By Rachel Hoffman I am fortunate that through my career in antique dolls, I have been able to travel the world to lecture and attend conventions and shows. My last adventure took me to Australia to speak and attend a doll-making convention. It’s quite a long trek with about 24 hours of traveling and three flights to where my adventure took place which is Adelaide in South Australia. The first event for the speakers was a fabulous wine tasting tour by Stephen of Hand Picked Wine Tours. (Highly recommend!) You can follow our “Wine Tasting Tour Facebook Takeover” where I went live on Stephen’s Facebook page at all four stops on the tour.
Later in the week, we visited the Cleland Wildlife Park which was SO FUN! The animals are all rescued, and most have been hand raised, and they are entirely friendly. The park is vast and, and the animals are happy and loved. Mandy the Koala was one of our favorite friends we made that day. Isn’t she just DARLING?! I seriously wanted to smooch her. The Koalas love their jobs and get upset on days when they don’t greet the adoring fans waiting for them. You can see the video on Facebook of the Koalas eating lunch, and get up close with some Kangaroos!
The antique scene in Adelaide is fantastic, and each store offers something unique. The Antique Market has an extensive collection of vintage and antique clothing in remarkable condition. My friend Tim said about Federation Trading, “Federation Trading is an anomaly in the center of the city – a homely-looking old stone building sitting quite comfortably among its multi-story neighbors. Inside, past the old architectural items displayed on the footpath in the time-honored fashion of storekeepers, is Aladdin’s cave of salvaged architectural delights.” We loved Over the Moon Antiques. This gorgeous little haven is a time machine back to the finery of the early 20th Century decades. It is filled with authentic jewelry as well as costume jewelry from the period, as well as beautiful old hats and stoles, gloves, fascinators and knick-knacks. The shop has that wonderful smell of old things, a mixture of dust, age and mothballs. You can spend hours looking at all the pieces in here, and admiring their craftsmanship. If you are considering a trip to Australia, consider Adelaide. The food, people, and the scenery were divine!
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