The Big Rocking Horse

Because we still had the car for another day, we decided to make the most of it and go on another drive to visit the big rocking horse. Excuse me, that should say The Big Rocking Horse. This huge edifice is actually a famous South Australian landmark and tourist attraction. It was build partly to promote the wooden toys produced at the local toy factory. The horse and factory is located in a town called Gumeracha, about half an hour's drive from the city to the northeast in a region called the Adelaide Hills. The last time we were there, the boy was only a few months old so it was quite a treat for both the kids to go this time.

We left a bit late in the morning and the drive took us through the hills, past pine tree forests and the lake reservoir and vineyards. When we got to the town, it was already almost lunch so after playing a bit on the horse, we just grabbed some hotdogs from the local cafe and ate at one of the many picnic benches there.

We then checked out the toy factory and the kids had a grand time looking and playing with the various hand made wooden toys for sale there. They even took a couple of wooden motorcycles for a spin around the toy shop! Although, it wasn't long when the girl was already bugging us to buy something, so we spent some time looking around for small toys to buy and bring home.

Adjacent to the toy factory was a mini bird sanctuary and it was free to get in so we went there after we were done with the toys. It has quite a variety of birds like ducks, peacocks and black swans so before we went in we bought a bag of bird feed to make sure we get a chance to be up close to the birds. Although most of the birds were ok, it was the swans that were actually a bit aggressive. They would crowd us hungry for feed and I even noticed that another girl there got her hand pecked. They're even big birds! Bigger than the kids even. After we finsihed feding the birds, we started back but not before purchasing a couple of peacock feathers to bring home as souvenirs.

All in all, a nice day. One thing disappointed me though. The last time we were there, the cafe served some excellent fried chicken that reminded us of Jollibee Chicken Joy. Unfortunately, this time they had the chicken off the menu so we had to settle for the hot dogs. Not that the kids were complaining though. ;)