ADELAIDE TRIP - 2024

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia, I went in May which is Winter here in Australia. Adelaide and all of South Australia gets freezing cold winters.

DAY ONE

The trip started at Sydney Domestic Airport, I flew from Sydney to Adelaide via Jetstar. The flight to Adelaide was 2 hours long.

The last two trips I took were to Singapore and Uluru, both very hot places. When I stepped off the plane in both Singapore and Uluru, I was immediately greeted with extreme heat. This time however was very different, instead of intense heat, when I stepped off the plane I noticed a biting cold as May is Winter in Australia and South Australia gets freezing in Winter. After getting my luggage, I got a cab to the hotel I was staying at, the Adina Apartments, a beautiful hotel situated in an old treasury building.

When I arrived at the hotel, I was checked in by a wonderful lady named Natalie, Natalie actually took the time to give me a print out of a map of Adelaide and explained exactly where all of the main attractions were located and directions on how to get to them. She also gave me a list of all of the best places to eat in Adelaide. I was very impressed with the wonderful service provided by Natalie.

After check in, I decided to go to one of the restaurants on Natalie's list Luigi Delicatessen. I was greeted by a lovely waitress who explained the menu to me (there is no menu at Luigi's, instead the wait staff explain the menu to you, something they call a "talking menu.") I ordered two pasta dishes, Orichette with with pesto, peas and brocollini and gnocchi with napoletana. Both dishes were out of this world delicious!!! They came out on a beautiful big board with a basket of house made bread, I wanted to lick the bowl it was so good AND the portion sizes were so big that I had enough to take back home to my apartment.

Lunch At Luigi's Delicatessen

After lunch, I went for a stroll through Rundle Mall, I want to mention that Adelaide is a very easy city to get around because unlike Sydney where I'm from, the city of Adelaide was planned in advance and built in a square so all of the major attractions and restaurants are within walking distance of each other. Rundle Mall is like most major shopping centres in Australia with one huge exception, it is all outdoors and has lots of little narrow laneways to explore.

I walked back to the hotel and had a swim in the pool. I know what you are thinking "are you crazy? you went swimming in Adelaide in Winter?" while indeed I am crazy, the pool is a heated indoor pool and there is also a spa within the pool complex so I was nice and warm.

That night, I had a bit of difficulty finding somewhere to eat as most restaurants in Adelaide are closed on Monday nights so that is something to keep in mind when travelling to Adelaide. Eventually I found a nice restaurant in the Alba hotel, a very beautiful hotel that I was actually looking at staying at originally, however I chose Adina due to its central location. The Alba Hotel is about a 5 minute cab drive out of the city, it also has an outdoor pool which would be beautiful in Summer but too cold in Winter. The food I had was very nice, unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of the food but believe me when I say it was delicious.

DAY TWO

Day two was dedicated to the amazing Adelaide Zoo. Adelaide Zoo is Australia's second oldest zoo, opening in 1883 and is home to 2500 animals. Adelaide Zoo is most famous for its Giant Panda's Wang Wang and Fu Ni, the only Giant Panda's found anywhere in Australia. Everyday at 1:15PM is the Giant Panda keeper talk where you can learn more about these adorable animals. I learnt many interesting facts, however I won't spoil it by sharing them here. Other interesting creatures in Adelaide Zoo include Sumatran Tigers, Taipurs, Manned Wolves, Komodo Dragons and much more. The Reptile Enclosure is also pretty awesome and was my second favourite exhibit after the Giant Pandas.

Adelaide Zoo

Giant Panda's

Reptiles

Cassowary

The Aviary

Other Animals

After my trip to the Adelaide Zoo, I got on one of the Free City Connector Buses that take you all around the city and got off at Rundle Mall where I had Sushi Train for lunch. After Lunch, I stumbled across a Koko Black cafe and went in for dessert. I had a warm chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream which was delicious.

