Adelaide the City of Upgrades!

The Easter break arrived and these two travellers decided it was time to visit a very underrated Australian capital city! We left on Good Friday morning and after hearing of all the issues Qantas had been having recently we were quite relieved to arrive after a couple of hours in the most dry Australian state. As we flew over we could just see the barren land and after departing the plane we felt a great rise in temperature!
After approaching an elderly friendly volunteer we thought it a good idea to try the local buses so after a short wait we boarded a bus and made the trip through the suburbs into Adelaide city to our Hotel. One of the most mentioned things about Adelaide is that everything is only twenty minutes away, a fact we soon discovered to be completely true. Our bus driver even made sure that when we reached the stop to give us directions!

The Hotel room was a bit small and not as clean as we would have liked but we knew it would do the job as we had a lot planned for the weekend. A change of wardrobe into some shorts and thongs and we made our way to the historic Adelaide train station across the road from the Hotel in search of the tram to Glenelg Beach. To our surprise the helpful attendant suggested a day ticket would be cheaper and then made sure we knew how to use the ticketing system as we headed to the tram stop. The trams was one of the first of a few things that gave Adelaide a welcome European feel and although crowded the "twenty minute" journey to the most famous and busiest Adelaide beach was quiet alright.

Being Good Friday and also a beautiful warm day fish and chips was on the menu for lunch. For Jason of course that meant just chips! It was crowded as you can imagine but one of the staff checked with us to apologise and let us know it wouldn't be much longer (Adelaide citizens are super nice!) A nice walk along this clear white sand beach to digest lunch and allow Anja to find some more beautiful shells to add to her collection was very welcome. Although this beach is regarded as the busiest and most popular it was quite good crowd wise and browsing through the shops was no problems.

Another "twenty minute" tram trip back to the city and we got off at Victoria Square in the city to go for a walk around the city. We were amazed at the wide streets and loved going through the old university grounds to the parklands. It had such a lazy relaxed feel to such a big city (one million people) and we enjoyed a walk along the Torrens enjoying the sunset and the friendly Swans!

Being quite buggered after an early rise and a bit too much walking in our thongs (we seemed to go for miles and miles) we retired to our room to get some rest as we wanted to be up early the next day. It was about 9pm and to our bemusement we discovered our room backed onto Hindley St a notorious area of Adelaide for nightlife. Even being Good Friday there was loud music and by about 10.30pm a call was made to reception to see what we could do. A room change was made but after another five minutes we could really feel the base so a visit to reception resulted in an upgrade to a much bigger room and nicer facilities!

Saturday and the alarm snapped us out of our slumber at 6.30am but we were determined to be early for the famed Adelaide Central Markets. It was a bit chilly but only a few blocks away to Gouger St where we walked in to these indoor markets and straight away we saw a great butcher's shop. Plenty of cold meat stalls, cheese shops, bread shops and fruit and vegetable stands awaited us and these markets were even better than what we had been told.

Another highlight to this visit was a chance to meet with one of Anja's work colleagues from Adelaide Clare and her partner Scott for a coffee and an opportunity to hear from some locals a bit more about this city. We soon discovered they had a nice farm a little bit out of Adelaide and we accepted an invitation to visit on the Monday. After grabbing some supplies for our day ahead we headed to our car rental place in Hindley St. Understandably they were very busy but very nice and pleasant with us, sadly we had organised specifically an auto car but they got someone to drive from the airport to swap cars and....yep another upgrade!

So after a short battle with our GPS we brought from home a short drive through the sprawling suburbs Clare and Scott had recommended visiting Mt Lofty to check out the view. Approx 710 metres above sea level and the first thing you noticed getting out of the car was the fresh clean air so close to a major city. The dreaded paid parking sign was also evident but then to our amusement we realised two dollars was for the whole day! It would have been so easy to go on a hike for the rest of the day but there was so much we wanted to do so next door was Mt Lofty Botanic Garden.

A group of schoolkids were looking above when we arrived and a too rare sight of an active Koala greeted us. So active was it moving up and down it decided to relieve it's bladder but luckily we weren't targeted. Again there were so many walking tracks but next stop was to be Hahndorf! Adelaide was the first city and South Australian the first colony to be settled by free settlers and the Adelaide Hills home to Hahndorf and the Barossa Valley was heavily populated by German Lutheran settlers from Prussia from the 1830's.

So after arriving in Hahndorf and walking through this very popular town of course we discovered it had become a bit clichéd for tourists but still the history and feel to this place was great nonetheless. To our despair non bar served Radler which is German beer mixed with Lemonade and very refreshing. Hence we jumped back in the car for the short trip to Lobethal to a Bierhaus. Along the way we came past a chocolate factory but what we found was very similar to Europe you don't really go more than twenty kilometres between towns. This area is so close to Adelaide itself but so stunningly rural and remote.

