Let me be the first to say, I was wrong. I don’t admit to being wrong very often (despite often being wrong), but when it comes to Adelaide, I was wrong.
My first trip to Adelaide was in January 2001. At the time Adelaide was in the midst of a two week heat wave. I arrived on day 12 of daytime temperatures toping 40 degrees Celsius. To a Canadian that is hot. I went with a friend and essentially stayed inside most of the three days I was there. I remember Adelaide being hot, and having a very minuscule skyline. Both of these things are true, but I now know that Adelaide is a lot more than that.
We left Portsea and the Borthwicks with a nine hour (plus) drive ahead. We have three small children, so we intelligently broke that into two days. We arrived in Adelaide on Thursday afternoon and despite the small blip of being locked out of our place and having to wait for our friend Boris (nice guy, not like Rocky and Bullwinkle Boris) to let us in, things went smoothly.
Ulrika had booked us a place last minute (when we two other places we fancied were already taken) in an area of the city known as Glenelg. Though the apartment itself was nothing fancy, it was very clean and had a nice amount of room for the family. What was great was the location of the apartment. What do you need when you are in Australia on a beautiful Easter weekend.
#1 – Close to sand beach… yup, only two blocks off.
#2 – Close to running trail… yup, one ran for kilometers along the beach.
#3 – Close to a church… yup, a very nice one only 3 blocks away, so we walked back and forth.
#4 – Close to a really nice area of town where we could eat, pick up supplies and just walk around… yup, Jetty Street was a three minute walk away and just what was needed.
#5 – Affordable. Didn’t you know if you spell Wismer backwards you it spells ‘cheap’ (don’t try this at home).
This last minute place was ideal. With that established, on to what we did all weekend.
Thursday night we had some really good lamb burgers (it was the night of the Last Supper after all) near our place at this super hip burger place then went to Mass. It had been a long day so we hit the sack pretty early… good call as Niall is teething and decided to wake up very early the next morning. Still in darkness I let my dear wife keep sleeping and decided to explore. Luckily, Niall and I (and the other dad from Queensland who was out with his infant son giving mom a bit more sleep) were at the end of the Glenelg Jetty to watch the sunrise over the Adelaide Hills. Beautiful moment of the day version one. In case you didn’t know (you shouldn’t know), Glenelg (a bay sheltered from the major southern swell) was the place that the British first landed when establishing Adelaide and the state of South Australia (I learned this by reading a statue by the base of the jetty). Niall and I then walked along the waterfront path, me stumbling, and Niall charming all the other early morning walkers with his cute, lopsided smile. He then fell asleep and I acquired a coffee as early morning became day. After breakfast at the apartment, we wandered the waterfront with the family, watched a stingray swim by the jetty, played in the park for a bit, went to a beautiful Good Friday Mass, went to the beach for a while and played in the sand and waves and just had an all-in-all wonderful day as a family.
My first trip to Adelaide was in January 2001. At the time Adelaide was in the midst of a two week heat wave. I arrived on day 12 of daytime temperatures toping 40 degrees Celsius. To a Canadian that is hot. I went with a friend and essentially stayed inside most of the three days I was there. I remember Adelaide being hot, and having a very minuscule skyline. Both of these things are true, but I now know that Adelaide is a lot more than that.
We left Portsea and the Borthwicks with a nine hour (plus) drive ahead. We have three small children, so we intelligently broke that into two days. We arrived in Adelaide on Thursday afternoon and despite the small blip of being locked out of our place and having to wait for our friend Boris (nice guy, not like Rocky and Bullwinkle Boris) to let us in, things went smoothly.
Ulrika had booked us a place last minute (when we two other places we fancied were already taken) in an area of the city known as Glenelg. Though the apartment itself was nothing fancy, it was very clean and had a nice amount of room for the family. What was great was the location of the apartment. What do you need when you are in Australia on a beautiful Easter weekend.
#1 – Close to sand beach… yup, only two blocks off.
#2 – Close to running trail… yup, one ran for kilometers along the beach.
#3 – Close to a church… yup, a very nice one only 3 blocks away, so we walked back and forth.
#4 – Close to a really nice area of town where we could eat, pick up supplies and just walk around… yup, Jetty Street was a three minute walk away and just what was needed.
#5 – Affordable. Didn’t you know if you spell Wismer backwards you it spells ‘cheap’ (don’t try this at home).
This last minute place was ideal. With that established, on to what we did all weekend.
Thursday night we had some really good lamb burgers (it was the night of the Last Supper after all) near our place at this super hip burger place then went to Mass. It had been a long day so we hit the sack pretty early… good call as Niall is teething and decided to wake up very early the next morning. Still in darkness I let my dear wife keep sleeping and decided to explore. Luckily, Niall and I (and the other dad from Queensland who was out with his infant son giving mom a bit more sleep) were at the end of the Glenelg Jetty to watch the sunrise over the Adelaide Hills. Beautiful moment of the day version one. In case you didn’t know (you shouldn’t know), Glenelg (a bay sheltered from the major southern swell) was the place that the British first landed when establishing Adelaide and the state of South Australia (I learned this by reading a statue by the base of the jetty). Niall and I then walked along the waterfront path, me stumbling, and Niall charming all the other early morning walkers with his cute, lopsided smile. He then fell asleep and I acquired a coffee as early morning became day. After breakfast at the apartment, we wandered the waterfront with the family, watched a stingray swim by the jetty, played in the park for a bit, went to a beautiful Good Friday Mass, went to the beach for a while and played in the sand and waves and just had an all-in-all wonderful day as a family.