Koko Black

I went back to the hotel and had my daily afternoon spa and swim. For dinner that night, I went to Madame Hanoi, an amazing Vietnamese restaurant just outside the SkyCity Casino. For entree, I had spicy tofu which was delicious and for main I had Galangal Spiced Half Chicken with rice. The chicken was so tender and succulent and covered in a delicious miso corn puree with pickles, coriander and dried chilli oil. It was the best chicken dish I have ever eaten. The portion sizes were big, meaning I had leftovers (I may or may not have had the chicken and tofu for breakfast the next morning.

Madame Hanoi

DAY THREE

Day three was very exciting for me because that day I was meeting up with Maura, an internet friend of 10 years!!!! it was so exciting to finally meet up in person. We met up at the Art Gallery Of South Australia, greeting each other with a huge hug and excited grins. Being from Sydney, I didn't think there would be better galleries than ours in other states but I was wrong! The Art Gallery Of South Australia would have to be better than any of the galleries that I have seen in Sydney. The gallery is completely free to enter, unless of course you are there for a paid exhibition, and houses many amazing treasures. We spent well over an hour walking through the art gallery and looking at all of the beautiful works of art. I was pleasantly surprised to find a digital portrait of Lady Gaga in the museum.

Art Gallery Of South Australia

After seeing the Art Gallery Of South Australia, Maura and I went next door to the South Australian Museum. This museum focuses on native cultures, fauna of Australia, prehistoric creatures, minerals, arctic explorations and much more. There is so much to see here, you could easily spend over an hour exploring everything which we did, and we thoroughly enjoyed everything that we saw.

South Australian Museum

We then went and had lunch at this really nice Ramen bar, unfortunately I cannot remember the name of it and I forgot to take photos but it was delicious.

Our last stop was the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, a wonderland of all different kinds of plants and flowers. We pretty much walked the entire gardens which was tiring but so worth it. There was a little straw hut which Maura and I both agreed reminded us of "The Secret Garden", a green house with lillypads, a rose garden, a greenhouse with a cave and much more.

Adelaide Botanic Gardens

At around 4:00PM, Maura and I said our goodbyes and I went back to the hotel. I had my daily afternoon swim and spa and then I went to Pizza E Mozzarella Bar for dinner. I had a really nice mocktail which I can't remember the name of, for dinner, I had a garlic pizza and a spaghetti in red sauce. Both meals were delicious and I definitely would recommend them.

Pizza E Mozzarella Bar

DAY FOUR

I had an early start on this day as I had booked a day trip to the Barossa Valley with a company called "Bums On Seats", I know funny name, everyone on the tour had a giggle about it. I was picked up from the front of my hotel in a van by a lovely driver by the name of Jeff. I was the first person that Jeff picked up and then we went to 2 other hotels and picked up the other guests, there ended up being six of us so it was a very small and intimate group which was very nice. Everyone I met on my tour was really lovely and we were all quite good friends by the end of the day. Our first stop on the tour was Maggie Beer's Farmshop at Pheasant Farm, it took us about an hour from Adelaide to get there. Our guide Jeff was amazing and told us many interesting facts about Adelaide, the Barossa Valley and the Farmshop on the way.

We pulled up At Maggie Beer's Farmshop and went inside, the Farmshop is both a cafe and a gift shop in one. Maggie Beer for years had a show called "The Cook & The Chef" and inside the gift shop is the exact kitchen that she used for the show. After a look in the gift shop, I ordered morning tea at the cafe and sat and looked at the window at the magnificent Yabby Farm. My morning tea arrived, I had a dark chocolate brownie with pear, sounds like a weird combination but it was the most amazing brownie I have ever eaten!!! After about half an hour in the farm shop, we went back out to the van and hopped on to our next destination, the Barossa Valley Chocolate Company.

Maggie Beer's Farmshop

We arrived at the Barossa Valley Chocolate Company and were immediately greeted with the big chocolate fountain at the front of the shop. We were probably there for about 15 minutes, I bought lots of chocolate and even had a chocolate gelato at the gelato stall out the front of the shop.

