Monday we had another full day in Adelaide. We started with the Botanic Garden, which was a great way to kick off the first sunshine in four days. There is a waterlily pavilion which is a greenhouse with tons of Victoria amazonica waterlilies in the center of the park. It explains the biology of the waterlilies but beware if you bring your kids along – the description of pollination says it is a night club for the bees and gives a play-by-play in night club terms of how the mating and pollination work.
A local Adelaidean (James Metz) told us about Vego and Lovin It – a fantastic vegetarian restaurant tucked away on Rundle Street. There is only a small mosaic sign above an unmarked doorway telling the world this place exists. As we ventured up the narrow staircase we came to a small door and inside was packed. It was an apartment with 200 sq ft holding 25 people with real retro (not manufactured to look retro) posters and clippings covering every surface. Walking in, we knew the food had to be good. All they really serve is veggie burgers and they are by far the best burgers we have ever eaten. And that includes any of the Aussie beef burgers I’ve been eating lately (which are kind of gross but in a good way with ham, egg, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, beetroot and sweet chili sauce).
After that we checked out the South Australian Museum for a little culture. A very cool exhibit on Aboriginal culture that included a few honest discussions about the past, which was refreshing to see.
Then we caught a train to Glenelg (that is a palindrome for my grammar savvy friends) to check out a brew pub we had read about called Holdfast Hotel. But the place was out of its own beer – yup, I said a brewery out of its own beer. It would be like going to Rock Bottom and they had none of their beer so they served Summit instead. After that we quickly headed back to the city to meet James and his friends to see where the locals hang out. And they definitely did not lead us astray. We hit up the Colonist for a few beers and a little Chinese restaurant that we knew had to be good because they greeted Marty, one of our new friends, by name. Always go where the locals go and you won’t be disappointed!
Tags: Aboriginal art, Adelaide, Adelaide Botanic Garden, Adventure, Amazon waterlily, Australia, Backpack, Backpacking, Beer, Beyond, Beyond The Trail, Blogging, Caravan, Ex-pat, Expat, Experience, Explore, Flashpacker, Food, Fun, Gap Year, Glenelg, Global, Holdfast Hotel, Life Change, Locals, Packer, Park, Party, Path, Round The World, RTW, Rundle Street, Sight Seeing, South Australia, South Australia Museum, Sun, The Colonist, Trail, Travel, Travel Blog, Tree Changer, Vagabond, Vegetarian food, Vego and Lovin It, Wanderlust, World
Rob wanted me to post about Port Augusta where we visited the Australian Arid Lands Botanical Gardens, which were pretty cool with the birds and flowers. Other than that, this town is basically just a stopover on the road to Adelaide so that is more than enough said about it!
Now that we made it through the outback and back to the coast, we have rejoined civilization and are back to city life. We took a wine tour of the McLaren Vale with Bums on Seats today, which was a blast. Our tour guide Paul was a riot with all sorts of jokes that reminded me of things my Uncle Larry and Dad would crack together on a family trip. Our first stop was Hahndorf, which is an old German town with lots of historical buildings and character. The free tasting at the cheese shop was awesome. After that, we headed to the vineyards for a day of vino (not to be confused with goon) and some good food with our new friends on the tour. My favorite vineyard was Foggo where Herb, the wine-maker, taught us all about his good ol’ boy approach to wine-making. Rob liked Hugh Hamilton’s Black Sheep vineyard with its scenery and history. Definitely glad we listened to the silver foxes in Port Augusta that suggested McLaren Vale over the more commercial Barossa Valley!
Tags: Adelaide, Adventure, Arid Lands Botanical Gardens, Australia, Backpack, Backpacking, Beyond, Beyond The Trail, Black Sheep, Blogging, Bums on Seats, Camping, Caravan, Ex-pat, Expat, Experience, Explore, Flashpacker, Foggo Wines, Food, Fun, Gap Year, Global, Graham Stevens Wines, Hahndorf, Hugh Hamilton, Life Change, McLaren Vale, Outback, Packer, Park, Path, Port Augusta, Round The World, RTW, RV, S.A., Second Career, Sight Seeing, South Australia, Trail, Travel, Travel Blog, Traveler, Tree Changer, Vagabond, Vineyard, Wanderlust, wine tours, World
A local Adelaidean (James Metz) told us about Vego and Lovin It – a fantastic vegetarian restaurant tucked away on Rundle Street. There is only a small mosaic sign above an unmarked doorway telling the world this place exists. As we ventured up the narrow staircase we came to a small door and inside was packed. It was an apartment with 200 sq ft holding 25 people with real retro (not manufactured to look retro) posters and clippings covering every surface. Walking in, we knew the food had to be good. All they really serve is veggie burgers and they are by far the best burgers we have ever eaten. And that includes any of the Aussie beef burgers I’ve been eating lately (which are kind of gross but in a good way with ham, egg, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, beetroot and sweet chili sauce).
Debra
Rob
