Two days in Adelaide

We arrive in Adelaide after having driven 770 miles from Melbourne. And it’s at Gwen’s and Pascal’s place that we settle down for three nights. Gwen was Matt’s high school PE teacher. A few weeks before leaving for our trip, Pascal saw that Matt had changed his status on LinkedIn to “backpacking around the world”, and sent him a message saying that we were welcomed in Adelaide. Indeed, Pascal, Gwen and their three kids moved to Australia a year and a half ago. Matt is excited to see them all after 10 years. So we showed up on their doorstep and couldn’t ask for a better welcome. We even get our own bedroom for three nights, so we abandon our dear van (I am sure it will understand).

We spend an awesome first evening with a BBQ and French Crepes for desert. We were received like kings !

The next day, Gwen proposes to take us to visit the CBD by bike. Awesome idea, so off we go the three of us to discover the city.

We start with Chinatown, smaller than the one in Melbourne, but where we can find many Chinese shops and restaurants. And of course the usual Chinese arch.

Right next door we find the central market. One of the biggest fruit and veggie indoor market in Australia.

We stroll down the aisles between fruits, veggies and cheese.

There are even little cafes and a book store.

We hop back on our bikes, and cruise along the main avenue : King William Street. We pass the town hall, decorated for Christmas.

Until we arrive at North Terrace, where you can find all the museums and the University of Adelaide.

Gwen has to leave around lunch time, so we continue on our own and go to Rundle Mall, a nice big pedestrian street.

All the major brands have a shop here like Apple, Nike or H&M, there are also some restaurants, cafes or arcades.

It seems like they really do like their arcades here in Australia. They are all very pretty and already decorated for Christmas.

We get back  on our bikes and go to visit the campus of the university.

And then around the Adelaide Oval. Stadium used for cricket and Australian football matches.

Right next by is the St Peter’s cathedral.

As we get towards the Torrens River, we spot a road-sign warning us of ducks and ducklings crossing. That made us laugh a bit. We had already seen this sign for kangaroos, koalas or cows, but never for ducks before.

The ride along the river is very pleasant. We can see here the city’s convention center and plenty of nice restaurants.

We then make our way near the zoo, where Gwen told us we could see bats hanging from trees. And as we arrive we were shocked, there were bats hanging on from every branches. These things were huge, we had never seen bats so large. And they were super loud as well.

We get back to Pascal’s and Gwen’s place in the afternoon, where many of the houses have this particular architecture.

For our last day in Adelaide we spend the morning at the Gorge Wildlife Park. It is an animal park where we can see a lot of animals present in Australia. You also have the possibility there to feed the kangaroos and hold a koala. That was enough to convince Maider.

When we arrive at the park, we are almost all alone. So we decide to start by going to feed the kangaroos.

We stay with them for at least half an hour. Pretty quickly we are surrounded by kangaroos that are attracted by the food.

There are many kangaroos carrying their little one in the front pocket.

Maider is thrilled. This was an item on her bucket list. The kangaroos are all so cute. And not aggressive at all. We spend an incredible moment with all them, and feel like there is nobody else on earth.

We then wander in the parc.

And we see wallabies,

meerkats,

wombats,

monkeys,

 and plenty of birds.

One actually looks like an American president (we will let you guess which one, just look at the haircut).

A few alligators were napping in the sun.

And the penguins (the same ones that we saw in Melbourne) were hiding in the rocks.

To finish, we get to meet the koalas.

These cute little fury animals that we have trouble spotting since we arrived.

And here we even get to hold them in our arms! Another one of Maider’s dreams (yes she has a lot).

They hold on to us and their little branch of eucalyptus! The one we held weighed around 20 lbs. Their fur is super soft. An awesome experience!

We leave the park super happy with the morning we spent there.

Given the beautiful weather today we decide to go to the coast and wander around Glenelg, a coastal neighborhood of Adelaide. The beach is huge and we park right by the ocean to enjoy our lunch. Unfortunately there is a pretty cold wind, so we won’t go for a swim this time. So we just go for a walk on the beach.

We do a little grocery shopping and fill up the gas before heading to Port Augusta the next day.

For our last evening in Adelaide, Pascal and Gwen invite us to a trendy rooftop bar in Adelaide. And because it is trendy, it means we have to dress well (at least better than walking boots, hiking shorts and a tee-shirt). So we run into the same problem we had in Argentina for the Tango show, meaning we have nothing good enough to wear! But this time we have friends we can borrow clothes from. So Matt dresses up as Pascal, while Maider dresses up as Gwen. We arrive at the rooftop for sunset and the colors are incredible.

We spend one last great evening with them.

We had a great time with the Soulard family during these few days in Adelaide and felt super welcomed in their home. We also loved the city and clearly understand why it’s in the top 10 of most livable cities in the world.