Today was our first full day in Sydney. The weather wasn’t supposed to be very good so we decided to explore some of the neighbourhoods outside of the Central Business District (CBD) and save the beaches for tomorrow.
We layered up for the rain and headed out towards an area called Surry Hills. It’s an area that’s been gentrified and known for good brunch restaurants. When looking at the map, we realized our hotel was basically at the Chinatown/Surry Hills border so everything was quite close. For lunch, we went to a restaurant called Reuben Hills. It was around 11am and the restaurant was already pretty full. I tried the “NOT Reuben Sandwich”, Tim ordered their “really F***ing good fried chicken”, and of course I ordered a flat white. Tim and I aren’t really coffee drinkers but since we’ve been in Australia, we’ve enjoyed their flat whites with our brunches (and Reuben Hills roasts their own beans).
Reuben Hills in Surry HillsInside Reuben HillsMy “NOT Reuben” sandwich. Wagyu beef brisket with pickled veg and horseradish mayo ($21.50 AUD = $20 CAD)Tim’s fried chicken was good but not f***ing good. ($19.50 AUD = $18.25 CAD)Flat white ($4.50 AUD = $4.20 CAD)Surry HillsKit & