Hello hello, here's the second part of my holiday adventures around Australia! South Australia here we come!
Friday 04/01
Friday morning we had our bags packed in the back of the car and we were on our way to the airport. The boys were driving to Hahndorf, while Cathy and I flew to explore Adelaide for the day. We had our day-packs with us and rest of the luggage in the car. Our flight was at nine o'clock from Tullamarine airport and we arrived in Adelaide around ten. We took a bus from the airport to the Adelaide Central Market where we browsed the fruit and meat stands, bakeries and cafes. From there we went to lunch at Crack Kitchen, which was a really cool cafe. We had smoked salmon on toast with eggs and avocado, and afterwards also coffees.
After lunch we headed to MOD (museum of discovery) and there we took part in a survey, played video games and relaxed in sleeping pods (and other stuff). The museum was very interesting, and the next destination on our little trip was the State Library of South Australia, where we looked around different exhibitions and also visited the Centre of Democracy. The library itself was beautiful and I really felt like I was in Hogwarts. Our afternoon in Adelaide was coming to an end and we caught a bus to Hahndorf where we were staying for the night. the bus ride wasn't too long and also the boys had arrived there about fifteen minutes before us. Their drive through Victoria and South Australia had been good, but hot. The maximum temperature outside had been 46°C. Cathy and I had gotten away from the heat wave just in time that day.
We got settled in the airbnb and then went out to have a little look at the town. Hahndorf is a small town in Adelaide Hills and it was heavily influenced by the German settlers, so the town has a very Central European feel to it. We walked past the shops and then went to have dinner in a German restaurant. Dinner was good, then we went back and just relaxed after a long day.
Saturday 05/01
Saturday morning we said goodbye to Hahndorf and drove to Cape Jervis, where we took the ferry to Kangaroo Island. On the way there we stopped in Mount Barker to go to the fresh food market to do some groceries. From Cape Jervis the ferry ride took a bit less than an hour, so we were in Penneshaw, on Kangaroo Island some time after twelve. First we went to the tourist information centre and from there to lunch at the Fat Beagle cafe. Then we drove to our accommodation in Dudley, Antechamber Bay Retreats. The house we were staying at was pretty historical since it was the first house ever built on Kangaroo Island which was pretty cool. The view to the sea was also amazing and you could also see "the mainland".
We unloaded the car and went to see our own beach. The beaches on Kangaroo Island are absolutely beautiful and our beaches weren't an exception. We had a big beach and a smaller beach. We saw a big kangaroo under a fig tree right by our house and that was really cool too. Then we had to get back to the house to cook dinner because we had guests coming over. Mike's friend from uni was also on holiday on Kangaroo Island so we had a BBQ in the evening. We also had a four legged visitor, the people who own the retreats have a sheep farm and four sheep dogs and one of them came over very interested in our BBQ. The dog was called Mocky, and he became a frequent visitor at the house :3.
Sunday 06/01
Sunday morning we went for a swim in the small beach, had breakfast and then drove to Penneshaw to see what the Sunday market was like. It was quite busy, and we bought some local produce like honey and bread. In the afternoon we went for a walk along the beach to the near by light house. The walk wasn't the most successful since the pathways weren't the easiest to walk in thongs but we survived (almost haha). Because the walk wasn't the easiest, Tom, Ollie and I decided to swim some of the way back to the house. We must have swum at least a kilometre, but that was fun because it was a warm day and the water was refreshing but not too cold. So we swam in the clear water for most of the way and I really enjoyed it :)
Then we stopped at the small beach for a final swim and walked to the house. For the rest of the evening we didn't do too much, we had dinner, spotted some kangaroos while the sun was setting and then went to bed.
Monday 07/01
On Monday we had decided it would be nice to drive up to Kingscote, which is the biggest town in KI. We left in the late morning and arrived to American River at about eleven o'clock. We went to and oyster shop and saw some pelicans flying around on the beach. From there we drove to Kingscote, had lunch at a place called Cactus, and then looked around the shops a little bit. We also stocked up on some essential food items in the supermarket. We took a different way back to Antechamber Bay, so we stopped at an eucalyptus oil distillery and a honey farm.
That trip took us pretty much the whole day so when we got back it was time for dinner and more kangaroo spotting.
Tuesday 08/01
Tuesday morning we went swimming again, and for breakfast I made Finnish pancakes. For lunch we went to Dudley Cellar Door and we shared really good fancy pizzas, yum. Then after lunch we went for a swim on the beach. The rest of the day was nice, we had dinner, played card games and watched some TV.
