After our stressful encounters in Melbourne, we were a little hesitant to take on Adelaide. Big cities, we’ve determined, just aren’t our thing. Luckily, Adelaide is a bit smaller than Melbourne, but still confusing when you’re trying to juggle directions and driving in a strange new way. Still, we wanted to see some of it – that’s why we were here!
We made it into the city and decided to park at the convention center because it was one of the first lots we encountered within a reasonable distance of the sights we wished to see. Our first stop was the botanic gardens, which weren’t quite as impressive as the one in Melbourne, but still very nice. We saw an incredible assortment of birds in the area, including our first visual of a kookaburra! Lots of lorikeets and ducks were spotted, too. We heard frogs, but I was never able to catch sight of one.
On the gardens’ grounds, we came across the National Wine Center. Run by the University of Adelaide, this serves as a venue for a multitude of functions, while also showcasing the region’s wine industry. We tried out the various hands-on exhibits, and even got to run a computer program that tests our winemaking prowess. It was a nice little change of pace.
From the gardens, we crossed the street and took a tour of the historic Ayers House. Considered to be one of the finest examples of Colonial Regency architecture, Henry Ayers (of Ayers Rock fame, as well as seven-time Premier, eleven-time Cabinet Minister, and President of the Legislative Council for 12 years) purchased the property in 1871. The site was host to incredible parties, dinners, and luncheons, serving politically important guests through the years. It was a large and lovely home, and a very interesting tour.
Once the tour ended, we had hopes of meeting Hilda, a friend from my Murdoch University days, for lunch. I’d programmed her number into my phone, but of course the flaky thing didn’t save it properly, so we had to book it back to the car to get her number. My feet were a little blistery from all the hiking over the last few days, so Nate ran ahead, and I would meet him on his return. Well, by the time I finally got to the car park, we’d never passed! So I sat outside the building, not sure which exit he’d take, and waited and waited. And waited. The wind blew aggressively and the passers-by looked on coldly. Where was my husband?! More than a half hour passed, and I couldn’t imagine where he was! I started heading back the way I’d come, but turned back, just in case. Finally, from the direction of Ayers House, Nate appeared, freaked out for not having found me. I have absolutely NO idea how we could have missed each other, but it was really worrisome! I joked that he probably thought I liked Australia so much that I just took off and decided to take on a new identity in my new city. But really, how weird! We were so relieved and vowed not to leave each others’ sight again if we could help it.
Number in hand, and much later than I’d intended, I rang Hilda and left her a message. We decided to do some more sight-seeing while awaiting her call, but it was so late I figured she’d be busy back at work. Our next order of business was to find a pie floater. Sounds lovely, yes? Wait ‘til you hear what it is! According to our guidebook, pie floaters are Adelaide’s signature food item. It is an inverted meat pie, sitting in a bowl of thick pea soup and doused with ketchup. Mmm. The locals love ‘em, and other people find them repulsive. Still, I always try to sample the local cuisine. We asked around, and nobody seemed to know what we were talking about. Nate was convinced that this was some sort of elaborate Aussie prank, but a google image search provided us with many actual pictures of such. One person suggested we try the Adelaide Central Market – where anything and everything can be found if it exists. So we headed over to see what was what.
Australian markets are really something else! If it weren’t for the hordes of people, they would be a lot of fun. So many neat and unusual items are sold here, from exotic foods to clothing to odd knickknacks you won’t find in regular shops. We searched hurriedly, pausing at pie shops in particular, all to no avail. The woman at the information kiosk had no clue what we were talking about, either, which was disappointing. I was starting to think we should have braved the drive to North Adelaide to the restaurant that is known for them, but alas. We found our way over to the Asian food court for lunch, instead.
Now, I’m not usually a fan of Asian food (save for sushi), but Australia does it right! They have some of the best Asian food ANYWHERE! The Asian food court is ridiculous! There are at least 20 different places from which to choose, each with a huge menu. I could have sat there all day hemming and hawing about what to eat. Once place had a $5 lunch deal, which is extremely cheap by Aussie standards, so I opted for chicken teriyaki, which was boring but so good! I could see staying in Adelaide just to try all the food!
After lunch, it was starting to get late, and we had a long way to go, so we headed north. Once we made it to Port Augusta, home to the southern end of the famous Stuart Highway, and the last town of any note for a very long time, we tried in vain to find a room. All the places we saw were booked, and no one at the motels could recommend any places beyond what we saw. It was nightfall, and while we were really nervous about driving with the kangaroo danger, we decided we’d head up the Stuart Highway and drive until we found a rest stop, hoping they’d be as common as they were further south.
The Stuart Highway is the only paved road that runs from south to north through the red center of Australia. A two-laned highway for the most part, it is largely uninhabited save for the occasional station (gas, restaurant, convenience store, sometimes lodging) every 100 miles or so. Despite its remoteness, you’re never really that far from other humans, as road trains, enormous trucks that have up to 5 trailers, are a common sight. We were both uncertain about this leg of our journey, mostly because we’d be so far away from civilization, so taking the plunge and starting out in the dark of night was a bit daunting. We were greeted to intense darkness all around, and didn’t pass much of anyone before we made it to a rest stop. We were feeling good and decided to keep going, figuring we’d get as far as we could in what time we had. When we approached the second stop, we thought it best to cease our journey for the night. Another car with a camper was parked there as well, so it appeared that this type of lodging was common. We pulled into a spot far enough away, rolled back our seats (which went back the entire 90 degrees!), and enjoyed the incredible view of stars in the outback sky. The glow from Port Augusta was nearly undetectable. It was just us and the immense vastness of space. Incredible.
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