south australia: the Easter bunny, adelaide

I was lucky enough to get a leave pass in Adelaide which gave me the opportunity to food-storm (a brainstorm over food) with a fellow foodie and family friend Sue. What better place to meet than the Adelaide Central Market. Being the Saturday before Easter the market was buzzing and good food was in abundance. I rode my bike in, which was a great ride through Adelaide parklands and streets. 

 

Sue and I met at the famous Lucia's and there was a loooong queue that inched towards the counter. It was over breakfast that we food-stormed just what we could do with the Coorong bunny from Shane. 

Sue has the same approach to fresh good food and being able to partner ingredients and flavours. If you've ever cooked rabbit before you'll know it is lean and needs to be cooked slowly over a long time. Sue suggested I buy some speck for fat (and Lucias was the perfect spot to grab some) and serve it with polenta. 

I rode in to town which limited what I could bring home but it didn't stop be stocking up on goodies - think really hippy low-go muesli, salami, Stephanie Alexander's curry paste, spray-free Aussie grapes, the list goes on. Needless to say my backpack was full. 

Sue and I decided that the bunny had to be cooked with the usual - garlic, onions, carrots, capsicum, water, a tin of tomatoes and a generous splash of wine. 

I'd add speck, pepper, salt, sage, native pepperberry (from Diemen Pepper in Tassie), two cinnamon sticks and yummy, yummy quinces from our host's tree right at the end. 

This bunny was cooked on 120°c over six hours. I threw in the quinces in the last forty minutes and cooked creamy polenta in the Thermomix (but you can do it over the stove). 

south australia: limestone coast, coorong

We spent the night in a campsite on the beach at Wright's Beach just out of Robe. It cost $13 for the five of us for the night and has basic toilets. The beauty of this spot is that it is a stones throw from the beach which is reef for almost as far as the eye can see. 

It used to be a great spot for crays but the word from fishermen is that there aren't as many fish of crays due to the winds.

Another afternoon of driving and we made it to the Coorong - a wilderness area like nothing we've yet seen on this trip. The place is famous for the setting of Colin Thiele's Storm Boy in 1967.  

There are a few free camps in the area but we chose to camp at Parnca Point 2 which cost us $8 for the night. There are no facilities and I'd urge visitors to take their rubbish and grey water with them. Given that you're right on the water it would be shameful if grey water seeped in to the sanctuary. 

We spotted another four emus on the way in to Parnca - two on each side of the car which was great for the kids to see. 

We slept by the river with the sounds of the pounding ocean over the dunes a kilometre or so away. The night was clear and waters sparkly. 

Just a few J's down the Princes Highway  and there's a shed where you can buy the famous Coorong mullet ($25 for a big kilo & caught a day prior) or a rabbit ($10 skinned and frozen) if you fancy. 

You simply need to buzz the door bell and Shane, "a real bushy," flies down the paddock in his ute, dogs in tow. 

It was here, at the shed, that we met two more new friends, grey nomads, who were returning to their home on the outskirts of Adelaide. We ended up crossing the Murray, by ferry at Wellington and having lunch with them in Strathalbyn. 

Just as we were coming in to Langhorne Creek, through the wineries, we spotted a gorgeous little free camping spot, Franks Potts Reserve. It was only a 100m walk to a cellar door and 200m to a little brewery too.

Strathalbyn had a great store, the Old Market Shed which has been there for years but which sells a great range of local produce- cheeses, milks, preserves & pickles, olive oils, fruit & veg and other nuts, seeds and flours in bulk. You can grab coffee grounds and beans and fresh coffee too. I resisted stopping for lunch or some of the amazing-looking homemade carrot cake though.