Day 3 (November 11, 2017 – Adelaide, South Australia, Australia): “Weddings, Festivals, and Anniversaries”

It was about 5:30am when I awoke to the alarm. It was still dark outside though it didn’t take long before the skies started to brighten up.

Neither Julie nor I were able to go back to sleep so it was time to get up and poach the eggs that we had bought last night as our brekkie. During the time that Julie was getting ready, I decided that perhaps we should walk over to the Adelaide Central Market since we still had errands to run in terms of getting groceries and other health foods that we were hoping to find whilst there.

The Adelaide Central Market didn’t open until 7am but by the time we had left the apartment, it was already 6:35am. So we opted to go to the Coles next door first, which was open since midnight (strange hours).

The walk towards the Adelaide Central Market was pretty quiet though it appeared that some construction crew was already up and busy setting up a huge Christmas Tree at the north end of Victoria Square, just across the corner from our apartment on Flinders Street.

By about 6:45am, we got to the Coles, where we promptly went in and scoped out the supermarket. To Julie’s disappointment, they had little to no organic or paleo options. They also didn’t have kefir. But we knew we had to load up on water and some things that we could self cook like rice-based pasta noodles with sauce as well as some Himalayan sea salt. So we’d come back here after seeing what the Adelaide Central Market had to offer since our load would be significantly increased once we made this run.

By 7am, we went right into the Adelaide Central Market, which was an indoor food market with stalls as well as some eateries that was reminiscent of what we had encountered at the Granville Island Market in Vancouver. Except the one in Adelaide was a bit smaller and less busier (though we were here just when they opened).

While scoping out the market, we decided to have a filling breakfast at a stall near the south end of the market. We split the big brekkie special, which had two thick pieces of toast, two fried eggs, two thick bacons, arugula salad, and some mushrooms smothered in some kind of pesto sauce.

As we were waiting for the food, Julie did some more scoping out of some of the stalls and learned that there were a couple shops selling health foods and products. Apparently, there weren’t really any Wholefoods or Sprouts in Australia, and they only really had independent stores specializing in this stuff. So that would be a challenge for Julie going forward with this trip.

The brekkie was simple yet satisfying. When we were done eating at 7:50am, we promptly went to a small shop within the Adelaide Central Market where Julie picked up some real expensive Apple Cider Vinegar as well as some gluten free bread. We were still missing kefir, but the guy manning the shop said there was another shop just a few paces away from the main market part in a corridor.

When we got to that other spot, we found some kefir though there were only a few bottles left. Julie also picked up some soap.

So after that, we then went to a “sushi” stand in the marketplace where we got some Korean kimbap thinking that could be our takeaway lunch later in the day. We also made a stop back at the Coles to pick up the things we said we were gonna get as we were just about to head back to the apartment.

By 8:45am, we were back at the apartment. We had put away the stuff that needed refrigeration, and only brought the things we thought we’d be needing for today’s excursions.

By 9am, we recovered the car in the car park on Grawler St, where it was sprinkling a bit as we were making our way over there. The overcast skies were threatening rain though it never really did deliver. However, it did feel humid. Anyways, we then proceeded to drive east towards the Morialta Conservation Park.

The streets were still pretty quiet in the CBD though the activity seemed to pick up the further out into the outskirts we went. We saw street names like Magill Rd and Penfolds Rd and that kind of brought back some memories of places we had driven through in the past on our last visit to this part of Australia 11 years ago.

However, as we eventually reached the entrance road to the Morialta Falls, it seemed like this part of the Adelaide Hills suburbs was more developed than we remembered in the past. For I swore there was a little more mountainous driving through pockets of nature, but now it seemed like there were a lot more homes and it appeared that there was even another new community that was about to sprout up.

We eventually parked the car in the Morialta Conservation Park at 9:35am. We actually had to park in one of the lots set back from the end of the road because the closest lots were all filled up. There were lots of people walking the paved trail flanking the road, suggesting to us that this was a very popular weekend hangout spot.

It was a far cry from the last time we were here when it was sparsely populated with people even though we had showed up a few hours before the gates would close for the day.

After getting ready, I was trying to get the etrex GPS to pick up the signal so we could track our progress on this excursion. Unfortunately after about 10-15 minutes of getting ready, it was still not acquiring the necessary satellites to get started.

Unable to wait any longer for the GPS to cooperate, we went ahead and walked along the footpath while was flanked by wrangly groves of eucalyptus trees as well as a stream that had water this time around. So that was a good sign in terms of seeing the anticipated waterfall flow for the first time since it was dry on our last trip.

