June 28/June 30: Adelaide and Surrounds

School Term Two ended on June 25th and it was time to head out on another Aussie Adventure. We used the weekend to tie up loose ends, visit with a fellow ITF exchange teacher from Ireland and his son and make last-minute preparations for our trip to the Red Centre. We left early on the 28th taking the Metro to Southern Cross Railway Station and then the Skybus to the Airport for our flight to Adelaide. We were trying something new, since we’d used airport parking for the car in previous trips.

The flight was short and non-eventful, bringing us in to Adelaide at midday where we were met by the daughter of a fellow Winnipeg exchange teacher who is based in Adelaide. She took us to our downtown hotel, the Comfort Hotel Adelaide Riviera, and then our quick tour of the Adelaide highlights began. Adelaide is much smaller in size than Melbourne and so is relatively easy to get around by walking. Our first point of interest was walking past the Adelaide Parliament House.

Our hotel was located near the Museum

and the Art Gallery. We made short order of the marvellous highlights of these institutions, which included a lot of early history and plenty of Indigenous Art and Artifact displays.

We even found a tribute to our own Canadian beaver in the museum! In the Art Gallery, there was a special exhibit of a monumental sculpture entitled the "Big Mother". It is a large 1.75 metre high sculpture, made from silicone, fibreglass, leather and human hair by a Melbourne artist. It was inspired by the true story of a baboon whose own baby died while she was still nursing, and who abducted a human child as a substitute. The baby was recovered unharmed. The sculpture was very realistic and the artist had captured the pain and anguish within the very soulful eyes of the baboon.

The central shopping area, called the Rundle Mall, was a highlight with its pedestrian mall and unique shops.

The evening was spent with a visit with Jennifer Cobb, the exchange teacher. We had a delicious meal and a great time of camaraderie together, comparing notes about our respective exchange adventures.

Two days later, we rented a car and visited a few more tourist highlights in Adelaide and its surrounds. Our first port of call was the famous Haigh's chocolate factory,

where we took a tour and sampled chocolates to our heart's delight and our stomach's girth! Our next stop was the Mount Lofty Lookout, 710 metres above sea level. This is the gateway to the beautiful Adelaide Hills. From here we were supposed to have a panoramic view over Adelaide right to the sea, but exactly upon our arrival it began to rain, so our view was limited.

We drove onward to the quaint little German town of Hahndorf. The main street had a myriad of rustic-looking tourist shops and hotels on either side.

There probably are no cuckoo clocks left in Bavaria, because they were all for sale in one small shop in Hahndorf! No need to travel to Switzerland or Germany any more!
Unusual sculptures decorated the sidewalks.

We found a great little Hahndorf winery up on a hill, which was famous for matching chocolates with wine! How can you go wrong?

After doing some shopping in Hahndorf, we continued on our way, taking a rural scenic drive through beautiful forest reserves until we came to the "Whispering Wall". The Whispering Wall is in fact the retaining wall of the Borassa Reservoir. Built between 1899 and 1903, the dam was a revolutionary engineering feat for its day. What draws visitors here is its unique acoustic effects. Words whispered at one side can be clearly heard at the other end, more than 100 metres away!

And we proved that it does really work! As we drove onward from there to the Borassa Valley, we encountered a gorgeous sunset. As the song title states: "When You Come to the End of a Perfect Day", what more fitting way to conclude than with one of God's creations?