Earth Adventure

There is a lot to get through with this one, but it is totally worth it. For those with slightly older kids, this crew put on some of the most memorable experiences you can well…..experience…..in South Australia.

We will cover all their options later, but firstly we have to spend some time talking about our trip down to the incredible Onkaparinga Gorge down on the fringes of McLaren Vale, where some really treasured memories were created with Miss 16 as we tackled the rock climbing and abseiling experience together. A bit of ‘daddy-daughter’ time if you will.

Never rock climbed before? Not sure if you are fit enough? Honestly, you have nothing to fear so this experience absolutely applies to all fitness levels. They class this as a ‘half-day’ experience, but it probably is safer to leave the day open, because all up you won’t get out until the early afternoon, by which point you will likely be sorer than that one time your mate dragged you to an F45 class.

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We were unlucky (or lucky?) enough to have some atrocious weather for our day, which in the end sort of added to the experience if we are honest. The instructors were friendly, professional and catered to the different experience levels in the group. In our location there were 3 walls of differing difficulty levels. 2 of those difficulty levels were just variations of ‘nope’ and 1 was a perfect challenge for novices with it being hard enough to not be too easy, but hard enough to give you that sense of achievement if you made it to the top (which we both did!)

After the rock climbing, switch over to some abseiling and throw yourself off the cliff edge down towards the river far below. The location here really is spectacular. We packed a small backpack (snacks and water essential) and dressed in the sort of warm clothes you aren’t fussed about if they drag up and down the hard rock, as you will no doubtedly give the cliff face a cuddle like we did. They do operate in just about all conditions and even though we suffered through torrential rain at times (turning the wall into a waterfall….beautiful but bloody hard to climb), it was still fantastic fun no matter the weather.

For me, with a big busy family, it was just delightful to have some one on one time with my eldest as we tackled the adventure together. Neither of us are elite athletes (I know…the donut tester isn’t an elite athlete. More breaking news at 5), so we didn’t quite know what to expect. But being paired together for the days experience was genuinely one we both won’t forget. Thankfully, we both made the top of the wall because if she did and I didn’t, it would be brought up every 3 days for the rest of my life. So for those of you with teens (over 12s are able to do the rock climb), who tend to get lost in their own busy high school lives as the years go on, this experience could not be recommended highly enough.

But lets say rock climbing isn’t your thing? Or you live way out north and Onkaparinga is just a tad too far to travel. Well they also offer rock climbing at Morialta, kayaking down the Torrens in the city as well as ‘Adventure Hubs’ at Mount Lofty and Blewitt Springs. These Hubs are fantastic fun with towers built to offer rock climbing, abseiling, zip lining and more! Throw in full day adventures (hello snorkelling!) and multi-day trips, this crew are really at the pointy end of adventure experiences in the state.

Check them out online here

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