Mount Lofty

On Thursday my neighbour Bec invited me on a morning hike up Mount Lofty, located just east of Adelaide.  It's really hard to get there by bus, but I've been wanting to go there for awhile so of course I accepted!  I've been taking "sculpt" exercise classes 3 times a week, so I was feeling pretty good about myself and ready to tackle a challenging hike...boy was I wrong!  The hike was only 8km round trip, but it was quite steep and my legs were not happy with me afterwards.  Bec didn't warn me until we had started about all of the hard bits (not that it would have stopped me), but she also didn't warn me how beautiful the hike would be.  It was depressing because there were many very athletic people running past us on the way up...and down...but let's not focus on that part.

The hike starts by walking through Waterfall Gulley, and it definitely lives up to its name.  We passed 3 waterfalls, but also heard water running for most of it so there might have been more.

 The best part about the hike (other than the burning muscles) was a koala sighting!  I don't think I'm allowed to get excited about koalas after this since it's my third time seeing them, but at least give me this last one!  This guy was really cute and moved around a lot, which was more exciting than the others I've seen.  We saw him on the way up and again on the way down, so that gave us a valid reason for two fairly long breaks.

When we finally made it to the top, we were rewarded with a delicious lunch (yes, you can technically drive to the top) and this beautiful view.  Overall, a very productive morning!

Our house is over there somewhere!

 That afternoon Ryan got home and we have been enjoying a relaxing few days ever since.  Tomorrow we are headed to Perth, so I won't be posting until we get back.  We're gone for 8 days so I'll have plenty to write about when I return!