Wow what a big hop! We actually ‘cheated’ a little on this leg by catching a car ferry from Lucky Bay across the Spencer Gulf. This took us within 150kms of Adelaide which we did that day. We decided to miss this little part of the coast (including Port Augusta and Whyalla) as we were all feeling a bit ‘over’ the long driving days by this point!
In Adelaide we stayed in West Beach next to the seaside hub of Glenelg. It was lovely really. Fairly windy then a heatwave (36-37 degrees across two days), but we did have fun exploring the area. We enjoyed some great coffees in Glenelg and the kids had a blast at the Beach House amusement park/centre (as a fair reward for the long journey across the Nullarbor). They whizzed down water slides, zoomed in dodgems, squired each other in water boats, went on train rides and the carousel. The operator actually had to stop the carousel for Georgie who had a major meltdown during the usually fun experience. (We hope she won’t have ‘horsie’ nightmares).
We went on a few walks trying to burn off our treats. Another day we drove into the Adelaide Hills. We looked out over the city from Mount Lofty. It was chilly but beautiful. We loved the scenic route through the hills. The green peaks and valleys, the farms, orchards and wineries. It was just gorgeous. We stopped at two townships for markets, lunch (and a chockie shop). It was a great day in the lush green hills that were in such contrast to our very dry surrounds in Adelaide city.
Much to Tim’s horror we found ourselves within walking distance of a massive direct factory outlet complex. Kate and Annabelle had great fun browsing through Esprit, Pumpkin Patch and several other discount stores. We managed to drag the others along on a subsequent visit as we had to find some new shoes for Georgie. She had her second major ‘Adelaide meltdown’ in a shoe store. She lost it completely as the assistant tried to measure her foot. One of those howling matches that grabs every other shopper’s attention! It took two parents for this small task (and then frazzled, we had to have a coffee!). Her third big crying match erupted at the hairdressers, as a hair trim could be delayed no longer. The poor hairdresser snipped away undeterred as Georgie sobbed uncontrollably on Tim’s shoulder (time for another coffee)!
The retail outlets proved to be a saving grace as a refuge from our non-air-conditioned van (with no shade) on the heat wave days. This time we headed to one of Kate’s favourites, IKEA. We ‘researched’ items that would help our storage solutions back at home, taking a lovely long time to browse in the beautifully cool store.
One morning after seeing a young child ice skating on Playschool Hannah announced that she really wanted to go ice-skating. We decided we would try and track down an ice skating rink as we hadn’t yet done anything special ‘just for Hannah’ on the trip. She was delighted to be tying on some skates less than an hour later. As much as the other kids wanted to skate we assured them that this treat was just for Hannah and that they could go when we get to Sydney. Tim was very quick to opt out saying that his ankle was weak and that Kate would have to accompany Hannah on the ice. Hannah obviously had ‘Disney on Ice’ images in her head and was more than a little shocked to realised that neither she nor Mummy could glide onto the ice like a princess and perform twirls and jumps. Well….thank goodness it was quiet at the rink and we were able to use the smaller ‘beginners circuit’. The two skaters clung to the rink wall for some minutes. It really was a hilarious sight with lots of raucous laughter. Talk about ‘the blind leading the blind’! Finally Kate found her skating feet a little and then discovered some wooden skate supports that helped enormously. After an hour or so Hannah and Kate were whizzing around (with their wooden helpers). Hannah was thrilled! There was only one minor fall and some sore feet, but it was worth it for the obvious joy on Hannah’s face.
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