Roadtrip! (South Australia Leg)

September 16, 2007

We crossed into the state of South Australia by quickly eating the apples we bought and throwing them at the border of Victoria and SA, where they had a specially provided bin (and a huge signboard warning us not to bring fresh produce into the state). We also had to re-set the time on our watches, mobile phones and car clock back 30 minutes. SA is in a different timezone to VIC and NSW.

Rain greeted us into town but it did not make our stop at Mount Gambier any less exciting. If anything, it made it all the more challenging to get good pictures. When we ascended the mountain, there was a stench of raw egg. It was the smell of sulphur the lake was emitting. Lake Gambier, which is atop the mountain, is actually a volcanic crater. The colour of the water changes according to the weather. If you look carefully, you could see the beautiful turquoise/emerald-ish colour of the water.

There were more than one lake but we decided not to stop anymore because we had to reach Hahndorf by nightfall. So on we drove and yes, we did make it to Hahndorf in time for dinner. We were lucky to get the last remaining room in Best Western and learnt that hotel actually means 'the place you eat' and motel means 'the place you live'. Wah... all these years without knowing that in Sydney...

As I was here only in winter, I knew Hahndorf pretty well. Had to bring them to where I had the yummy ribs and German sausages. Dad was very happy with that meal.

September 17, 2007

I was glad I decided to spend the night in Hahndorf and not somewhere in Adelaide city. Why? Because, the next day, we woke up to a very beautiful morning in Hahndorf. Mum and Dad just loved the place. The original architecture, the landscape, the food... aahh...

Not all the shops were open but the lolly shop was so that was enough to leave us with good memories of the place.

When you are in South Australia, one thing which is on your Must Do List is to visit the vineyards. I mean, come on, who cares if it's the right time of the year? It's where all the best wines in Australia (and probably the world) come from! So yes, off we went driving on gravel roads to see hills and hills and hills of endless grapevines! What a sight to behold! Well, they were more or less still bald but still picturesque nevertheless.

In between, we also saw trees with white blooms and Mum concluded that they were pear trees. Those with pink blooms were apples, which there were very few off due to the wrong time of the year. Occasionally, there were the oranges and lemons.

Lunch for the day was curry chicken pie and boy was it good! We had it at a small bakery near Whispering Wall. I totally recommend homemade pies in small towns and villages. Whispering Wall was nothing much - it did not impress Dad as much as I hoped it would. Sigh, architects don't get excited by stuff like that, unlike their offspring.

As I found a lavender farm near Whispering Wall, we headed there.

It was more like a lavender 'showroom', not a farm. It housed 52 varieties of lavender and the smell, wow! But I'd have to admit that I've never seen that many lavender patches in the same place before.

Behind the farm, there was a field of wild flowers of yellow and purple. The contrast of colours was irresistable so yes, it was photo-snapping time! You can imagine how crazy Mum went - she's a flower freak.

Dad felt adventurous and decided to take smaller roads into the city. We got lost and were frantic as we were worried that we wouldn't be able to return the car in time to Europcar. Worse, we were worried that we would miss our flight! However, it was all worth it as we were rewarded with these:

The mustard fields were just a sight to behold!

Finally, it was time to bid Adelaide goodbye. We were extremely lucky as Europcar had a one-hour leway (how do you spell that word?) and we weren't penalised. Also, our flight was delayed due to the bad weather in Sydney. Phew!

Spent some time browsing through Adelaide Airport and I asked Mum to swap seats with me because I wanted to take pictures of these:

Thank you SA for a wonderful time!

Adelaide Winter Adventure (Episode 3)

Day 3 started slightly earlier than the day before. At least we didn't wait until after midday to begin our journey. We were, however, lost en route Whispering Dam. It's great how travelling in a small (and overheated) Holden with three young men can be so exciting! The Holden is just classic - it can't move on flat roads but driving across small bumpy and hilly roads at 100kmph was no sweat! Along the way we passed flocks of 'meh-meh's, 'baa-baa's and 'moo-moo's. I just had to ask them to stop to let me take pictures of the sun atop a crisp green hill:

And then it was time to cam-whore!

Josh: Oh, so take picture with me you stand far far away la??
Me: =P

Josh: Wah, then you take picture with them you stand with them la?
Me: =P

The boys, or rather Josh, decided to bring me to Whispering Dam on this day. The name derived from the echoes that could be heard from the opposite side of the dam. You'd have to turn your speakers up REALLY LOUD if you want to hear the voices of Yu Sheng and moi. We were on the other side of the dam from Josh and Lucas.



The dam was a sight to behold although it was somewhat small-sized. Cannot imagine what Bakun would look like. I was so terrified with the volume of water the wall was holding. Just looking at the water made me feel sick...

Unfortunately, the grapevines were barren. I still took pictures! I mean, how can you come all the way to the Wine Central of Australia and not take pictures?

And, look at what I found!:

We headed back to the city to have dinner. We had to collect Jenny from uni before heading over to Lucas' old apartment. If I recall correctly, it was a Belgian restaurant that they took me to. Apparently, this place is famous for mussels. Boy, did we eat plenty of 'em - all three big pot-loads of' em!

They came with complimentary fries, which were presented in a fashionable manner:

Of course, how would the night be complete without dessert? Around the block was Adelaide's version of Max Brenner, Cocolat:

I seriously have no idea how our dessert session became a ghost story sharing session... I covered my ears the whole time.

