Mt. Lofty
On Saturday we woke up around 8am. Our bus for Mt. Lofty left at 9:30. We had plenty of time to catch the bus but we didn't because the only girl left in the group, Katie, was late. So we ended up taking another bus that ended at the eastern foot of Mt. Lofty where there are no trails. on the bus ride up, I noticed that Dahlberg was reading "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. I remembered from reading Ben's blog last year that it was a good book. He was just finishing up with it so I took it when he was finished and started reading it. We hiked up the road to the summit, which is barely a mountain at 2,360 ft of elevation. At the top was a large visitor center/restaurant and a fantastic view of Adelaide. What Mt. Dandenong was for Melbourne, Mt. Lofty was for Adelaide. On the west side of the mountain there were a bunch of trails including one that apparently featured several water falls, which, if you ask Steve, are my favorite. It was a great walk down the mountain with lots of unique fauna I had never seen before. It was a pretty easy hike, however having slow and inexperienced hikers we didn't move too fast (and none of us went a half mile ahead like Ben woud have).
About half way down we came to the spot where the first waterfall was supposed to be and I was not surprised to see it was all dried up, a dust fall. We continued down the mountain and finally began to see some water and a stream. With that came a lot more wildlife including colorful parrot-like birds, grey tounged skinks, many insects, and even a few small fish. Right before we came to the second falls I was able to catch a grey tounge, which are much smaller and faster than blue tounges. It was extremely small perhaps an inch or two in length. We saw some as big as about 6 inches but I only caught the one small one. They're really quick. At the second falls there was actually a waterfall about 10-12ft high. I took off my boots and stuck my head in the water. Just another 800 meters down the trail we found the 3rd and last falls. The drop had to have been maybe 80-100 ft. The volume of water wasn't much but it was impressive. At the bottom of the falls there was another restaurant as well as a concession stand. We got some ice cream and headed quickly back up the mountain because it was getting late. The hike up was annoying at best. Katie probably hadn't walked let alone hike this distance (approx. 10km) at any time in her life before and it showed. She was hurting and we had to wait for her every couple hundred meters.
When we finally made it to the top in was nearly 6pm and the sun was sinking low. We decided that even though the restaurant at the top was expensive, it had kangaroo on the menu and the view was fantastic. Matt and I shared some gnnoci as an appetizer and we each had the kangaroo for dinner. All of the food was excedeingly delicious and it definately matched it's prize tag in flavor. Kangaroo is a very tough meat to cook because it has almost no fat. However the restaurant did a really good job cooking it. The flavor was good but mild and the meat was very tender. I have to say I prefer a big, juicy beef steak to a kangaroo one but it was pretty good and definately worth the experience. As an added bonus we watched the sun go down on top of the mountain which was really pretty.
We walked down the mountain to our bus stop in darkness. We got a pretty good look at the stars. On the southern half of the sky there are stars we had never seen before which was pretty cool. On the northern hemisphere there were the stars we're used to but slightly different and during the wrong season. For example, down here Orien is sideways and is coming into view just as we would be losing sight of him in New England. The bus ride back was uneventful but I got some more time to read "A Walk in the Woods" and I found that Ben was right about the book. It was an awesome book and I couldn't take my eyes off of it. It is a true story describing the author's attempt at the Appalacian Trail. I ended up finishing it before I left Adelaide. It was very well written and very funny. I'd reccommend it to anyone, particulary hikers.
When we got back to the hostel everyone was tired but I knew that Saturday would be our only chance to go out because of Easter weekend. Matt was the only other taker so we got cleaned up and went downstairs to the bar in the hostel. We asked him where the good clubs were in Adelaide and it turns out they were only three blocks directly behind the hostel. He told us that the best place in town was a place called "The Dog and Duck." Matt and I found it relatively easily but the line was around the corner. It was almost 10:30 so we decided to go to the place next door "The Red Square" figuring it would fill up with over flow from the Dog and Duck. It was pretty empty at first but an hour later you almost couldn't walk in the place. It had two dance floors with several DJs, professional dancers, and young people everywhere. It really was a lot of fun and I'm glad I went.
