A Cudlee Cafe Lunch Date with an Echidna

In amongst the lush greenery and weaving roads of the Adelaide Hills you’ll find a little treasure in the form of a picturesque cafe. Whether you’re interested in having a nice lunch, or even just a coffee with cake, this establishment has never failed to impress us, with a beautiful drive that adds to the whole experience.This charming little cafe, located in Cudlee Creek, is known as The Cudlee Cafe. There are many reasons this place is such an ideal spot to add to your ‘must visit’ list, which we will go through now

Location, Location, Location

No matter the direction you’re driving from, the winding  Adelaide Hills roads that lead to The Cudlee Cafe offer nothing but a beautiful scenic drive to Gorge Road in Cudlee Creek where this cafe resides.

The drive itself is just as pretty and enjoyable as the cafe experience, and gives you a great opportunity to be on the lookout for local wildlife.

Spot for the Kids

A short trip down a wooden staircase will lead you to an open green space and a wooden playground that the little ones will love. The cafe offers seating along a balcony that not only gives you a wonderful view of the river, trees and local wildlife, but also a prime position to supervise and observe your children play from afar while they take in the natural beauty of their surroundings and have fun.

If you wish to be closer to your children while they play, there are picnic tables located at the bottom of the stairs in the open area and close to the playground.

The playground itself is suited more towards older children and not toddlers, but there is still ample amounts of space for a toddler to play on the grass and engage in some imaginative play in a natural setting.

The Food

With a display fridge always filled with a variety of cakes and slices, as well as a vast menu of delicious breakfast and lunch items, The Cudlee Cafe can certainly cater to the tastes of many people. The food is quite reasonably priced, with generous portions, and tastes delicious.

There are many kid friendly options that will leave your little ones with a smile on their face, and quite possibly with some form of well enjoyed dessert on their face too. 

Feels Like Home

The cafe has both indoor and outdoor areas for seating, with a fireplace inside to give it that cosy and homely feel.   Everything about the layout of this cafe beckons you to come in and relax, or to chill out in the sunshine of their outdoors area.

Local Wildlife

As you head through the Adelaide Hills to Cudlee Creek, you’re likely to come across a variety of different animals. Generally there will be copious amounts of birds, with some kangaroos here and there. Sometimes you find something here that’s a little more special and not usually seen around many other areas of Australia. Along our journey on a recent trip to the cafe we spotted a Short Beaked Echidna waddling his way up Gorge Road.

Before continuing on our trip, we made sure he made it to a safe space off the road without interfering with it or causing it stress. We uploaded his information to the Echidna CSI app which can be downloaded through the App Store or the Play Store to help the Echidna Conservation Science Initiative to gain as much information on the local populations as possible.

Important Note: whilst we made an effort to make sure he made it off the road ok, it’s also necessary to leave them to do their own thing so they don’t get stressed out. They shouldn’t be moved unless injured and absolutely necessary as they will have trouble getting back to burrows that may possibly have a puggle inside that will require the mother echidna to return to it. If an echidna is stressed and feeling threatened, it may try to curl itself into a ball or start to dig itself into the ground with the spines protruding to protect itself

So if you’re looking for a new cafe to try, or if you live in the area and need a new place to be your regular coffee house, the Cudlee Cafe is a definite winner, with scenery that will make it a fun trip for the whole family.

If you wish to let us know about any hidden gems in South Australia that we can check out, make sure to let us know. 

If you wish to download the echidna app we used or for more echidna information, just search for Echidna CSI through your phone’s app store and follow Echidna CSI on Facebook. 

!steemitworldmap -34.841094 lat 138.829117 long The Cudlee Cafe