8 ways to enjoy the outdoors this Easter

Whether it’s spend­ing time with your fam­i­ly on a walk, get­ting up close and per­son­al with our native wildlife or relax­ing at the beach, we’ve got 8 ideas to help make your East­er week­end egg-ceptional.

1. Take a trip to the beach

The East­er long-week­end is the per­fect oppor­tu­ni­ty to soak up the last of the sun­shine with a fam­i­ly trip to the beach before the cool­er win­ter weath­er set­tles in. 

Beach­comb­ing can be a great way to get to know your local beach. Check out our guide on beach­comb­ing to learn about some of the weird and won­der­ful crea­tures you might find along our shores.

2. Float above it all with a kayak

Kayak­ing is a great way to enjoy Adelaide’s coasts and rivers and can be enjoyed by the whole fam­i­ly. Check out our sto­ry on 7 parks in South Aus­tralia to go kayak­ing for ideas, and if you’re new to kayak­ing, take a look at kayak­ing for begin­ners.

3. Spend a day at Cle­land Wildlife Park

Cle­land Wildlife Park in the Ade­laide Hills is open every day of the long week­end from 9:30am to 5pm, includ­ing Good Fri­day. Vis­it­ing Cle­land Wildlife Park can be an excit­ing expe­ri­ence for the whole fam­i­ly. With plen­ty of bush walk­ing trails, close encoun­ters with friend­ly wildlife and amaz­ing views of Ade­laide, Cle­land has some­thing for everyone.

4. Get stuck into the garden

Now that sum­mer is over and autumn is here, it’s the per­fect time to get stuck into some gar­den­ing. Some say autumn is the most impor­tant sea­son for your gar­den. Our friends from the Botan­ic Gar­dens of South Aus­tralia have helped cre­ate a guide of 7 steps that will have your yard com­ing up ros­es, cov­er­ing every­thing from plant­i­ng and fer­til­is­ing, to attract­ing worms and load­ing up your leaves.

5. Take the kids to an adven­ture playground

Are you look­ing to branch out from your usu­al play­ground? Some of our nation­al parks offer adven­ture play­grounds that will delight chil­dren of all ages and help bring them clos­er to nature. 

In Adelaide’s east, the adven­ture play­ground at Mori­al­ta Con­ser­va­tion Park – Mukan­thi Nature Play Space – sprawls over an area almost the size of Ade­laide Oval and is a delight for kids and adults alike. About 13km south-east of the city there is Belair Nation­al Park’s adven­ture play­ground, which is well-loved by kids for its wood­en fort and maze of tun­nels. Glen­thorne Nation­al Park-Itya­mai­it­pin­na Yarta is SA’s newest and one of the biggest adven­ture play­grounds and will keep the kids busy with three slides, a see­saw, spin­ner, fos­sil dig area, Kau­r­na carv­ings and sculp­tures. There are also rope and log climb­ing ele­ments, a pen­du­lum swing, cub­by build­ing, a 25m long fly­ing fox and a wide range of acces­si­ble equip­ment to ensure chil­dren of all abil­i­ties can enjoy the space.

6. Make a nestbox: 

Tree hol­lows sup­port a huge vari­ety of native ani­mals, like sug­ar glid­ers, kook­abur­ras, micro­bats, ducks, owls, par­rots, galahs, cock­a­toos and pos­sums, for nest­ing, roost­ing and shelter.

Tree hol­lows take any­where from 80 years to 300 years to devel­op, but old­er trees are get­ting hard­er to come by as many have been cleared for urban devel­op­ment or to be used for fire­wood, or removed for safe­ty reasons.

With few­er nat­ur­al tree hol­lows on offer, you can help native wildlife by installing a nest box in a tree in your own garden.

You can buy a nest­box from your local pet shop or you can make it your­self, and it can be a great fam­i­ly activity.

Find out more about how to build one and what type of box suits what species by read­ing our sto­ry: How you can help native wildlife by installing a next box in your garden.

7. Hit the bike trails at a nation­al park

Make the most of the last burst of warm weath­er this East­er and head out with the fam­i­ly on a moun­tain bik­ing adven­ture in our nation­al parks.

If you haven’t tried South Australia’s newest moun­tain bike trail, the Remark­able Epic Trail will thrill rid­ers who want a chal­lenge. This 39km closed-loop trail through the rugged beau­ty of Mount Remark­able Nation­al Park and its adja­cent lands is not to be missed!

Anoth­er great option is the 7km-long Steub trail at Cle­land Nation­al Park, which runs from Cle­land Wildlife Park to Mount Lofty Sum­mit in the stun­ning Ade­laide Hills.

If you’d like to take the kids moun­tain bik­ing, then try one of our begin­ner moun­tain bik­ing trails: Kids zone at Shep­herds Hill Recre­ation Park (11km south of Ade­laide), Begin­ners’ cir­cuit at Cob­bler Creek Recre­ation Park (19km north of Ade­laide), or one of the easy trails on the north­ern side of Glen­thorne Nation­al Park-Itya­mai­it­pin­na Yarta (16km south of Adelaide). 

8. Grab your cam­era and head to the hills for some autumn photography. 

Mount Lofty Botan­ic Gar­den is one of the best places in Ade­laide to enjoy the rich colours of autumn leaves. The maples, ash and oaks are show­ing off their autumn splen­dour and the liq­uidambar trees are just start­ing to change from green to red. 

With rolling lawns and plen­ty of space to run around, it’s the per­fect loca­tion for an East­er pic­nic with the fam­i­ly, just a 25-minute dri­ve from the Ade­laide CBD.

For more ideas on how to spend your east­er week­end, have a look at our guide to East­er camp­ing.

Hap­py East­er and hap­py exploring!