Adelaide

The capital of the state of South Australia sits on the shores of the Gulf of St. Vincent. The city (pop. 1,100,000) is noted today for handsome Victorian and Edwardian buildings. Key attractions include the Maritime Museum, Botanic Gardens, the National Wine Museum, the Adelaide Central Markets and Zoological Gardens. Aboriginal culture and artifacts are displayed at the South Australian Museum and at Tandanya Aboriginal Cultural Institute, a museum and performing-arts center. If you're looking for nightlife, try the elegant casino housed in what was once an ornate railway station, the Universal Wine Bar or the new and groovy Apothecary 1878 on Hindley Street. The Migration Museum in Port Adelaide recounts the area's history. 

Day trips can be made into the Barossa Valley (35 mi/55 km north) to explore the area's more than 50 wineries and vineyards and sample their products. Another pleasant day trip is to Hahndorf (20 mi/30 km east of Adelaide), a town in the Adelaide Hills settled by German immigrants in the 1830s. Today, it has small inns, good restaurants and shopping. Farther afield is Kangaroo Island (70 mi/115 km, generally reached by air for day tours), site of the first European settlement in the state and Australia's third-largest island. You can visit beaches, take short camel treks and go bird-watching. The island is home to a large colony of sea lions at Seal Bay, as well as to Flinders Chase and 14 additional wildlife reserves for koalas, kangaroos and other marsupials. Steamboats ply the nearby Murray River east of Adelaide (trips last up to five days - very relaxing and highly recommended). The Adelaide Festival, an internationally renowned celebration of the arts, takes place in March every even-numbered year. 725 mi/1,165 km west of Sydney.

Warrawong Sanctuary

Take a dawn walk, daytime walk, or nocturnal walk and discover the Australian bush at its natural best. Native animals and 50,000 plants of the Adaide Hills have been reintroduced. Endangered species like bettongs and potoroos inhabit the sanctuary.

The Aboriginal Cultural Institute

Take a didgeridoo lesson, tour the exhibitions, paint a boomerang, learn the Kangaroo Dance. Visit the Tjilbruke Gallery which exhibits traditional and contemporary Aboriginal art and craft works. Enjoy authentic Australian cuisine at the Tandanya Cafe.

South Australia's Theatre Museum

View a collection of 40,000 possessions including, photographs, puppets, masks, video tapes and much more from all fields of the arts including ballet, opera, drama, circus, vaudeville and radio. This collection represents the rich heritage of the performing arts in South Australia.

Adelaide Zoo

Opened in 1883, the zoo is the second oldest zoo in Australia. During this era there was a great interest in natural history and thus was modeled after major European zoos of that time. The zoo has retained many original and significant architectural features.

Humbug Scrub Wildlife Sanctuary

Over 200 acres of bushland is home to many free range kangaroo's and emu's which can be hand fed. See wallabies, red kangaroo's and joeys in pouches, prance freely in the sanctuary. You will also see water birds, peacocks, large native geese, parrots, tortoises, and much more.