After sampling ale at the Bierhaus we made our way back to Adelaide to go and visit a northern newer suburb of Adelaide called Mawson Lakes. It is no secret we have been looking at escaping the rat race of Sydney so it was with great interest we checked out this often advertised estate. Well it lacked a little bit of heart of the surrounding suburbs but I guess if anything that made it even more evident one of the greatest things about Adelaide is the culture that creeps up on you.

Sunday Morning and we had the luxury of the car so up early once more to hit the road and visit the most famous wine region of Australia - The Barossa Valley. Again driving out the wideness of the roads blew us away and it was once more to our surprise how close it was to Adelaide.

We headed towards the Barossa Valley and the first stop was Lyndoch, another very pretty small town that has a German heritage. A bakery there laid claim to being a bit German so we had a very healthy breakfast of cake (Bienenstich - like a sponge cake with crème and very yummy almonds) and it was so nice and quiet in a little park nearby.
 
After leaving Lyndoch we headed North and a stop at Gawler was on the agenda as Anja was a big fan of McLeod's Daughters and it was shot near there. After chatting to a lovely old bloke there and also to a nice friendly Scottish couple we discovered the pub that was in it was not that far away. It was about 11am when we walked into the renamed pub which was understandably deserted but the publican was quite hospital so we had a quiet soft drink in this true Aussie pub! 

Of then to Nuriootpa, another town in the picturesque valley and upon arriving there we saw a heritage Barossa Valley trail to take, we had been relying on our trusty GPS as well but everything was very well signposted. Tanunda seemed to be the gateway to the Barossa Valley and we passed very well known wineries like Penfolds and Jacobs Creek but Anja had found a nice little winery called Charles Melton. Can't think of anywhere better than this little place to have enjoyed a light vineyard lunch and we both sampled some nice red wine.

Being a little drowsy after such a nice relaxing lunch it wasn't hard to find another German bakery for the mandatory coffee and cake! All throughout this area we found remnants of the Lutheran settlement and that really added to the feel of this wonderful place. After a browse through the streets of Tanunda and making a purchase at Kaesler wines (ironically there was a RBT outside) with the fading light we headed back to Adelaide. This was of course the first day that daylight savings had finished but as always we found that it's never that far too drive and before we knew it we were back in the beautiful North Adelaide.

After having Thai the night before we felt it our duty to visit a restaurant called Outback Jack's specialising in Aussie Tucker as you can see: Aussie Tucker!

Even there we were blown away by the service (now remember in Australia tipping is not compulsory) so after eating and drinking way too much it was time to head back to the hotel to get to bed and be up and early for our final day. At checkout they even waived the parking fees so as we headed back on the road to go south (traffic is always quiet) to visit Victor Harbour.

As we drove out we were stunned to see how far out of the city the cycle ways were and this was representative of how well thought out the roads were for sharing. It was a little but cloudy this morning and when we arrived early to Victor Harbour the beauty of the area was probably not as dominant as other areas visited. Still we parked the hire car (no paid parking) and walked over to Granite Island which is home to 700 little penguins but were a little late to see them but it was a nice walk over the tramway and around the island.

We had a nice breakfast at an unassuming little cafe back in Victor Harbour and right on cue the sun lit up as we left to go along the coast via Port Elliott and Middleton to have lunch with Anja's work colleague Clare. Port Elliot had a bakery with a very long line winding out of it so it must have been good! A brief stop at Middleton Beach to watch the waves and we found with the aid of the GPS the glorious Amberley Fields Farm.

This 20 hectare piece of paradise is home to cattle, ducks, sheep, a cat, a dog and of course two really wonderful people Scott and Clare who invited us to their home which really was a personal highlight of our trip away. We were able to feed the animals and play fetch with the really cool dog Charlie and then had a great BBQ as we soaked in the magnificent view. I think Anja was in shock when sitting at the table we looked out to see some Kangaroos bounded through the outfields. Some home made jam was also a treat that Anja was able to take with her and the fact that this was only forty five minutes from Adelaide's CBD really stunned us both!

It was with real sadness we left and made our way back to Adelaide and the airport but again not a big drive! Upon dropping off the car we grabbed a coffee and some postcards before we jumped back onto the plane to Sydney. It wasn't long before we realised where we were going with other passenger's behaviour but we were both so grateful and happy to have spent some time in lovely Adelaide.

The whole weekend we seemed to be constantly going but that we did that was a true indication of how much fun we had. Somehow we only really touched briefly on what SA has to offer with also the Flinders ranges and Kangaroo Island two other destinations these travellers would love to see, who knows we may even call this city a home in the future??

Here are some more photos: Adelaide - Easter 2010