The next day we woke up very early 6:00 am; we were told to be at the bus stop at 6:15 am to check in for our bus to Kangaroo Island which left at 6:45 am. Thanks to good planning the hostel was right across the street from the bus station so we had no problem making it. The bus ride to the ferry was about an hour and a half long and featured exquiste landscape views. Even though I was very tired, between the views and the book I didn't sleep much. The ferry ride to the island was 45 minutes long and again the views were fantastic. The water was shockingly clear and I saw several fish on the way over. After we got off the ferry we made our way onto the bus. It then drove us across the island, about an hours drive, for lunch. Lunch was a barbeque and was pretty good. After lunch we got up and walked around for a bit and saw some wallabies and koalas. After lunch the bus took us to a place known as Remarkable Rocks. They were located on the South side of the island and were formed from thousands of years of waves pounding them and washing away the softer materials. They were really and awesome sight. In fact the entire Southern coast line was quite impressive. It jutted out of the ocean straight up several hundred feet in to the air. The vegetation was impressive also because it grew on almost entirely bald rock. It was scragly but yet colorful green. There were many shear cliffs and unique formations that dotted the coast line. I saw some of the most scenic views I've ever seen there.
In between each stop on the tour, there was a 30 minute to an hour bus ride. The scenery was nice but almost exactly the same everywhere. We saw several Kangaroo Island kangaroos, which are there own species. They're smaller and darker then their mainland cousins. Eventually we got bored of the bus rides and started talking to the other passengers. Our group ended up meeting two German girls, Michaela and Julia, who were roughly our age (19 and 20). They were traveling after graduating from high school (which ends when you're 19 in Germany). They hung out with our group for pretty much the rest of the tour. They were just generally nice people and we ended up learning a lot about Germany and I'm sure they learned a lot about the States.
Next we were taken further down the coast to a large rock overhang which seals used for shelter from the sun and waves. Kangaroo Island is home to some of the only remaining Australian Seals. Apparently several hundred years ago Americans sailed to Australia and slaughtered nearly all of them for their skins and oil. Figures as much. Anyways the seals were pretty cool even though they smelled awful (they eat fish), but what was really impressive was the rock structure that they used for shelter. Also where there are seals, there are sharks. Our tour guide said that Kangaroo Island does support a reasonably sized great white shark population. I saw advertisements for shark tours but it was very expensive and we would have had to book ahead of time. That's too bad because if I had known I definately would have booked a tour and gotten in that cage. Finally the tour guide took us to a beach where sea lions were living. We could actually walk on the beach with the sea lions as long as we didn't get with in 10 meters of them (ya ok). It was very cool. After that we got on the bus, hit up the gift shop, and then boarded the ferry home. We left on the ferry just as the sun was going down. It was quite a site to see. However none of us could get a good picture because of the rolling of the boat. By the time we got back to the mainland it was dark.
On the hour and a half ride back into Adelaide, we chatted with the German girls more and we ended up inviting them to hang out with us at the bar in our hostel. It was Sunday night and even though we knew Monday was a public holiday, we also knew that it was Easter and all the clubs would be dead. We had a pretty fun time just chilling and chatting at the hostel bar with Michaela and Julia. We didn't have any plans for the next day and we had an early afternoon flight (3:00pm) so we decided we'd sleep in and then meet the German girls for lunch. So the next day we all had pizza with the Germans and we all ended up exchanging addresses and emails. They said they'd send us post cards from Ayer's Rock, which we wouldn't have time to see. We also all got invited to go to Germany next summer. Guess I better start working on my German, haha. So after lunch, we caught a cab to the airport and boarded our flight back to Melbourne. We got back to the apartments right as dinner was ready. Didn't do much except clean up and do some laundry the rest of the night because I was pretty tired.
So in summary, Adelaide was not nearly as boring as everyone said it was and I had a great time. I guess you just have to know where to go and plan ahead. It was probably the best weekend I've had here yet.
