Leon and I
were lucky to be selected by CampusSG and the South Australian Tourism
Commission to visit Adelaide for 4 nights in March, one of the best times to
visit as Adelaide is transiting from summer to autumn and the weather was sunny
yet cooling, but the best part was that it's not humid, unlike Singapore. We stayed at Hotel Grand
Chancellor on Hindley, which was popular for its pubs, bars and
restaurants.
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| Pretty memories ^^ |
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| Hotel interior |
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| Hindley Street |
Day 1: Rundle Mall, Haigh's Chocolate Visitor Centre, Glenelg
That night we did a 40min tempo-run to the suburbs of the city after dinner of handmade (by me) wraps..
Day 2:
Kangaroo Island
A 1.5-hour drive with a 45-minute ferry out of
Adelaide is Kangaroo Island, an island 7 times the size of
Singapore and the third least-polluted place in the world. Being famous for its
endemic flora and fauna, azure waters and cool crisp air, we met countless
Australians heading there for weekend getaways. (Australians are really friendly people!)
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| Road trips are kinda fun |
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| Cruise to the island |
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| On Kangaroo Island |
Our first stop was Seal Bay where endangered Australian Sea-lions come to breed. The
feeling of getting so close to wild seals, lazing in the sun and going for the
occasional dip in the frigid ocean waters, was unlike your typical encounters
at the zoo.
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| 5m away -___- |
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| Lazy seals |
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| Walking to see the seals! |
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| Hide n Seek |
Somewhere near is the Hanson Bay Koala Walk where we had an opportunity to try spotting
the ever elusive Koalas nestled high up in the eucalypts. It was, however, much
easier for us to get up close with roaming kangaroos and wallabies.
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| Caught in action!! SCORE :) |
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| Wallaby! |
Another side of Mother Nature on Kangaroo Island we
experienced was the majestic, awe-inspiring geological features across the
island. Located in the Flinders Chase
National Park, we made our way to the two iconic ones. We had fun climbing
up the granite outcrop to see the Remarkable
Rocks, intriguing natural wind-sculpted granite formations.
Just down the coastline is the Cape du
Couedic Lighthouse built in 1906
and following the boardwalk led us to the breath-taking Admirals Arch, a spectacular natural arch formed by erosion from
pounding waves. And if you looked closely, you might spot a colony of New
Zealand fur seals frolicking around it.
Returned back to the hotel at 1030pm - long day indeed..
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| One of my favourite photos |
Day 3: Central Market &
Chinatown, North Terrace Cultural Boulevard, Cycle to West Beach & Glenelg,
West Terrace Cemetery
On Saturday, we started our morning
with a visit to Central Market, the
oldest fresh produce market in Australia, with over 80 shops selling fruits,
vegetables, poultry and dairy products, confectionery, artisan and organic
products and many more. The storeowners were more than happy to let us sample
the freshness and goodness of the many locally-made products, which are sold at
a lower cost than stores around the city. I bought a lot of dried fruits and nuts, organic products, fresh fruits, coffee and confectionary. The bread and cheese looked super awesome too! We took a walk down Chinatown too, located only beside the
market, where a variety of Asian products are sold.
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| 5kg nutella..be careful you don't get diabetes |
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| Chinatown wasn't much of an interest |
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| View of central market |
The rest of the morning was
spent at North Terrace Cultural Boulevard, where the museums and
historical buildings are located, perfect for museum-lovers and what more, all
are free of charge. My favourite was the South
Australian Museum, which houses also the Australian Aborginal Cultures Gallery, home to the largest
collection of Aboriginal artefacts in the Southern Hemisphere. Reminded me of Anthropology lessons..
With the
afternoon free, we decided to rent the free city bikes and followed one of the
many recommended cycling trails that passes River Torrens Linear Park down to
West Beach and Glenelg, think we covered about 35km in total. Had quite a bit of fun looking at all the animals along the way - gulls, pelicans and HORSES :) On the way back, we also visited West Terrace Cemetery, seeing the large span of
tombstones dating back to the 1800s was an unusual sight for us Singaporeans.
Felt like I did a good workout, 3h of 35km cycling on some non-road bike..tres accomplishment!
Day 4: Mt Lofty Summit, Hahndorf German Town,
Cockle Train from Goolwa to Victor Harbor, Victor Harbor, Horse-drawn tram
& Granite Island, Fleurieu Peninsula's McLaren Vale Wine Tasting, The
Almond and Olive Train, Adelaide Night Market
Went for a run, about a loop on the city suburbs before our breakfast & tour. Amber was our ever friendly guide from Prime Mini Tours. Somehow, since all of the tourists from our group were elderly, this led me to wonder, where's all the young people?
Another day of sightseeing brought us to explore the
Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula. Our first stop was Mount Lofty Summit, 20-minutes drive from the city, to get a
panaromic view of Adelaide city. However, as it was rather early, the clouds
covered most of our view. Saw the bikers who managed to scale the slopes on an early morning - reminded me of someone. Nevertheless, we were still able to learn the
significance of the mountain to sea-farers with the lighthouse perched atop. We
headed to the small quaint town of Hahndorf,
Australia's oldest German settlement dating back to 1860. I loved exploring the
streets (though time was really limited to a very short 2.5h) lined with shops selling all sorts of interesting trinkets, leather
goods, German pastries and candies and a must-visit would be the Hahndorf Candle Barn which sells
handcrafted scented candles and soapbars. Hmm.. I wonder if it's like that in Germany, Kristian ;)
The tour took us to Goolwa where we boarded the cockle train ($19 AUD pax), established in 1854, bound
for Victor Harbour. Its nickname was given by fishermen because of the giant
sized cockles which they sought after, was found along the shores of the
beaches it passes. Victor Harbour ,
a whaling town, was buzzing with
activities when we arrived, from the Sunday market and tourists waiting to
board the horse-drawn tram ($6 AUD pax), which
has been around since 1894 to ferry people to Granite Island, a rocky outcrop that offered a spectacular view of
the ocean at the peak of the granite hill.
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| Goolwa Cockle Train! |
Our visit to the seaside was
complemented next by a drive around the undulating hills and charming vineyards
found in McLaren Vale nestled in the
heart of the famous wine, olive and almond growing areas in Adelaide hills,
another famous region besides Barossa Valley. We sampled various wines at the Tintara Winery, which was famous for
its Shiraz and almonds on the Almond and
Olive Train. In the evening, we visited a night market where we
people-watched the Australians hanging out, having picnics, listening to the
buskers on the green areas at the North Terrace.
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| Chillout on weekends at these green spaces |
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| Rather spontaneous cookouts |
Day 5: Homebound :)
Morning!!
The only significant thing I did was a 6k run down the river to the Adelaide Zoo, Botanic Gardens, Wine Centre and past the North Terrace. Too bad we didn't have time to explore that area better.
I would really like to come back here again - especially to bike with J. :)
Websites for more information on Adelaide:
Main City Website: http://www.cityofadelaide.com.au
City Bikes Information: http://www.bikesa.asn.au/AdelaideCityBikes
