Hot and dusty.

After leaving Adelaide, Mike and I headed up to the Flinders Ranges and Flinders Ranges National Park. Considering the rather warm weather, we were some of the only visitors in the area. We checked in at the ranger station and did a bit of hiking before driving further out to a campsite.
We had the entire camping area to ourselves… except for the kangaroo that nearly crashed into Mike while he was off exploring. This is also where we enjoyed the pleasure of boxed water. You know, like boxed wine. I only ever saw it in South Australia but it was awesome and made camping so much easier. I wish we’d had it the entire time. Little luxuries.

After Flinders Ranges we had a long drive ahead of us to Broken Hill and the outback!

xo, jill

Quaint and quiet.

During our last few days in Adelaide, Mike and I felt satisfied with what we’d seen in the city, but wanted to check out a little more of the surrounding area. We decided to visit Port Elliot as a day trip. We didn’t know what to expect from the seaside town of 1,800 residents, but we were definitely pleased.

Port Elliot is small, quiet, pleasant, and pretty. There are only a handful of businesses and I suspect the locals like it that way. Not much was happening in town during our visit. The chip shop was empty, the other shops closed, and the cashier at the grocery had plenty of time to chat.

The cutest building I’ve ever seen.

I dispute the wifi reference, but love all the rest. “Kiss me, Ketut.”

I’d love to live in a tiny town like Port Elliot, at least for a short little while. Quaint and quiet but close enough to a city for when I crave a little excitement. All in all, a highly recommended day trip if you’re in the Adelaide area.

xo, jill

Two legends for the price of none!

Just as we were gearing up to leave Adelaide, Mike discovered a pretty compelling reason for us to stay… at least for a few more days. When the Adelaide Festival presents a free concert featuring Neil Finn and Paul Kelly, you can’t refuse. That’s just not something a person can walk away from. Even when a person is only vaguely familiar with the music.* And especially when that same concert a few days prior in Melbourne came with a pretty hefty ticket price.

Our tweets about the show were put up on the big screen!

The park was packed with people enjoying a summer evening outdoors. Everyone was ready to hear some of their favorite songs.

Crowd pleasers included:

Fall At Your Feet – Neil Finn

Better Be Home Soon – Neil Finn

To Her Door – Paul Kelly (Pretty sure this was when everyone got up and started dancing.)

Among many others. I’ve already told you my personal favorite “For the Ages” by Paul Kelly.

The concert was definitely in the Top 10 of my Australian favorites. It was truly a perfect summer evening. Even getting smacked in the face with a lawn chair couldn’t dampen my spirits.** Not only did I get to see two Australian/Kiwi legends, I got to see them playing together. Here’s a highlight reel of the concert someone made if you’re so inclined.

Thanks Adelaide for another great (free) experience.

xo, jill

*Speaking for myself here. Mike is a long time Crowded House fan.

**A super nice lady saw the whole thing and came over to offer me the ice pack from her cooler.

Büstenhalter.*

When it gets too hot and toasty in Adelaide, head for the hills to beat the heat. The Adelaide Hills are a short 20km drive from the city and well worth the detour. The lush greenery and cooler temperatures (2-3 degrees C cooler than the city) make the hills not only a popular getaway, but a noted wine region as well. Mike and I enjoyed a few scenic drives in the area. On this day in particular we were following up on Alli and Rob’s recommendation to visit the tiny town of Hahndorf.

Looking out over Adelaide towards the water.

Hahndorf is a popular tourist destination thanks to its German origins. It is Australia’s oldest surviving German settlement (established 1839) and was settled by Lutherans arriving from a village in Prussia. There’s not too much to do in town other than enjoy a German meal and eye the German architecture, but it’s still worth a visit. We spent our time walking up and down the main street, stopping in at the candy store, and admiring beer steins and cuckoo clocks. Oh, and I marveled at the sauerkraut stock as well.

It was a pleasant day in the hills.

xo, jill

*One of the only German words my German housemate taught us. It means bra.

They’re not joking about that.

During all of our driving around Australia, I trained my eyes to check out every car’s license plate. It’s much easier to play the license plate game when there are only six states and one territory to cross off. I also enjoyed reading each state’s license plate slogan. A few favorites include Queensland’s “The Smart State” and Victoria’s “On the Move” in italics… like it’s moving! South Australia’s license plate slogan reads: “The Festival State.” They are not joking.

We arrived in Adelaide just a few days before all of the many festivals kicked off. There’s Fringe, Chinese New Year, Soundwave, WOMADelaide, Adelaide Festival, Writers’ Week… just to name a few. It was remarkable. And perfect timing on our part.

Tickets to many of the festivals are fairly costly so we mainly sought out free events. There were plenty of parades, firework shows, and street parties to keep us happy. We also attended a few low cost comedy shows that were great bargains. I highly recommend visiting Adelaide during the summer festival season (Feb/March). You’ll never be bored.

Below are photos from opening night of Fringe. If you’re not familiar with Fringe festivals, check out what they are all about here.
It’s a wonder they don’t spread the festival love around the rest of the year.

xo, jill

The littlest big city.

In general, when you visit a major city camping for accommodation isn’t really an option. (Most people probably don’t even show up with their very own camping gear.) But in Adelaide, you totally can. As Mike was combing through the guidebook looking for accommodation options, he pointed out “There’s a caravan park in the middle of the city!”

Ok, it’s not actually in the middle of the city…but pretty close (5k from the center).  We camped there a few nights and then moved to a different spot on the beach (12k from the center). Both caravan parks were comfortable, surrounded by nature, and in great locations for city exploration.

The fact that you can camp so close to the center of Adelaide gives you an idea of how mellow and relaxed it is. I suppose that’s also probably why it gets teased so terribly by the rest of Australia. However, for us a camp-able city was just what we needed. We saved money on accommodation but still explored a “big city.”

Here are a few photos from an evening spent on the beach at our second camp site:
This was a black photo. Added a little fill light and voila. Vogue.

If you’re heading to Adelaide and would like to camp, may I recommend:

Levi Park Caravan Park – located in Vale Park (5k from city center), on the bus line, powered site $37
Adelaide Shores Caravan Park – located in West Beach (12k from city center), powered site $36 – $46
There’s also Adelaide Caravan Park (4k from city center) but I haven’t tried that one out.

xo, jill