Adelaide

This morning started way to early with the buzz of the doorbell at 6:47 AM. I was none too happy to be awakened at this hour, even for breakfast. We were just coming in to dock about 7:30 and we saw that the outside temperature was already 70 degrees and a clear sunny day. I can’t tell you how excited we were. Upon arrival an Australian trio playing songs with local flavor greeted us. It was great to stand out on our balcony and listen to them play. Click below for a brief clip:

We had to be down to the bus at 8:15 to begin our half-day tour. Adelaide is a beautiful city that is the capital and largest city of the state of South Australia. It was founded in 1836 by Colonel William Light, the first Surveyor-General of South Australia. He planned the layout of the streets from scratch and incorporated a large amount of green space and parks with in the city so it doesn’t seem like a place where 1.2 million people live. It was a longer trip from the port than we had anticipated, close to 45 minutes. We drove around to see the highlights including the building from which the city grid begins.

Many of the buildings were a combination of brick and blue stone, such a beautiful combination.

We also stopped to see the statue of William Light.

The largest square is in the center of town and is called Victoria Square. We drove past the beautiful botanic gardens and adjacent park where there were trees with roots like I have never seen.

We then went to Tandanya, which is a local Aboriginal gallery with paintings and other artwork of various tribes. The sidewalk as you approach even had the traditional icons of Aboriginal art such as the serpent, turtle, and all of the dots.

Considering all of the lectures we’ve been to and our attempts at this style of artwork it made the stop very interesting and gave us some ideas to try in the future. I think Mom and I have both decided that we’re going to get some watercolors and maybe even acrylic paint when we got home to try our hand at some more “art”.

After this stop it was on to Penfolds winery up in the hills. On our trip us we saw many of the beautiful homes with the “Australian Lace” ironwork, much of it was painted white and other light colors. There were also fences made out of this thatched material.

The winery is quite small compared to many of those in Napa, but they have many wonderful wines, which we tasted. Being in Southern Australia the reds were a Shiraz or Shiraz blend. We loved their dessert offerings, especially this sweet Viongier that you can only buy there at the cellar. It seems as though time just flies on these excursions, and before we knew it we had to leave.

We again stopped in the city center before heading back to the ship. Due to traffic our trip back took just over an hour. Since the weather was very warm and clear skies we donned our bathing suits and went up to the pool deck where we had some lunch and soaked up some sun. We figured it would be good for Mom’s cold. I think the high was around 90 today, which is a far cry from seeing snow in Tasmania on Monday – and it’s any wonder we’ve been sick??? This evening was casual and we were going to dine up in La Terrazza, but somehow had an invite over the phone about 6:45 from one of the ship’s officers. We opted to keep our other reservation since we love the Italian cuisine so much and since it was a gorgeous evening we decided to eat outside. We arrived just as the sun set, and wow was it beautiful.

Our dinner was just lovely – I could eat pasta every day, and in fact I think I have. We stopped back by to listen to Eric and then called it a night. Tonight we have to move forward that ½ hour that we gained just two nights ago. I still just don’t get it. Tomorrow is at sea, so we can sleep in!