Adelaide in the Summer
A getaway from everything city-like. The first day was very much Amazing-Race Like. Made my way to Darling Harbour at 0530am in the morning. The streets were mostly empty, with some drunkards struggling to walk. Oh yes, I never saw that much puke in my entire life. The grounds of Darling Harbour were filled with spilled alcohol and the smell was reeking. I admire those workers trying their best to make the place look presentable in the morning. It was Australia Day Celebrations the night before.
Using my morning blurry brain, I noticed a sign that indicates no fruit is to be be brought into all states except QLD. Perhaps because the fruit inter-state is poisonous and filled with foreign bacteria? Ignored that and proceeded to sit and watch the planes take off.
I didn't sleep a wink on the plane, which is highly unusual. Neither did I sleep the night before. Upon reaching Adelaide's airport, scooted out of there asap just in case some dogs smelled fruit and come barking after. That would be hyper embarrassment plus a 2k fine. Got to Thrifty Car Rental and woahla, an expired licence and lost licence = no licence. Using desperate measures, I called cousin 1 to come pick us up. Thank God everyone in the house was awake otherwise cousin 2 would probably have screamed at me. We were stranded for half an hour before we got picked up.
Carless, we took a simple map and began to plan what's next on the agenda. Waiting for the public bus at the airport was quite refreshing. The air was chilly, crisp and fresh, unlike Sydney's. The temperature must have been around 20 or so. I found out the bus ticket was similar to Melbourne's. It's small, compact and you had to "validate it"...which I found kinda weird. If you bought a ticket, obviously you'd want to use it, why keep it for another time? We did not validate it because we didn't know at first. If conductors had come on board, we'd have been fried.
Central Markets was our first stop. It's nothing like Sydney's Paddy Markets. Instead of Asian grocers yelling "1 DOLLA 1 DOLLA" there was more space to walk around and no yelling. European grocers filled the market with products like cheese, sausages & other European produce. It was very very nice. We had lunch at a small food court and proceeded to the information office. The city was extremely quiet and spacious. Honestly, I wouldn't even know it's the city if not for some/few high-rises. After running through bus timetables and 20 brochures or so, I was forced to call a friend. We then toured around the city area and had a coffee to keep ourselves awake.
Then we headed to Botanical Gardens which is quiet, plenty of plant variety and there is a rainforest! It felt a bit strange walking in the middle of summer in a light jacket and still feeling the cold but I managed.
We got the car off a friend at the Irish Murphy's and drove to Victor Harbour via Glenelg (the only town where you can backwards and still get the same word). The wind was blowing extremely fiercely on the pier so we couldnt' walk to the end of it. There were no waves, and I'm not sure if there ever will be any big ones. I like Glenelg beach even though that day was cold and gray.
I had my first nap in the car and when we got to Victor, a hot bowl of tom yum soup was necessary. The next phase of the "race" was probably the worst yet. Looking for accomodation was such a horrid job. We must have dialled approximately 10 places and ran on our feet to another 10, but every single place was booked out. There was only a single bed available. After hunting for more than an hour, we head to Granite Island on foot. Imagine crossing the Singapore-Johore Causeway on foot with chilly winds blowing at 115knots/hr. It's not even high walls on the sides, I could have been blown away just like THAT.
Despite the cold and windy front, Granite Island at 2100 was a spectacular of penguins, water rats and possums. One penguin was already building its nest in Jan when it is supposed to begin building in May. Globalwarming was the first thing that popped into my head. After Granite Island, we had no choice but to drive back to Adelaide at 2230. Between 1130 and 0100, everything was a blur as every single place we approached was booked out. Finally landing something at a Pakistani tended motel. Slept dead like sheep.
When we woke the next morning, the first thing we had to do before dropping off the car was to find accomodation for the night. Shakespeare's International Backpackers, I recommend it. They had a larger than usual tv and it was quite clean. Sunday involved Adelaide Hills - Handorf and Mount Lofty PLUS the men's Australian Open finals. It's unbelievable how friendly people in Adelaide are. A security bouncer happily turned up the volume so we could watch the match, an old lady approached us to help with directions to Handorf and a special bus service was called upon to cater to us and 2 other German tourists. Driving us up and down the loft, and making sure we'd catch the next bus back into the city. It was incredible.