After reaching the end of the car park and driving sections, we then briefly checked out the trailhead signs before continuing. There were some spur trails going up steps and appeared to be pretty rugged as they were headed onto the Waterfalls Grand Loop, the Gorge Trail, and the Plateau Trail among others. However, the main trail to the Morialta Falls didn’t coincide with any of those trails.

Although the reason why we didn’t bother doing the other trails the last time was that the waterfalls were dry. However, now that I saw that we would essentially be doing multiple hiking trails going in different directions, I sensed that we wouldn’t have the time nor the energy in the humidity to pursue the secod or third falls.

Anyways, on the main path, it was pretty wide and paved. It was also very popular as there were lots of joggers, families, and just some solo individuals listening to music on an iPhone or something going back and forth. It was similar to the scene we might be seeing at our local waterfalls back in Los Angeles so I suspected that it was mostly Adelaide residents here.

The whole time I was looking up at the gum trees hoping to see koalas in the nooks like the last time. Instead, we saw these very colorful birds looking almost like parrots singing and flying back and forth. There were also evidence of some black-barked eucalypts making us wonder if a fire had gone through here in the 11 years since we were last here.

There were some branch trails going up the gorges along the paved path as well as some other parallel trails on the valley floor. One of the trail spurs went up some steps towards the so-called Giant’s Cave. We didn’t go up the steps last time, but I figured that we should come back here when we’re done seeing the First Falls.

So onwards we continued. My etrex was still not picking anything up so I had to resign myself to the fact that I was probably not going to be able to trace this hike.

As the path went further along the gorge floor, I saw impressive red cliffs with some inaccessible caves high up. The cliffs seemed to close in the further up we went through the gorge remained wide enough to be quite bright.

By about 10:20am, we finally made it to the end of the trail at the end of a short boardwalk section. There was a convenient bench to chill out and look at the falls, which Julie took advantage of in her weakened state. There were also a couple of families that had crawled beneath the barrier and went all the way to the plunge pool at the base of the falls.

We were content to take our pictures of the falls flowing while I was also trying to use the barricade as a steadying instrument for long exposure shots.

There was still no GPS reception so I guess that was pretty much it in terms of trying to document our walking path to get to this point, which was said to be 45 minutes return walk according to the trailhead signage.

When the family had left, we had a few minutes to ourselves, which was nice. The cloudy skies made for even lighting which was great for the long exposure shots. And we even spent a few more minutes just sitting there and soaking in the scenery before a Chinese family showed up.

That was our cue to head out.

On the way back, I was still looking up at the nooks of the gum trees and still saw no koalas. We settled for spotting and photographing the birds as well as the patches of purple wildflowers growing alongside the trail.

We then walked up the steps up to the Giant’s Cave, where the path continued going up towards some lookout platform showing how tiny the people on the trails below were as well as some of the surrounding gorge scenery rising above the treeline.

After having our fill of this spot, we returned to the main track and got back to the trailhead where after studying the trailhead map one more time, I saw where Second Falls was and decided not to pursue it (for it would be like starting over while also hiking up on a more rugged path). I wasn’t sure if I was going to regret not doing that excursion while there was waterflow, but we still had some more things to do for today.

At 11:05am, we returned to the car park. The etrex GPS never acquired satellites so I just left it on as we were about to drive to the Mt Lofty Summit, which was the next excursion (something we didn’t get a chance to do the last time).

The drive towards the Mt Lofty Summit involved driving some pretty narrow two-lane roads. Coming from the USA where the roads were always wide with shoulders, the mountain roads here lacked shoulders and driving between the lines was difficult with larger vehicles (like the intermediate-sized car we were driving). It was a matter of getting used to these roads again as the roads at home tended to spoil us.

It was difficult to try to stay with the 60km/h or even 80km/h speed limits given the narrowness of the roads. There were also weekend bikers sharing the narrow roads as well as oncoming traffic.

By about 11:40am, we finally made it up to the Mt Lofty Summit. There was a fairly spacious car park though it was pay and display. Just as I was about to get to a ticket dispenser, a lady asked if we wanted her ticket. I guess the duration of the tickets here was pretty much the full day, and so we thanked her and gladly took her ticket to put on the dash. It was good until midnight and it costed her $4 AUD. It wasn’t that bad in terms of cost, but I guess every little helps, especially since we didn’t expect to be spending that much time up here.

Next, we walked through a cafe and gift shop area before getting out to a terrace where there were sweeing views back towards the city of Adelaide as well as the Southern Ocean in the distance. There was a tall white tower as well though it wasn’t one of those things that let up get in and up for an even more commanding view. It was really there as an art piece.