Barossa Valley Chocolate Company

We headed to our next destination, Chateau Yuldara for wine tasting. The beautiful big castle was built in 1941 by Hermann Thumm, a European immigrant who was sent to Australia due to WW2 and was placed in a working camp on the Murray River. After the ware, Thumm was released and found work in a winery near Lyndoch. Driving past an old flour mill with his boss one day, Hermann's imagination and passion were sparked, he made many visits to the current land owners and convinced them to sell him a portion of the land. For months, Hermann worked tirelessly to prepare the estate for its first vintage. Wine making began in 1947, Herman relied on local grape growers for his first vintages. Hermann had the infamous Chateau built over a period of 18 months, it was originally built to display his collection of furniture and fine china, however today it is used for wine tasting.

I myself am not a drinker (I know weird to be on a Barossa Valley tour when you don't drink) so while everyone else was tasting wine, I walked around the magnificent gardens and even met some sheep.

Chateau Yuldara

We headed to Kies Family Wines for lunch and more wine tasting. On the way there, we were given a lunch menu and asked to pick a lunch, I chose a spinach and ricotta filo with fries, all of our food was really nice and we got to sit and chat and get to know one another a lot better which was really nice. The winery also had a gift shop, thats where I pretty much spent most of my time while the others were tasting wine. I also went into the garden and noticed that they had American Bag Toss so I had a go at that as well.

Lunch At Kies Family Winery

After lunch, we headed to the place I had been most eager to see and the reason why I booked this tour in the first place, Hahndorf. Hahndorf is a cute little German village that was settled by German immigrants in the 19th century, as a result, the town looks and feels exactly like a town in Germany with its original German style architecture and artisanal food. Just walking up and down the streets, I saw many German flags and restaurants with German music playing inside, I even heard some people speaking German (I don't speak a word of German so I could have been mistaken but it definitely sounded like German). The town itself has a very interesting history. The history of Hahndorf begins in 1838, George Fife Angas, a director of a South Australian company, made a trip to London to promote colonisation (UGH GROSS!) George met Pastor Kavel during his trip, who was trying to help German Lutherans being persecuted by the King Of Prussia, to immigrate to safer places. Angas, moved by the plight of the Lutherans convinced Kavel that South Australia would be a suitable place for the Lutherans to emigrate to and provided a generous donation of 8000 pounds. 187 German Lutheran immigrants arrived in Port Adelaide on the 28th of December 1838 via the 344 tonne ship Zebra. Unfortunately, the passengers were unable to disembark until the 2nd of January 1839 as a result of low tide. Dirk Hahn the ships captain, had grown to respect the passengers and promised to help them achieve their goal of settling and farming together, he managed to negotiate a parcel of land in the Adelaide Hills. The negotiated contract provided the 38 families with 100 acres of land, rent free for the first year. Of this, 19 acres were allocated for housing and roads and the rest for cultivation, the settlers were also provided with a years worth of seeds and some livestock, all on credit as a communal debt. The settlers decided to buy the land at the end of the first year, however it took them a few years to pay off the debt. In addition to the 38 families, an extra 14 families who had settled previously at Klemzig joined the settlement. The new settlement was named Hahndorf (Hahn's Village) in honour of Captain Hahn who had helped the refugees to achieve their goal.

I absolutely loved this little town so much, all of the little shops are so cute and I even bought a really cute bag in the Hahndorf Bag Shop. I have always wanted to visit Germany, but I want to do so even more after seeing this village, I'd also like to start learning some German as I literally know none.

Hahndorf

After Hahndorf, our wonderful tour had come to an end and I was dropped back at my hotel, where I said my goodbyes to all of the lovely people on the tour and our amazing driver Jeff. I of course went and had my afternoon swim and spa and then I went out for dinner.

I walked down to Chinatown that night and went to a really beautiful Chinese restaurant called Concubine, the food was amazing and so was the service. I got a little lost on the way there, so I rang them to ask for help getting there and one of the staff members literally walked down the street to find us!!!!! I cannot say enough good things about this restaurant. I of course had tofu and rice for dinner.

