birdsong in the above not so fantastic video :)

It is hard to capture the beauty of wildflowers.

Sad fallen bark.

barnset.

down comes the sun on another quick trip.

Belair National Park

When I was little we would spend lots of time in Belair National Park, at the plant nursery or just on picnics, playing tennis or trampsing about the trails. It really is a great place, so near to town and full of wildlife and activities.

Also wildflowers.

Gorgeous old gum trees.

Well maintained walking trails.

Wildlife like this kookuburra is everywhere

 Now time for a little game, see if you can "spot the Koala" in each photo.

This is one of my favourite photos.

Ok there is no koala in this last one, it was a trick.

Koala Day

While in Adelaide, we were super lucky to get to visit the Adelaide Koala and Wildlife Hospital where they take injured animals in to care for them and should all go well, release them back into the wild. Rae Campbell started this project and it is purely run on donations of money or more hands on/logistical support. It really is a wonderful project and has many success stories.

This little fellow is hugging a stuffed bear as his mother was killed by dogs, so he is a little lonely at times.

The classic sleeping koala pose

Fractures are very common when a koala is hit by a car.

This tortoise had swallowed a fish hook as the X-ray reveals.

Old food stock

Holding on to Rae for dear life

They are indeed curious little fellows, even if they have poor eyesight.

I wonder if we should fingerprint them to make sure they haven't committed any crimes.

Fluffiest butts in the business.

Someone is happy to be there.

You can't hide someone's happiness here....

Koalas trying to be monkeys

Who needs a manicure?

Koala leather

Sniffer.

You can't beat an Australian parrot for colour.

If you have the chance, please donate something to the cause - money, time, produce, anything you can. As they do some fantastic work. Voluntarily. Follow them on Facebook, here.