After which the rest of the week included shopping with my cousins, keeping out of the averaging 38deg heat and just taking it all in.
Using my morning blurry brain, I noticed a sign that indicates no fruit is to be be brought into all states except QLD. Perhaps because the fruit inter-state is poisonous and filled with foreign bacteria? Ignored that and proceeded to sit and watch the planes take off.
I didn't sleep a wink on the plane, which is highly unusual. Neither did I sleep the night before. Upon reaching Adelaide's airport, scooted out of there asap just in case some dogs smelled fruit and come barking after. That would be hyper embarrassment plus a 2k fine. Got to Thrifty Car Rental and woahla, an expired licence and lost licence = no licence. Using desperate measures, I called cousin 1 to come pick us up. Thank God everyone in the house was awake otherwise cousin 2 would probably have screamed at me. We were stranded for half an hour before we got picked up.
Carless, we took a simple map and began to plan what's next on the agenda. Waiting for the public bus at the airport was quite refreshing. The air was chilly, crisp and fresh, unlike Sydney's. The temperature must have been around 20 or so. I found out the bus ticket was similar to Melbourne's. It's small, compact and you had to "validate it"...which I found kinda weird. If you bought a ticket, obviously you'd want to use it, why keep it for another time? We did not validate it because we didn't know at first. If conductors had come on board, we'd have been fried.
Central Markets was our first stop. It's nothing like Sydney's Paddy Markets. Instead of Asian grocers yelling "1 DOLLA 1 DOLLA" there was more space to walk around and no yelling. European grocers filled the market with products like cheese, sausages & other European produce. It was very very nice. We had lunch at a small food court and proceeded to the information office. The city was extremely quiet and spacious. Honestly, I wouldn't even know it's the city if not for some/few high-rises. After running through bus timetables and 20 brochures or so, I was forced to call a friend. We then toured around the city area and had a coffee to keep ourselves awake.
Then we headed to Botanical Gardens which is quiet, plenty of plant variety and there is a rainforest! It felt a bit strange walking in the middle of summer in a light jacket and still feeling the cold but I managed.
We got the car off a friend at the Irish Murphy's and drove to Victor Harbour via Glenelg (the only town where you can backwards and still get the same word). The wind was blowing extremely fiercely on the pier so we couldnt' walk to the end of it. There were no waves, and I'm not sure if there ever will be any big ones. I like Glenelg beach even though that day was cold and gray.
I had my first nap in the car and when we got to Victor, a hot bowl of tom yum soup was necessary. The next phase of the "race" was probably the worst yet. Looking for accomodation was such a horrid job. We must have dialled approximately 10 places and ran on our feet to another 10, but every single place was booked out. There was only a single bed available. After hunting for more than an hour, we head to Granite Island on foot. Imagine crossing the Singapore-Johore Causeway on foot with chilly winds blowing at 115knots/hr. It's not even high walls on the sides, I could have been blown away just like THAT.
Despite the cold and windy front, Granite Island at 2100 was a spectacular of penguins, water rats and possums. One penguin was already building its nest in Jan when it is supposed to begin building in May. Globalwarming was the first thing that popped into my head. After Granite Island, we had no choice but to drive back to Adelaide at 2230. Between 1130 and 0100, everything was a blur as every single place we approached was booked out. Finally landing something at a Pakistani tended motel. Slept dead like sheep.
When we woke the next morning, the first thing we had to do before dropping off the car was to find accomodation for the night. Shakespeare's International Backpackers, I recommend it. They had a larger than usual tv and it was quite clean. Sunday involved Adelaide Hills - Handorf and Mount Lofty PLUS the men's Australian Open finals. It's unbelievable how friendly people in Adelaide are. A security bouncer happily turned up the volume so we could watch the match, an old lady approached us to help with directions to Handorf and a special bus service was called upon to cater to us and 2 other German tourists. Driving us up and down the loft, and making sure we'd catch the next bus back into the city. It was incredible.
After which the rest of the week included shopping with my cousins, keeping out of the averaging 38deg heat and just taking it all in.