5 unforgettable experiences and gifts for mum this Mother’s Day

Here are our top picks for activ­i­ties, adven­tures and expe­ri­ences to share with your fam­i­ly this weekend.

1. See the beau­ti­ful colours on show at Mount Lofty Botan­ic Garden

Locat­ed just a 25-minute dri­ve from the Ade­laide CBD, Mount Lofty Botan­ic Gar­dens is the per­fect place to treat your mum to a relax­ing pic­nic or walk, sur­round­ed by autumn splendour.

The maples, ash and oaks and liq­uidambar trees are cur­rent­ly a sea of rich reds, oranges, yel­lows, and browns. The pic­turesque land­scape will take your breath away. Pack a cam­era and grab some beau­ti­ful fam­i­ly pic­tures, with one of the most dra­mat­ic back­drops in South Australia!

2. Take your mum for after­noon tea at Cle­land and a walk around the park

Nes­tled with­in a nat­ur­al bush set­ting and locat­ed just 20 min­utes from the Ade­laide city cen­tre, Cle­land Wildlife Park will wow your mum with an up-close and immer­sive nature expe­ri­ence like no other.

As you make your way around the park you may see mar­su­pi­als such as koalas, kan­ga­roos, wal­la­bies, wom­bats and din­goes and an array of native birds, snakes, rep­tiles and even the elu­sive echidna. 

After a walk around the park soak up the sun­shine in the leafy café gar­den. You’ll see Superb Blue Wrens and potoroos, and if you’re around at 12:30pm, you’ll catch lori­keet feed­ing time. If it’s chilly you can warm up next to the wood fire. 

3. Try and spot a whale at Encounter Bay Marine Park

The whale watch­ing sea­son has begun, so why not grab your binoc­u­lars and head down to Encounter Bay Marine Park to see if you can spot some of these majes­tic crea­tures. Take a walk to the top of the Bluff, or head to Gran­ite Island for a day of explor­ing! Basham’s Beach is pop­u­lar with female whales and their calves. Remem­ber to stop in at the SA Whale Cen­tre for a whale fact warm-up before you get start­ed. For more infor­ma­tion about the whales that vis­it South Australia’s shores, read our top spots for whale-watch­ing in South Australia.

4. Take a walk through the stun­ning Glen­thorne Nation­al Park-Itya­­mai­it­pin­­na Yarta

Why not explore one of the stun­ning walks through Glen­thorne Nation­al Park-Itya­­mai­it­pin­­na Yarta. Frog Rock in the O’Halloran Hill sec­tion of Glen­thorne has an amaz­ing view from the coast to the hills that goes for miles, per­fect for a sun­ny autumn morn­ing out with the fam­i­ly. Glen­thorne is also home to one of the biggest adven­ture play­grounds and nature play spaces in South Aus­tralia. The fos­sil dig table, har­nessed fly­ing fox and nin­ja course will keep the kids busy and there are BBQs and pic­nic tables that would make a bril­liant spot to spoil your mum!

5. Explore the Ade­laide Dol­phin Sanctuary

Sur­prise your mum this week­end with a vis­it to the Ade­laide Dol­phin Sanc­tu­ary. Locat­ed just half an hour’s dri­ve from the Ade­laide CBD in the Port Riv­er and Bark­er Inlet, the Ade­laide Dol­phin Sanc­tu­ary is a great loca­tion for wildlife-watch­ing, a dol­phin boat cruise, casu­al strolls or even kayak­ing. It’s one of the few places in the world where you can see wild dol­phins liv­ing so close to a city. Inside the sanc­tu­ary you will find a 10,000 year-old man­grove for­est, as well as sea­grass, salt­marsh, tidal flats and tidal creeks, which all pro­vide habi­tat and food for the dol­phins. Why not take your mum on an adven­ture kayak­ing, hire a boat or try a coastal walk?

Stuck for gift ideas? 

Look no fur­ther than these feel-good gifts while also sup­port­ing con­ser­va­tion in South Australia.

1. Cle­land Wildlife Park experiences

Cle­land Wildlife Park gift vouch­ers are avail­able in time for Mother’s Day. From one-off day pass­es to year­ly mem­ber­ships, there is some­thing for every­one. The best bit? Know­ing that your pur­chase is con­tribut­ing to the many pro­grams and con­ser­va­tion efforts under­tak­en at the park. Gift cards are con­ve­nient and easy to pur­chase online.

2. Koala Plate

Look­ing for some­thing spe­cial for a wildlife lover? We think a Koala Plate might just be the per­fect idea. Avail­able for $151 for an exist­ing vehi­cle reg­is­tra­tion, these spe­cial num­ber plates make a tru­ly unique gift that your loved one will nev­er for­get. The best part? $50 from each pur­chase goes towards a fund to sup­port the state’s wildlife res­cue and reha­bil­i­ta­tion sec­tor. Find out more and order today by vis­it­ing Ezy Plates. For more infor­ma­tion on how to pur­chase a num­ber plate as a gift, vis­it Ezy Plate’s FAQs.

2. Annu­al parks pass

A mul­ti­ple entry parks pass gives the gift of expe­ri­ences at the best of South Australia’s nation­al parks all year-round. You can then take in sites like the white sand beach­es of Lin­coln and Cof­fin Bay nation­al parks, the rugged coast­line of Deep Creek Nation­al Park and the ancient moun­tain land­scapes of Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nation­al Park.