Adelaide- The Wine State

Sat 17th June- Wed 21st June 2006

Hi everyone! I thought it was about time I updated the blog so here is a flavour of what we got up to in Adelaide. Be warned it’s a bit of an epic- cancel all plans, grab a cuppa and read on……. Or if you can’t be bothered- bugger off!

The Flight- it’s so cheap and easy to travel between the different states. You can even check yourself in which saves time. The flight only took one hour (not four as I think Chris told you a while back dad!). We had to put our watches back half hour- so we were only 8and a half in front of the UK for a while!

As Claire said you basically fly over lots of uninhabited countryside or basically nothingness. It’s crazy the way you suddenly come across Adelaide out there all on it’s own. One of the tour guides told us that the Adelaideans were originally wealthy folk and not convicts like the other states, so maybe they wanted to be as far away from the criminals as possible! The guide said that Adelaideans like to think that they originated from good English stock (they enjoy winding up Aussies from other cities- especially Brisbane that started as a jailhouse)

Anyway the flight was quick- too quick to even enjoy a glass a wine! We jumped on the shuttle bus and made our way to the Adelaide central YHA (youth hostel).

The Hostel- Well this was to be our first experience of stopping at a YHA and not the usual five star hotels that we are used to. We were both a little apprehensive about this (especially Chris, I of course have lived the student lifestyle!!).

Well the place turned out to be fine. We had opted for a private room with its own bathroom. Neither of us could face sleeping in a dorm with other backpackers. Think of all the niceties you would have to do!! The room was basic but tidy and very clean (the latter was my main concern). We will be stopping in YHAs during the rest of our adventures until we rent in Sydney, so we were both pleased that our first hostel experience was positive.

On Wed we got up at 4 am to watch the England game. In the TV room there were a couple of other poms but also some Swedes so that made it more exciting- shame we didn’t win but a draw was good enough for now.

The people who stay at the YHAs seem like a mixed bunch. Lots of young backpacker types but also single and older couples. We even saw a ‘Harold and Hilda’ type complete with matching jumpers!!

Adelaide- We were very lucky with the weather as you can see from the photos. It was cold in the mornings but lovely and sunny every day. We even walked around in t-shirts at times- and it’s supposed to be winter! It really made us realise how crap the weather is in Melly compared to other parts of Oz.

Adelaide is a great place that I would describe as a country town. It is much smaller than Melbourne with a population of around 1.2 million. The CBD or city centre is not much to write home about! It has shops, pubs and restaurants but no opera house or similar to give it the wow factor.

However the real wow comes when you leave the city centre and venture either north through the Adelaide hills to the Barossa valley or south to Mount Lofty and Victor Harbor.

The people of Adelaide are definitely not as image conscious as the Melburnians or Sydneysiders. They definitely go for the casual look and many of the men sport rather large beards! The wine state- I think that should changed to the valley of big beards!!

Our Adventures:

Day One- After settling into the hostel we decided to explore the city centre. We visited the main shopping streets and then walked to the Botanic Gardens which were very beautiful. Here we came across the National Wine Centre- was a result! We had a quick look at the exhibits lots of pressing machines, fermentation tanks etc before selecting a nice glass of wine from the impressive list. So we found ourselves sitting in the sun enjoying a nice glass of red!! What a great start to our time here!

On the evening we ventured to Gouger Street to find a reasonably priced place to eat. We opted for a Vietnamese restaurant. Chris chose a traditional rice dish that was served in a clay pot. I ordered Vietnamese style beef. The waitress informed me that this comes with rice paper which you fill with beef, veg and roll up. No problem I told her (sounded like fajitas to me). Anyway the food arrived and I filled up my rice paper with filling, rolled it and took a bite. It was hard to get my teeth through the rice paper but I persevered with the next one. It was only when the waitress asked me what I thought that we realised my mistake. I told her that they were very hard and she pointed to the bowl of hot water. Apparently you dip the rice paper into the water to soft it!! Chris thought it was hilarious- you just can’t take me anywhere!!


Day Two- Today we visited Hahndorf and Victor Harbor. We left Adelaide centre and headed to Mount Lofty summit to get great views over the city. Then we visited the German township of Hahndorf (you just can’t get away from them!). Here we enjoyed coffee and cakes (pecan pie, berry cheesecake).

Then we headed to Goolwa, Victor Harbor and Granite Island. The photos above show you what these places were like. On Granite Island we did a 45 min walk all around the Island and actually saw a whale in the sea off Encounter Bay. It was quite far out but it was definitely a whale! The weather and walking made us warm so we walked around just in t-shirts- and it’s winter here!!

After the sight seeing we visited the McLaren Vale wine region. We went to Hardy’s winery and sampled many different wines as well as sampling the local cheeses. This is the life!!


Day Three- Today was to be our best day yet- visiting the Barossa Valley and tasting lots of different wines!!! We opted to go with a small tour company which worked out well as there were only five of us on the trip. Chris and I, two girls from Blackpool and a Spanish guy called Juan from Valencia. At first we were all quiet and reserved but of course as the wine began to flow we all got very chatty! The English girls were basically doing a similar thing to us. Juan was an academic type and very nice to speak to- the Spanish are always very nice people.

We visited four different wineries- Wolf Blass, Vinecrest, Barossa Vines and Kies family wines. The wines at all were great and we felt like experts by the end of the day. I favoured the Shirazs whilst Chris liked the Cab. Sav’s (the Aussies even shorten the grape names too!) We had a fab lunch; I had Barramundi fish which was delicious!!

Along the way we also got to see some great scenery especially at Menglers hill lookout where you could look out across the valley.

Mom, Dad and Deb, I definitely recommend using a small local company when we go wine tasting in the Hunter Valley. A smaller group means you get to taste more wines and get to know other people better!


Day Four- Needless to say we both required a lie in today!! After we managed to stir we went on the tram to Glenelg which is a little seaside place. Again it was sunny so we walked along the pier and along the shoreline.

Back in Adelaide centre we found a cosy English pub and sampled the local beer.

Do you see the pattern here- sightseeing, eating, drinking, sightseeing more drinking….. (And we managed to get up at 4 am for the footie!)


Day Five- We just had time to do a little more sightseeing before catching the flight home (meaning Melly of course!). We walked along the Torrens River and in to parkland (Adelaide is famous for it’s parks too). We saw loads of different birds and I couldn’t believe how alive the park was with the different bird calls. It was lovely!!


Back in Melly

We now only have four weeks of work left for this year! (God that sounds good). We also only have five weekends left to be Melburnians, so we are going to make the most of our time here. I really love the place and will definitely miss it!

Our next adventure takes us to Tasmania for five days, where apparently the weather is similar to Scotland in the winter. Therefore we will be sporting our thermals and growing webbed feet no doubt!!

In the short term we are going to St Kilda tomorrow to a house party (one of Chris’s workmates) so that should be fun mixing with the Aussies once more.

Anyway I must go I have waffled long enough (it’s your fault Jules you complained I hadn’t updated for a while!!!)

Bye for now

Don xxx