Day 17: Mount Lofty Lookout, the Cleland Wildlife Park and a Tramride to the Seaside.

We set off at 9 o'clock, (positively civilized) heading for a walk on the wild side at Cleland Wildlife Park. We were not expecting a really lovely drive through leafy Adelaide suburbs, with beautiful houses, followed by some hair-raising moments as the minibus wound up the narrow zigzagging road up to the Mount Lofty Lookout, from where the whole of Adelaide and the countryside around the city spread out before us.


























Having enjoyed the "lofty" views from the summit, we drove a short distance back downhill to Cleland. Armed with brown paper bags containing animal food, we set off around the park to see what we could find. I hardly expected that kangaroos would be wandering free nor that they would be so tame that they would take food from our hands. What a lovely experience!














































We then met some emus, but only our intrepid guide Kent was brave enough to risk a peck from an emu's beak.


























Seeing them so closely with their rather piercing red eyes, made me realize that the model emu in the lobby at Alice Springs was actually a pretty good likeness.










In a protected enclosure we caught a glimpse of the Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby, an endangered species, being bred in the park.







The line to cuddle a koala was much too long, but we did see them at quite close quarters.










We also saw two rather impressive monitor luzards basking in the sun.








The park was an unexpected delight and the wonderful weather contributed immensely to a fantastic experience.

In the afternoon I took the tram to Glenelg, probably the closest seaside resort to Adelaide. It was lovely to see the ocean, sparkling in the sunshine.















Tomorrow we take an early flight to Melbourne.

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