My last night in Adelaide was spent playing Monopoly with the boys! First time since I was 10!

I was tricked so many times by Josh and Lucas (anyone who ever plans to play Monopoly with them, please remember where they were BEFORE they roll the dice so that you'd know if they were trying to cheat!). Those two ar, I tell you, bullied me like don't know what!

Oh, and I had to take a picture of Yu Sheng's food collection for keepsakes:

All in all, it was a good albeit short breather from Sydney life (and life in that Epping apartment that houses strongly-opinionated individuals). Many thanks to the three gentleman and the smart young lady who were generous enough to bring me around and introduce Adelaide to me. =)

Adelaide Winter Adventure (Episode 2)

My second day in Adelaide started really late in the morning. Why? Because dear old Josh didn't finish work until half-past one in the morning. I didn't get my usual hours of sleep! We ended up in Hahndorf in the arvo, in time for lunch. This time, Lucas and his girlfriend, Kiki, joined us. It was so hilarious to watch Lucas drive his small little Holden! And oh, in my opinion, Lucas is such a gentleman... =)

Now, for some pictures....

Loved the architecture of the place. I was very impressed with how well-preserved the buildings were. The German bricks, the grapevines, the structure of the roofs. Definitely deserving of the 'Tidiest Middle-Sized Town' award they'd won a few years back.

Oh, and Hahndorf is where the famous Beerenberg jam is produced:

One last pic of Hahndorf - German sausages!!! Just look at that pretzel!

After Hahndorf, Lucas and Kiki went home while Josh, Yu Sheng, Jenny and I continued to Glenelg. Hm, nothing much really at Glenelg. Resembles Manly a little. Oh, but they have this really cool building which houses an arcade and water slides! So tempting but it was winter and freezing cold.

We then headed to Uncle Shiang Foo's house. It was great to catch up with Aunty Gaik and him. It was also great to see Darryl again. Had the most amusing conversation with them at the dinner table. Coincidentally, it was Uncle Shiang Foo's birthday so we were treated to yummy ice-cream. Took pictures with the cousins and Anton showed off his skills on Darryl's guitar playing a short bit he had just learnt.

And then it was off to Casa de la Yu Sheng for some mahjong!!!

Adelaide Winter Adventure (Episode 1)

I can see so many heads nodding and thinking, "Finally, this Chrys decided to updated her blog!"

Sorry la, I have been busy with work and other things, such as my graduation, my PR application, a new housemate and touring parts of this rock of an island. So, shall we embark on a travel back into time?

I am going to post mainly photos of my first day in Adelaide in this post because I more or less summarised the day in one of my previous posts. Don't worry, I will introduce the more peculiar-looking pictures...

That's Josh's room and yup, that's his 'whiteboard'. Creative sial...

Rundle Mall is like Pitt Street Mall in Sydney, just WAY shorter. Seriously, if you compare, Sydney allows you to shop non-stop while Adelaide, um, you can finish 10 times quicker. And of course I had to take a picture of this shiny twin globe structure in front of David Jones. According to Yu Sheng, I was lucky to be there AFTER they had cleaned and polished the thing!

My next stop was the University of Adelaide. Just one word - impressive!

First thought that went through my head when I was shown this plaque: SIA is freaking rich!

Spot the similarities... haha... we Malaysians sure bring our gastronomical habits with us to every corner of the world, don't we? Oh, apparently Adelaide and Penang share a very strong connection - both were founded by Francis Light.

Yu Sheng, Josh and Jenny then brought me to other parts of the city to enjoy the sights and sounds. Yu Sheng exclaimed, "There, Adelaide in 45 minutes. Not bad!" Try doing Sydney in the same amount of time. I think you'd only cover one place - the Sydney Opera House. But then again, I shouldn't be comparing. Totally different community in these two cities. One is fast-paced, one is slow, literally. Heck, I don't even have to walk as fast in Adelaide as I do in Sydney! I find South Australians friendlier, though. More angmohs, less Asians. Less humans for that matter.

Later that night, Yu Sheng introduced their friend to me. Well, we had to get acquainted because we were riding in his car to North Adelaide to have something called the AB for dinner. I don't know his name but he's called Ah Boon. So Hokkien, eh? Well, he's Bruneian, if that explains anything. Ex-national swimmer for the rich country. And he knows Wu Chun! Yes, Wu Chun as in the latest craze of warm-blooded teenage girls across Asia. Ah Boon said that everybody knows everyone because the Chinese community in Brunei is very small hence they are close-knit. Makes it really hard to do something naughty as well - news travels extremely fast. He sounded like he was speaking from experience. Hahaha....

Monstrous, just monstrous. I meant the dish, not his friend. After that, we headed to a dessert place called Elephant Walk. Cool set-up. Like the decor and atmosphere. The food, totally heaven!

Chocolate banana pudding - the best I've ever had!

Strawberry pancake - they can give Pancake on the Rocks a run for their money!

Take a close look at the piece of paper deco placed under the spoon... look familiar? We collected the other pieces and placed them together and look at the revelation:

Looks exactly like the kind of paper the Chinese use during All Soul's Day, doesn't it???

As Josh had to work, I waited for him to finish at Yu Sheng's place. Ah Boon and he graciously taught me how to play mahjong. See, I had to travel all the way to Adelaide to learn this art. Sigh...