ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA

Wow!  What a day!  Before we left Canada, we really searched for a better tour in Adelaide than those offered by the ship.  We finally found a vendor who was willing to work with us to tour the way we wanted and to the locations we wanted.  The deal was that he needed 8 people to do the tour, but he offered us the incentive, that if we filled his bus (13 persons) we could go free.  This tour boomeranged!  We ended up with 49 people and 4 buses!  He was so pleased he paid for our lunch!

We were picked up and dropped off at the ship--a major concern as the port is 30 minutes from the city center.  We drove through some expensive real estate on the waterfront, saw the downtown area from several streets, and then stopped to see koalas in the Adelaide Hills.  They were there, resting in large eucalyptus trees; I have great pictures!  Then we went to the top of Mt. Lofty, 2100 feet high, and viewed Adelaide.  It was cold and windy while we were there, with a cold front passing through, but still a good view point.

By 12:00 we were in Hahndorf for lunch.  We had reservations for our group at the best hotel.  The food was plenteous--huge portions!  I had Kangaroo and it was wonderful!  Irene chose German sausages and sauerkraut, also amazing!  This is the oldest German town in this area, and quite interesting to walk through it.  There were policemen on grey horses, fascinating shops, unusual buildings, and beautiful tree-lined streets.  Everyone enjoyed themselves!

We left there at 3:00 pm and took our time returning to the ship, with other scenic side trips.  Adelaide is a planned city, with a huge green belt around it.  No slums here, but a few low-cost areas, nonetheless.  Most of the housing is expensive and this is the only area of Australia that was not first settled by convicts.

Back on the ship, we arrived just in time for trivia, followed by a wonderful Good Friday Church Service (and another one tomorrow for Easter Sunday, since we are in Melbourne that day), then dinner--how could we eat after our huge lunch?  Lightly!!

g'day!