Adelaide ... A Whole New World

We have made our way to Adelaide and been here over a day already, and boy do we have a lot to share!

Firstly, I've been doing some thinking about Melbourne. On our last morning there, we headed down to Degraves Street (another Bitty suggestion...and yes, Yas, I do think she must be related to Betty White. That is clearly why we adored her!) We had a great brekky at a lovely little cafe. It was definitely delightful. I think our time in Melbourne was just too short. Had we had more time to explore the city and its surroundings, I think our outlook on Melbourne would've been much different. So, for all of you loyal readers out there, don't give up hope that Victoria's fine city just yet. We haven't!

But immediately upon landing in Adelaide, we felt a different vibe. As we were waiting for the shuttle to pick us up, we found ourselves in the middle of quite a colorful group of people. As we were looking around trying to find our way out of the crowd, a guy asked us if we were part of the Lady Gaga/Pussy Cat Dolls crew. I believe you know that answer to that question, but we were amused none the less to find ourselves mixed up with the crew for the two groups. AJ even had a run in with one of them, but I'm sure he'll update you on that interaction.

As we rode the shuttle into town, we noticed was a personality this city has. It is surrounded by rolling hills and green land (We later found out from our tour guide that the city was built under the assumption that it was under imminent attack from the French, so there's a canon shot and a half distance around the city.) And once we got into the city proper (which is only one square mile big), it was loaded with charm! We equated it to being like Northampton in Western Mass, but bigger. We checked into our next hostel, Backpack Oz, and Sam, one of the owners, gave us a rundown of the city. He also suggested us getting an extra layer before heading to Kangaroo Island so that we stay warm, so we decided that our first stop in town was going to be Rundle Street, Adelaide's largest outdoor mall.

On Rundle Street, we browsed through a number of the outdoor shops and then went into Target. That's right friends, Australia has Target! It's a wee bit different than our Target at home, but it's Target none the less. Though we weren't able to find a fleece option, we still enjoyed our trip to one of our favorite stores. Then we headed back down the street to the Columbia Outdoor Shop, where they had heavy fleeces for good prices. I also got to talk with an adorable guy (who we now call my Adelaide boyfriend). He was friendly and cute, with a hint of freckles on his face. If my father hadn't forbade me to move to Australia, I would've married him on the spot! Alas, our time together ended, and AJ and I headed back onto Rundle Street to find a place to eat. This is where we met AJ's boyfriend, the host/bus boy, who was extremely awkward and dodgy, but couldn't stop talking to AJ every time I left his side. Hilarious! Then we headed back to the hostel for a good night's rest before our first guided tour.

Today, we left the hostel around 7:30 to grab a bite to eat before being picked up by Billy, our tour guide from Groovy Grape Getaways, taking us on a day trip to Barossa Valley, Australia's most famous wine region. We were joind by 15 other travellers from all over the globe (New Zealand, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, England). On our way to Barossa, we stopped at the most amazing place ever...THE WORLD'S LARGEST ROCKING HORSE! That's right folks, AJ and I climbed our way to the top of this amazing sight and got a certificate afterwards verifying our achievement. Incredible. Then it was off to our first of four vineyards. I couldn't help thinking of all my SAS friends and our fantastic wine tasting trip in South Africa. It brought many smiles to my face.

Before lunch, we visited Jacob's Creek, Vine Crest and Richmond Grove. We tasted about eight wines at each place, and learned about the process. No matter how many tastings I go to, I seem to learn a little more each time (or I commit a little more to memory each time). Between two of the vineyards, we had our first kangaroo sighting. They were grazing on the side of the road, and my heart raced at the sight of them. And by lunch, we and our new friends were having a great time. While we were doing the third tasting, Billy grilled us up a lovely barbecue lunch of sausage, burgers, kebabs and KANGAROO! That's right...within hours of seeing our first kangaroos in the wild, we ate our first kangaroo. It was actually quite good. A bit more tender than beef, and not at all gamey. I highly recommend it! AJ and I bought a bottle of wine to share at lunch, so by the time the barbecue was done, we were quite full. But we had one more vineyard to go (Stepplefields) before heading back to town.

At the last vineyard, we talked a lot with the other American on the tour. She is spending a year in Australia working (doing BUNAC, Elyse!) before heading back to the states to look for a real job. After ten minutes of conversation, she had AJ planning his move to Australia. I'm going to do my best to bring him home with me, but even if I do, I think he'll become an ex-patriate within the year. And though I'd miss him desperately, I'd be happy to come visit him often!

Our tour ended with a trip to the Whispering Wall, a dam that is built in such a way that if you stand on one side and someone stands on the other, you can hear each other clear as day without speaking any lounder than a whisper. Billy even played for us his didgeridoo from the other side of the dam!

We were sad to say goodbye to our new friends when Billy dropped us back of at Backpackers Oz. We popped in to use the loo before heading back out to stop at the grocery store to get snacks for our upcoming trip to Kangaroo Island and grab dinner in Chinatown. We found an amazing restaurant, E Shan, where we had delicious Chinese food! Amazing!

Tomorrow, we leave bright and early for our overnight trip to Kangaroo Island. We are extremely excited and are heading up to our room now to pack for the adventure. We probably won't get internet time again for a few days (once we're in Alice Springs), so when next we "talk" we'll have lots of new stories from the road. Until then, keep up the commentary because we love reading it!

Cheers, all!