fifty shades of australian adventure

Saturday, 28 July, 2012 - 8:20 pm

As I sit here and listen to the Olympics with Aussie commentators, I realize I haven't written in my blog in quite some time. I'm pretty terrible at keeping up with things like this, so I'm going to try to catch up with the main events without boring you too badly. ;)


July 14 - Victor Harbor

 I went to Victor Harbor with Ella, one of the girls with whom I've connected during my time here. It's about an hour's drive from the Adelaide area, and it was pouring down rain by the time we got there. Unfazed, we popped our umbrellas and meandered around a farmer's market, where we tasted local jams and bread. We wandered around the downtown streets and worried that the rain wouldn't end. We stopped in at a small cafe for tea and by the time we were done, the rain was gone! We walked the half-kilometer causeway bridge to Granite Island, a small rock island that is home to beautiful views of the ocean (including a sighting of a whale in the harbor!) and a tiny colony of Fairy Penguins, the smallest penguins in the world. Unfortunately, we didn't see any wild penguins, but we did get some amazing views and even got to hold some bearded lizards! We came home and made some tasty salads for tea and watched "Singin' in the Rain."


July 15 - Kangaroo Island

I have been using my American phone as an alarm; this day, the one day I really need it to wake me up, is the one day it decides to run its battery dead in the middle of the night. Fortunately, Flick is a wonderful person and wakes me up just in time to leave the house. She drives me over to the Adelaide Central Bus Station, where I catch a bus south to Port Jervis. I then spend the day on a day tour with a tour company; we drive all over Kangaroo Island, the third largest island off the coast of Australia. It's known for having pristine natural environments and populations of rare seals and sea lions. The ferry ride crossing the channel between the mainland and KI was pretty rough; the water was really choppy and the boat rocked and rolled its way through the 45-minute trip. After landing on KI, we hopped on the tour bus--it was over 35 of us, most of the group being a large Asian family on holiday. However, I did meet an American couple who was from Texas and a few Parisians on the trip. We spent the day driving the red dirt roads of the island, stopping at the Emu River Eucalyptus Oil Factory (the only one in South Australia), a nature preserve where we had lunch in the visitors' center, Seal Bay (where we had a guided tour down to the beach and saw wild Australian seals firsthand), a eucalyptus grove (complete with a close-up encounter with an echidna and koalas in the trees), and Flinders Chase (a massive national park). At FC we saw Remarkable Rocks, a colossal set of granite boulders that are perched on a cliff overlooking the ocean; a breeding colony of New Zealand fur seals; a still-operational lighthouse; a couple of small wave-beaten islands; and Admiral's Arch, a huge archway that contains fossilized tree roots. It was the farthest south that I had ever been (3000 miles from the South Pole) and a day full of marveling at God's creation.


July 16 - Murray Bridge/Mannum

I met up with Paula (one of the ladies who volunteers at the cafe) and we drove about an hour to the little town of Murray Bridge, a small town situated on the Murray River, the largest river in Australia. It wasn't much to see, but at least I've been there! I learned about the Bunyip (the aboriginal equivalent of a river troll) and visited the small town of Mannum, another one that sits on the Murray. (We got fussed at by a grumpy busybody who was upset that we were throwing leftover fries to the birds on the river.)  On the way home, we stopped at a small park that was in the middle of farmlands. There's one group of hills in the area that are not connected with the Adelaide Hills range; this small group holds a beautiful granite canyon that is named Waterfall Gully. Lucky for us, it's been raining, so the water was gushing down the ravine. It was a picturesque sight and made me feel the natural heartbeat of the land called Australia.


July 17 - Norwood

Since Mark and Karen (our IMB coordinators who live in Adelaide) were out of the country for a few days, they offered their home in the lovely suburb of Norwood to me for a change of scenery. Kate Z came over for dinner, and we enjoyed watching television and making a fancy garlic and mushroom pasta dinner.

July 23 - Barossa Valley

 One of the older couples in the church (Pete and Marg) offered to take me around the Barossa Valley, an area about an hour from Adelaide that is the state's largest wine-producing region. It's also home to a few unique villages begun by immigrants to Australia in the 19th century--the Germans to the village of Tununda and the British to the township of Elizabeth. It was a day full of architectural history, walking through the free section of a winery (the tour was over $65 per person, so we decided to pass), and a beautiful overlook of the entire valley.

July 24 - Adelaide Gaol and Rundle Mall

I had a final day off where I decided to go into the City center one last time. I went to the Adelaide Gaol, the main jail of South Australia from the 1880s until the 1980s. Over 50 people were executed there and are interred on the grounds, and the place has an extensive history of discipline and law enforcement. I went to Rundle Mall for the final time, where I purchased souvenirs and items off of my wish list to bring home. I also happened to get on the wrong bus not once, but twice during the day. It's surprisingly difficult to figure out the Adelaide Metro when you're trying to get to Norwood. My Facebook status for the day:
"Sleep in.
Have a morning on the computer prepping to come home.
Get on the right bus in the wrong direction and take an hour to make a 10-minute trip to the City.
Go to the Adelaide Gaol and creep myself out a little.
Have an Aussie burger for lunch.
Spend ALOT of money on souvenirs.
AGAIN get on the right bus in the wrong direction and take an hour and 15 minutes to make a 10-minute trip (but have a lovely conversation with the bus driver).
Go grocery shopping and find out that Aussies have a limited choice of hot spices and sausages (but they have Tabasco!).
Make the most horrible red beans and rice I've ever made.
Sortof save it by boiling it down and adding a bit of Louisiana Hot Sauce.
Watch Monsters, Inc.
Email the theater at home with my availability (can't wait to get back to work!).
Get ready to settle down with another movie and some of Maggie Beer's burnt fig, honeycomb, and caramel ice cream (it was on sale).
Realize I've only got 5 days left in Adelaide.
Smile. Life is good. :)" 
Update: this evening I admitted defeat and chucked the horrible awful red beans and started over; I made a pretty decent chicken gumbo, despite the absence of okra in Australia.


July 27 - Tea Tree Plaza


For my final day off, I went to Tea Tree Plaza (the big shopping mall where I first had an opportunity to people-watch in Australia). I did some final shopping and got my supplies for packing and went to see a movie. It was a fitting farewell to the major shopping center in the area where I've spent a few happy days. In the evening, I went to my final footy game, the Norwood Redlegs vs. Port Adelaide Magpies. It was rainy and very cold, but it was a great farewell to a game that I've come to love. (Also it helped that one of the players gave me a team scarf. Smiley!)