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Published: March 22nd 2015
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After a three hour flight from Auckland to Adelaide on Monday morning, we arrived to 28 degrees of sunshine! After a short drive we arrived on North Terrace in the centre of the city which was to be our base for the next 8 nights, and proved to be an ideal location; it was a short walk to the railway station and tram stop, the parliament buildings, the Oval Cricket Ground and the River Torrens. It was a time to regroup, do some washing and plan the next stages of our trip. I ventured out into the town centre to find food and was astounded by the number of shops. We had also arrived during the Adelaide Fringe Festival and there was a variety of performers giving short performances in the city centre each day. I also dipped into the tourist office to gather ideas for what to do and was served by a really helpful lady who gave me a map and enough suggestions of activities to keep us going for a fortnight! It was also the week of the Clipsal 500, which is a massive petrol head event taking I over a section of the city with V8 supercar
road races and monster trucks etc., so the city was really buzzing. One of the advantages of Adelaide is that it was designed in England and then built on a grid system so orientation is quite easy. There is also a tram service which bisects the city and is not only free in the centre but also offers free wifi! We made good use of it during our stay. On Tuesday we took the tram out to a small seaside resort called Glenelg. Because it was outside the city you had to pay for the tram but it was only approx $8 (£4) return for a 30 minute journey and there were cheaper off-peak tickets available! We had an amazing Asian style seafood lunch in the Stamford Hotel overlooking the sea. We shared Mini Mullet Burgers, Blue Crab and salsa Pancakes, Gambas and Chorizo and Crab and finally Prawn wrapped in Banana leaves, (which was to die for!), all washed down with a cheeky local wine. We then spent the afternoon in the sea and sunbathing. There was a breeze and it was actually warmer in the sea than on the land!
On Wednesday we took a short cruise on
the Torrens with Popeye cruises and got off the boat to visit Adelaide zoo. The highlight of the visit was seeing Wang Wang the giant panda at close quarters. His mate, Funi is going through a phantom pregnancy after failing to conceive, which is apparently quite common for pandas, and was not on view but could be seen on Pandacam. Female pandas are only fertile for 36 hours once a year and Wang Wang is still a young adult but the zoo is hopeful that they will be successful in the future. Funi spends a lot of time sleeping at the moment, will eventually go through a phantom birth and will be given a Kong to nurse! The keepers aren't sure how good a mother she will eventually be as she threw the last Kong at the wall! The pair are part of a cooperative effort between Australia and China to secure the long term survival of the species. On Thursday morning we went to the South Australia Parliament and although there were no tours we were able to sit in the Stranger's Gallery while the house was in session and watched a Bill being read for the second time
on the rights of Foster Parents which was really interesting. (Not a view shared by the majority of the MPs present!) From there we went to Adelaide Gaol which was built in 1841, less than 5 yrs after the settlement was established! Considering Adelaide was a Free (non convict) settlement it soon became clear that not everyone in the new colony intended to be law-abiding! 66 people were hanged in South Australia and 45 of these hangings took place in Adelaide Gaol including the hanging of the only woman in SA. On Friday we went on a tour of Kangaroo Island which was amazing. It was an early start (6am) by coach to drive to the coast and catch the ferry. We started by going to Seal Bay where we were escorted onto the beach by a ranger to within 8 metres of a colony of sea lions. There was a real mix from huge bull sea lions fighting and pushing each other back into the sea to young pups with their mothers. When you witness them fighting you realise why you need to keep your distance! We then had a lovely barbecue lunch. From here we went to a
koala sanctuary and played hunt the koala! They are really difficult to spot as they aren't very active and are well camouflaged in the eucalyptus trees. We were however rewarded with a few who were braving the lower branches and quite happy to ignore us while we took photos. As cute as they are they are responsible for killing trees through overgrazing so there is a programme to sterilise female koalas. The sanctuary needs to raise funds as the sterilisation is expensive. We drove to Admirals Arch see a colony of fur seals. Our final stop was to view The Remarkables, impressive rock formations shaped by coastal erosion. We flew back to Adelaide rather than taking the 4 hour ferry and coach journey. On Sat we did a tour of the Adelaide Oval which, even for someone who has a limited knowledge of cricket, was really interesting. We were even allowed inside the iconic scoreboard. On Sun we went on a wine tour of the Adelaide Hills wineries which turned out to be a private tour as we were the only people on it! A meal was included, which was fortunate as we visited 4 cellars before lunch! At d'Arenberg
we were presented with a tasting list of approx 40 wines of which we sampled 13. There was no restriction and we could have tried them all! We then visited Coriole and Angove. We had lunch at Serafino then onto Wirra Wirra and Black Sheep. Apart from wine we also stopped at The Almond Train and The Fruchocs Shop. Not a day for calorie counting! Monday it was time to pick up a hire car, say farewell to Adelaide and head for Robe to pick up The Great Ocean Road.
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