About half way down we came to the spot where the first waterfall was supposed to be and I was not surprised to see it was all dried up, a dust fall. We continued down the mountain and finally began to see some water and a stream. With that came a lot more wildlife including colorful parrot-like birds, grey tounged skinks, many insects, and even a few small fish. Right before we came to the second falls I was able to catch a grey tounge, which are much smaller and faster than blue tounges. It was extremely small perhaps an inch or two in length. We saw some as big as about 6 inches but I only caught the one small one. They're really quick. At the second falls there was actually a waterfall about 10-12ft high. I took off my boots and stuck my head in the water. Just another 800 meters down the trail we found the 3rd and last falls. The drop had to have been maybe 80-100 ft. The volume of water wasn't much but it was impressive. At the bottom of the falls there was another restaurant as well as a concession stand. We got some ice cream and headed quickly back up the mountain because it was getting late. The hike up was annoying at best. Katie probably hadn't walked let alone hike this distance (approx. 10km) at any time in her life before and it showed. She was hurting and we had to wait for her every couple hundred meters.
When we finally made it to the top in was nearly 6pm and the sun was sinking low. We decided that even though the restaurant at the top was expensive, it had kangaroo on the menu and the view was fantastic. Matt and I shared some gnnoci as an appetizer and we each had the kangaroo for dinner. All of the food was excedeingly delicious and it definately matched it's prize tag in flavor. Kangaroo is a very tough meat to cook because it has almost no fat. However the restaurant did a really good job cooking it. The flavor was good but mild and the meat was very tender. I have to say I prefer a big, juicy beef steak to a kangaroo one but it was pretty good and definately worth the experience. As an added bonus we watched the sun go down on top of the mountain which was really pretty.
We walked down the mountain to our bus stop in darkness. We got a pretty good look at the stars. On the southern half of the sky there are stars we had never seen before which was pretty cool. On the northern hemisphere there were the stars we're used to but slightly different and during the wrong season. For example, down here Orien is sideways and is coming into view just as we would be losing sight of him in New England. The bus ride back was uneventful but I got some more time to read "A Walk in the Woods" and I found that Ben was right about the book. It was an awesome book and I couldn't take my eyes off of it. It is a true story describing the author's attempt at the Appalacian Trail. I ended up finishing it before I left Adelaide. It was very well written and very funny. I'd reccommend it to anyone, particulary hikers.
When we got back to the hostel everyone was tired but I knew that Saturday would be our only chance to go out because of Easter weekend. Matt was the only other taker so we got cleaned up and went downstairs to the bar in the hostel. We asked him where the good clubs were in Adelaide and it turns out they were only three blocks directly behind the hostel. He told us that the best place in town was a place called "The Dog and Duck." Matt and I found it relatively easily but the line was around the corner. It was almost 10:30 so we decided to go to the place next door "The Red Square" figuring it would fill up with over flow from the Dog and Duck. It was pretty empty at first but an hour later you almost couldn't walk in the place. It had two dance floors with several DJs, professional dancers, and young people everywhere. It really was a lot of fun and I'm glad I went.
The next day we woke up very early 6:00 am; we were told to be at the bus stop at 6:15 am to check in for our bus to Kangaroo Island which left at 6:45 am. Thanks to good planning the hostel was right across the street from the bus station so we had no problem making it. The bus ride to the ferry was about an hour and a half long and featured exquiste landscape views. Even though I was very tired, between the views and the book I didn't sleep much. The ferry ride to the island was 45 minutes long and again the views were fantastic. The water was shockingly clear and I saw several fish on the way over. After we got off the ferry we made our way onto the bus. It then drove us across the island, about an hours drive, for lunch. Lunch was a barbeque and was pretty good. After lunch we got up and walked around for a bit and saw some wallabies and koalas. After lunch the bus took us to a place known as Remarkable Rocks. They were located on the South side of the island and were formed from thousands of years of waves pounding them and washing away the softer materials. They were really and awesome sight. In fact the entire Southern coast line was quite impressive. It jutted out of the ocean straight up several hundred feet in to the air. The vegetation was impressive also because it grew on almost entirely bald rock. It was scragly but yet colorful green. There were many shear cliffs and unique formations that dotted the coast line. I saw some of the most scenic views I've ever seen there.