While the views were impressive, it was flat. The buildings looked tiny and the ocean kind of blended in with the gray skies and the surrounding lands. We did see Kangaroo Island in the distance though, and that was where we were headed next starting tomorrow.

After having our fill of the views, we then sat in one of the patio seats and had our kimbap picnic lunch.

Julie used our phone to make a dinner reservation at this place called La Provence. We were feeling in the mood for French even though the Penfolds Winery had a dinner place with good reviews that I swore we had eaten at the last time we were here (and I recalled that it was quite good).

It turned out that the food was a bit on the sweet side as they must have put in some sugar on the beef. We also had a mistaken order of fish cakes in the other kimbap, but Julie preferred that one anyways given how much sugar they had put in the beef. In the end, she was disappointed with the kimbap but I guess we were spoiled with the genuine Korean stuff back at home.

After the lunch, Julie’s stomach was unsettled, and perhaps it had to do with the kimbap sitting out for as long as it did.

Julie noted that there were some seats being set up inside the restaurant as apparently there was some kind of function that was about to take place. Given that it was a Saturday, we figured that it was probably going to be a wedding or something.

By 12:35pm, we were back at the car. Next, we were headed down to the base of the Adelaide Hills and Mt Lofty area towards the Waterfall Gully. Even though we could have done the 4km one-way hike to get from the summit down to the Waterfall Gully, we knew that it was better to drive down to the base to check out how much things have changed over the years down there.

The drive back down the mountain was pretty uneventful as I was becoming more acclimated to the narrower roads and being on the left side of the road whilst steering the wheel right handed and keeping the left hand on the stick (even though this was an automatic; just out of habit I guess).

By 1pm, we made it down to the car park for the Waterfall Gully, which it appeared that the car park itself was a lot more spacious than we remembered from the last time. It was probably because the whole side on the other side of the First Creek was damaged on our last visit 11 years ago. Now, it was seemingly fully restored, and it was a good thing because the car park was quite busy.

Yet, we did score a spot right in front of the restrooms. And with that, Julie and I promptly walked to the base of the First Falls of the Waterfall Gully, which looked pretty much as it did during our drought-stricken trip 11 years ago. I was also able to check out the view from the other side, which was a bit more angled though also a little overgrown.

There was apparently another trail going up above the gorge from here, but that trail was closed.

There were some lawn chairs set up by a shelter beneath the Utopia Cafe at the bottom of the gorge across the creek, as well as a sign by the bridge saying something like Katherine and Andrew 11.11.2017. Obviously this couple was getting married, but the numerology reminded Julie and I of our wedding anniversary in New Zealand.

Anyways, we briefly had a moment of the First Falls to ourselves before Julie headed back to chill out. In the mean time, I took some time to continue hiking up the inclines and head towards the Second Falls, which was around 500-600m beyond the lookout for the First Falls.

With the humidity, the climb was sweat inducing, but it did offer up some interesting alternate views of the First Falls when I made it up to the platformed walk hugging the cliffs. Upstream from the First Falls, the trail flattened out and followed the creek until it eventually made it up to the Second Falls.

The first time I was here, there was a wooden bench looking down at the falls. Now, there were semi-circular barricades made of stone to sit on. There was also a short path leading right down to the cool little cove right at the base of the falls.

After having my fill of this falls, I decided to go up the next steep climb in search of the Third Falls. I found it strange that there was no signage about any more waterfalls. Nonetheless, I wanted to go up there to see what the Third Falls was like since I was already here.

Well, after struggling up a pretty relentlessly steep trail that started off paved then went to conventional dirt again, I’d eventually see the Third Falls but it was way down at the bottom of the gorge and could be barely seen through the foliage in the foreground. I kept going up along the trail thinking that maybe there might be an alternate trail to get close to it, but when I made it to the Chinaman’s Hut Ruins another 600m beyond the Second Falls, I knew that this was probably why there was no signage for the Third Falls or any other waterfalls for that matter.

At the Chinaman’s Hut ruins, I noticed these fairly big birds with interesting calls. They were perched high up on the surrounding trees and I managed to get a few shots of them against the bright cloudy skies. But other than that, this was my turnaround point, and I promptly trail ran my way back down the declines towards the Utopia Cafe.

When I saw that Julie was sitting next to the restroom area instead of Utopia, I continued my descent to rejoin her at the car park at 2:10pm.

We promptly get back into the car, where my sweaty self needed the AC from the vehicle.

Julie still wasn’t feeling very well so she was looking forward to napping back at the Adina Apartment in Adelaide CBD. I figured that I’d probably solo the touring of the Rundle Street Mall and other city things.