Wednesday 09/01
Wednesday morning we had say good bye to our lovely house at Antechamber Bay, but we were also excited about our stay at another house in a different part of the island. The second place we were staying was called Vivonne Bay and it's on the south coast of the island. The drive took us almost two hours, and when we got there we checked out the beach, unpacked our stuff and the next activity was seeing the sea lions in Seal Bay. We got a guide who took us to the beach so we could get quite close to the sea lions and he told us all about them too. When we'd finished our tour, we went on a boardwalk to a lookout point and down on the beach where you could still see the sea lions and also a whale skeleton.
We left Seal Bay and drove back to Vivonne Bay. After dinner we went for a walk through the bush to the beach.
Thursday 10/01
Thursday was Tom's 18th birthday and we did quite a lot of things. First we had a fat biking tour on the Little Sahara sand dunes in the morning. Our tour started at ten and first we rode through a bush trail, where we saw a massive beehive, an (empty) eagle's nest and a few koalas as well. The second part of the tour was on the sand dunes. At first it was difficult to ride on sand, but once I got started it got easier and I got used to it. We rode down a big sand dune which was a tiny bit scary at first but really fun. Fat biking was fun, I'd never done it before but even though it was pretty exhausting I enjoyed it. Then we went to grab some lunch at the general store that was also a cafe/restaurant.
After lunch we drove straight to Raptor Domain, where we saw a bird show. They had different birds, all the way from owls to eagles. After that we drove to the beach and went for a swim. Then we had a nice dinner, watched cricket and later we went out to see the koalas in the trees near by. We saw four for five koalas really close and that was sooo cool.
Friday 11/01
On Friday we drove to Flinders Chase national park in the west end of the island. First we went to see the light house and then walked on a boardwalk to see the seals and the Admirals Arch. There were so many seals and pups surfing the waves and chilling in the sun :3 It was really cool to see them all in the wild and and the arch was beautiful too.
Next up were the Remarkable Rocks. It's a rock formation that's been shaped by erosion. They were a really cool work of nature to see. Then we went to have some lunch at the visitor center's cafe and funnily enough we saw some more koalas at the parking lot. After lunch we started driving back to Vivonne Bay but stopped on the way for a swim on the prettiest beach we'd seen on the island. It was a small, sheltered bay and the water was really a really clear turquoise colour. That was definitely my favourite beach on the island. It was getting a bit late so we decided to drive back to the airbnb and have dinner.
Saturday 12/01
Saturday morning we had to leave Vivonne Bay and drive back to Penneshaw to catch the ferry back to the mainland. We had some extra time at Penneshaw, so we stopped at the Fat Beagle for a morning coffee. Then we got on the ferry, got off the ferry and started our drive back to Melbourne. We drove through Victor Harbor and stopped at Port Elliot to have a lunch break. We ate at The Retro Vibe cafe, which was quite nice, then strolled along the streets for a little bit and carried on driving.
We drove on the north side of Lake Alexandrina and took the little ferry across the Murray river. Then we carried on through Keith to Penola, where Cathy had booked us another airbnb to stay in for the night. I think the drive all the way from Cape Jervis to Penola took us about four hours. After we'd arrived we went for dinner at the Heyward's Royal Oak Hotel. We had a really nice meal, I ate a beetroot risotto which was good. The restaurant was very close so we just walked back to the accommodation and went to bed.
Sunday 13/01
In the morning we hit the road again, but as we were in the famous Coonawarra wine region we had to stop at two wineries on the way :). Then we carried on driving, we drove through Hamilton until it was lunch time again and we stopped at Dunkeld to eat at The Old Bakery. Lunch was good and soon we were off on the road again, driving through Victoria all the way to Melbourne. We arrived in Camberwell a bit before six, and in total we'd spent maybe five hours in the car on Sunday.
Once we got back, everyone was pretty tired so we just ate dinner, and I had to unpack my bag and pack it again for my flight back to the Gold Coast the next day.
Monday 14/01
Monday was my last day in Melbourne, so I finalised my packing and got my plane ticket ready to go. My flight wasn't until 14.55 so we had time to meet one of Cathy's friends for a coffee at Maling Road. The coffee was very nice and then we had to go to get some lunch. After we'd had lunch, I said my goodbyes and Cathy took me to the airport. My flight was fine, and I arrived on the Gold Coast a bit after four in the afternoon.
Thank you so much to Cathy and Mike for inviting me, I had the best time! I got to see and experience so many cool new things which I'm super grateful for. I went to three new states, saw some really beautiful places and got to spend some time with you guys :) Already looking forward to seeing you again in July!
But that's it for my holidays now :) Thanks for reading and keeping up with my updates!
xx