In between each stop on the tour, there was a 30 minute to an hour bus ride. The scenery was nice but almost exactly the same everywhere. We saw several Kangaroo Island kangaroos, which are there own species. They're smaller and darker then their mainland cousins. Eventually we got bored of the bus rides and started talking to the other passengers. Our group ended up meeting two German girls, Michaela and Julia, who were roughly our age (19 and 20). They were traveling after graduating from high school (which ends when you're 19 in Germany). They hung out with our group for pretty much the rest of the tour. They were just generally nice people and we ended up learning a lot about Germany and I'm sure they learned a lot about the States.
Next we were taken further down the coast to a large rock overhang which seals used for shelter from the sun and waves. Kangaroo Island is home to some of the only remaining Australian Seals. Apparently several hundred years ago Americans sailed to Australia and slaughtered nearly all of them for their skins and oil. Figures as much. Anyways the seals were pretty cool even though they smelled awful (they eat fish), but what was really impressive was the rock structure that they used for shelter. Also where there are seals, there are sharks. Our tour guide said that Kangaroo Island does support a reasonably sized great white shark population. I saw advertisements for shark tours but it was very expensive and we would have had to book ahead of time. That's too bad because if I had known I definately would have booked a tour and gotten in that cage. Finally the tour guide took us to a beach where sea lions were living. We could actually walk on the beach with the sea lions as long as we didn't get with in 10 meters of them (ya ok). It was very cool. After that we got on the bus, hit up the gift shop, and then boarded the ferry home. We left on the ferry just as the sun was going down. It was quite a site to see. However none of us could get a good picture because of the rolling of the boat. By the time we got back to the mainland it was dark.
On the hour and a half ride back into Adelaide, we chatted with the German girls more and we ended up inviting them to hang out with us at the bar in our hostel. It was Sunday night and even though we knew Monday was a public holiday, we also knew that it was Easter and all the clubs would be dead. We had a pretty fun time just chilling and chatting at the hostel bar with Michaela and Julia. We didn't have any plans for the next day and we had an early afternoon flight (3:00pm) so we decided we'd sleep in and then meet the German girls for lunch. So the next day we all had pizza with the Germans and we all ended up exchanging addresses and emails. They said they'd send us post cards from Ayer's Rock, which we wouldn't have time to see. We also all got invited to go to Germany next summer. Guess I better start working on my German, haha. So after lunch, we caught a cab to the airport and boarded our flight back to Melbourne. We got back to the apartments right as dinner was ready. Didn't do much except clean up and do some laundry the rest of the night because I was pretty tired.
So in summary, Adelaide was not nearly as boring as everyone said it was and I had a great time. I guess you just have to know where to go and plan ahead. It was probably the best weekend I've had here yet.
3 comments:
c'mon case, load up that gregory pack and get out there...i'm sure kangaroos are much more exciting in the middle of the night when they come to steal the food out of the 'roo-bag
and i think i speak for everyone when i say that we're really interested in seeing a dummy survey
happy travels case
Sydney's iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge went dark Saturday night as the world's first major city turned off its lights for this year's Earth Hour, a global campaign to raise awareness of climate change.
ok casey i finally read you blog and you really need to post more pictures I was ok with not seeing pictures from the top of the "mountain" you "climbed" and i was also ok with not seeing pictures of the cool wild life even pictures of you chasing around the skinks which i can't help but laugh picturing. And i can even deal with not seeing pictures of the hot blond German chicks that i am sure rejected you... BUT HOW COULD YOU TALK ABOUT THE "PROFESSIONAL DANCERS" WITH OUT POSTING ANY PICTURES FOR US YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOUR SELF.
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