Saturday was another great day. Ulrika and I both went for nice jogs along the waterfront and then as a family we headed up to get a better view of the city from the Adelaide Hills. From the top of Mount Lofty (aptly named), the tallest hill in the area had a stunning view over the city and out over the bay. Though not a perfectly clear day, it was still quite beautiful. On the way back down, we stopped outside the Cleland Wildlife Park and had a picnic lunch. There we saw some very placid kookaburras and kangaroos, which pleased the kids greatly because they actually got to study them for a while. So did we. What is interesting about kangaroos is that if you cut their heads of and stuck them on the head of a North American whitetail deer, you could barely tell it doesn’t belong. It’s odd, seeing as their bodies are so very different. We pondered this for about 8 seconds before Ulrika and I rushed the kids off to the adult destination of the day… Penfolds Winery!!!
At Penfolds, we were buzzing. Not literally, but figuratively. It was odd to be at such an iconic winery that is so well known in North America. Penfolds is far from a boutique winery – owned by a very large company that owns many of the notable Australian wines that show up on North American shelves. In ways though, that’s why we loved visiting. When we arrived the place was pretty quiet, but things quickly picked up. As fairly novice wine drinkers, we were quite pleased we could do a tasting menu for free. Well, mostly for free – the Grange – which is a $950 a bottle wine – was $25. We considered it, as there are very few occasions (never?) that we have the opportunity to drink such pricy wine. But we didn’t bite. I must admit, the $200 a bottle Cabernet Sauvignon wasn’t too bad either. What was (almost) as enjoyable as the wine was the guy serving us. He was this about 6’5”, wine-loving, late-20s stud who was about as magazine cover modelish as one could hope to find. I think he ended up selling many a bottle of wine to the ladies that visited the cellar. Unfortunately the kids got a bit rowdy (not because of drinking too much wine… don’t worry) so we had to hurry things a bit. We escaped with a (relatively) affordable case of wine. We figured, when in Rome… a great visit on a beautiful day.
We then headed to the Central Business District. We had a date with the Adelaide Central Market and a yet to be discovered yummy coffee shop (in the end, easily discovered). We walked around for a couple of hours downtown and then, with a roast duck from Chinatown, headed home to make dinner and rest after a great day out in the city.
At Penfolds, we were buzzing. Not literally, but figuratively. It was odd to be at such an iconic winery that is so well known in North America. Penfolds is far from a boutique winery – owned by a very large company that owns many of the notable Australian wines that show up on North American shelves. In ways though, that’s why we loved visiting. When we arrived the place was pretty quiet, but things quickly picked up. As fairly novice wine drinkers, we were quite pleased we could do a tasting menu for free. Well, mostly for free – the Grange – which is a $950 a bottle wine – was $25. We considered it, as there are very few occasions (never?) that we have the opportunity to drink such pricy wine. But we didn’t bite. I must admit, the $200 a bottle Cabernet Sauvignon wasn’t too bad either. What was (almost) as enjoyable as the wine was the guy serving us. He was this about 6’5”, wine-loving, late-20s stud who was about as magazine cover modelish as one could hope to find. I think he ended up selling many a bottle of wine to the ladies that visited the cellar. Unfortunately the kids got a bit rowdy (not because of drinking too much wine… don’t worry) so we had to hurry things a bit. We escaped with a (relatively) affordable case of wine. We figured, when in Rome… a great visit on a beautiful day.
We then headed to the Central Business District. We had a date with the Adelaide Central Market and a yet to be discovered yummy coffee shop (in the end, easily discovered). We walked around for a couple of hours downtown and then, with a roast duck from Chinatown, headed home to make dinner and rest after a great day out in the city.
Sunday started early with packing up the apartment and 7am Mass at the Adelaide Cathedral. It was a very nice Mass and soon after we hit the road – our care tracking the familiar (to it) scent of the Williamson (Fiona Fitzgerald’s maiden name) family farm near Portland, Victoria. The trip took us the vast vineyards of the Coonawarra and through huge pine and blue gum plantations of the southern regions of South Australia and Western Victoria. It is incredible how diverse the scenery is in this area and how varied the landscapes. After a quick stop at the Shrine of Saint Mary MacKillop, Australia’s first saint, we continued the short distance through to the Williamson farm (that’s for another post).
Adelaide and the country around you, I apologize for doubting your splendor and goodness. I hope to see you again sometime. To taste drink your wine and coffee, enjoy your beaches and hills and just to relax and take in your beauty.
Adelaide and the country around you, I apologize for doubting your splendor and goodness. I hope to see you again sometime. To taste drink your wine and coffee, enjoy your beaches and hills and just to relax and take in your beauty.