By 2:40pm, we were back at the Grawler car park. And 15 minutes later, we were back in the room. We saw that they had finished putting the Christmas Tree in Victoria Square back together at this time. I’m sure that square would be pretty festive the closer to the Christmas holiday it got.

On the way back up to our room, we walked through the cellar of the Adina Treasury area inside our apartment complex. The cellar tunnels were actually creepy as they were narrow and looked like it could’ve been a prison or something. But it now had this weird mix of party lights on the ceiling and some chairs set up in parts of the more spacious sections in preparation for a private party this evening.

Anyways, with Julie out in bed, I went for a tour of the city at 3:20pm. I used this time to check out that Rundle Street Mall while also scoping out how far of a walk it would be to check out the La Provence Restaurant that we were hoping to celebrate our anniversary for.

By about 3:40pm, I had made it to the bustling Rundle Street Mall, which was basically a pedestrian walking street. It was kind of reminiscent of the Style Mile in Glasgow except this particular mall had street performers, some art pieces (like the pigs and some kind of Chicago-bean-like spheres stacked on each other, and some other random artsy things).

There were also some side arcades that went indoors between streets.

There was definitely a buzz and energy about this place, and I really wished that Julie and I could have strolled through here together. But the solo recon would have to do.

After having my fill of the mall, I then walked further north towards the River Torrens. I was searching for the fancy old buildings from the past that we saw around the river, but I didn’t find them this time around.

Instead, I saw a lot of developments as the area seeemed to be much more bustling and modern than I had remembered. So instead, I basically took pictures and soaked in the ambience of the lawn area between the River Torrens and the rotunda with the Adelaide Oval dominating the scene across the river. Behind me was some kind of construction work going on to renovate and facelift the Northern Promenade area.

I didn’t linger around here much so it didn’t take long before I turned around and headed south on King Williams St then on Pirie St, I went left and looked for Hyde St and the La Provence restaurant we were going to eat at.

I eventually found that place and found out that it was between a 5-10 minute walk so we didn’t need to get the car and look for parking. There was some kind of music coming from behind a barricade where the street adjacent to the restaurant was closed (on Hyde). It seemed like the entrance to this festival would be from some other side of the street and they didn’t want people coming in this way, I guess.

It was starting to sprinkle again as I was making my way back. It was further evidence that the overcast skies were a bit more tropical in nature though I wasn’t expecting to be this much humidity this far from the tropical regions of Australia to the north.

By about 4:35pm, I had made it back to our room. Julie was still asleep and a bit out of it. Meanwhile, I took the time to shower and get cleaned up for our anniversary dinner. Eventually, Julie came around and got cleaned up, and by about 5:40pm, we started walking over to La Provence.

We’d eventually get to the restaurant at 5:50pm, where the interior was quiet as the place had just re-opened its doors. However, there was some music coming from the festival that the proprietor said only happened once a year. He apologized for the “noise”, but I personally didn’t mind it. It kind of got us curious as to what it might be like there so we figured we could pass by to see what it was about once the dinner was over.

The slow food turned out to be a pleasant southern French style place (after all, they did call themselves La Provence, which was the south of France), and they served up an interesting duck appetizer prepared in many different ways. Julie got a duck confit for her main, while I got an assiette de bouef which was beef prepared in different ways.

We also got a raspberry soufflee with champagne ice cream, which was actually fizzy in my mouth when it melted.

Even though Julie still wasn’t feeling well, the food was excellent and it was a nice way to cap off our lone day back in Adelaide.

The place got pretty busy pretty quickly though there appeared to be some kind of birthday party going on upstairs as lots of well-dressed people were entering the restaurant and making their way upstairs.

By about 7:45pm, we were done with the dinner and started walking towards the source of the music. We had to circle around towards the next major street before heading south then west on Flinders Street. Shortly thereafter, we saw a small alleyway to our right, which was apparently where you enter into this rather hidden festival.

Given all the colorful banners, we figured this was some kind of gay pride festival and some of the people parading around the blocks were probably also making their own gay pride parade. Since the festival required payment to get in, we turned back and headed back to the Adina Apartments as we felt more like getting some rest and packing up before tomorrow’s drive to Kangaroo Island.

By 8pm, we were back in our room and called it a day. The Christmas Tree at Victoria Square was completed, and there was some more loud music and some dancing going on over there, too, but it also seemed to be related to the gay pride stuff that was going on.

Given Julie’s condition, she wasn’t up for extending the night. And so she promptly went right to bed while I was busy tending to my dental hygiene and trying to stay awake as I was pretty exhausted from all that had transpired today…