Concubine

DAY FIVE

Day five was my last full day in Adelaide, so I decided to go down to Glenelg beach via tram. Glenelg beach is a beautiful beach that is very popular in the summertime, the area of Glenelg, is also pretty amazing. There are many shops, cafes and restaurants, lots of little photo ops along the beach front, a fountain in the centre square and a huge amusement centre for kids and big kids. As I was there in Winter, it was pretty quite and obviously I was unable to actually swim, however it was still very worth the trip here. The first thing I did was go out on to the wharf. As I came back from the wharf, I discovered the little photo ops on the beach and got some photos with them. I then went to a little cafe called Banjo's for morning tea, I had a mini Hawaiian pizza. I then walked up and down the main street and had a look in all of the little shops before getting the tram back to the Adelaide CBD.

Glenelg Beach

Morning Tea At Banjo's

After Glenelg, I was craving a cheeseburger so while I was on the tram back to Adelaide CBD, I looked up good burger bars in Adelaide and found one simply called "Cheeseburger". Once I got back to Adelaide CBD, I walked to Cheeseburger and had a delicious cheeseburger for lunch.

Cheeseburger

After lunch, I walked to the Adelaide Central Markets. The Adelaide Central Markets has over 80 vendors, selling fresh produce and amazing food. The fruit and veggies looked so beautiful and fresh!!!! I really wished I could have taken some back to Sydney with me. I walked up and down every aisle, I had a snickers pop at Jamu which was delicious and I decided to return here for lunch the next day.

Adelaide Central Markets

That night for dinner, I went to Osteria Oggi, a beautiful Italian restaurant. The restaurant is unique in that rather than sitting at an individual table, you sit at a more communal table, the idea of this is to encourage guests to mingle with and get to know one another which I think is a quite lovely idea. They do also have private booths but these are reserved for groups. I had a really lovely server whose name now slips my mind, however I DO!!! remember she had an industrial piercing which I was very jealous of. I had spaghetti with smoked passata, capers, olives, chilli and basil and wood grilled zucchini. Both dishes were absolutely delicious and had me wanting to lick the plate.

Osteria Oggi

After dinner, I decided to go to Koko Black for dessert. I ordered the same thing that I did on Tuesday and enjoyed it just as much. In Adelaide, Friday is late night shopping night and since I was already in Rundle Mall, I decided to walk through and have a quick look before returning to my hotel.

Rundle Mall

Mecca In Rundle Mall

DAY SIX

Waking up I was hit with a pang of sadness as I realised that this was the last morning I would wake up in the Adina Apartments. Luckily my flight back to Sydney wasn't until 3 in the afternoon so I still had almost a full day to spend in Adelaide before heading to the airport. I checked out of the Adina Apartments, however as I was still going to be out and about in Adelaide, they held my bags in storage for me.

I got a taxi down to the Torrens River. The Torrents river is the reason that Adelaide was selected as the site for settlement in 1836 when the Europeans arrived due to the fresh water available from the river. I went on a cruise down the river with Popeye River Cruises, that took us through the entire river. Along the way we were handed around photos of the river throughout the ages and given many interesting facts by our guide, the cruise went for about 45 minutes and was a very pleasant way to spend the morning.

The Torrens River

After my cruise I walked to the Adelaide Central Markets and had lunch at an amazing pizza place called Atlas.

Lunch At Adelaide Central Markets

After lunch I walked across the road to the beautiful St Peter's Cathedral. Adelaide is known as the "City Of Churches" and has many beautiful churches to explore. Sadly I only got a chance to see one, however I'm hoping to visit again and when I do, I'll definitely check out the others. St Peter's is a beautiful church and definitely something I recommend seeing.

St Peter's Cathedral

This is where my trip to Adelaide basically finished, I went back to the Adina Apartments and got my luggage and then got a taxi to the airport where I flew back home to Sydney.

I must say I really enjoyed Adelaide far more than I was expecting, Adelaide is a small but beautiful and diverse city with beautiful food, unique sights and friendly people from all walks of life.

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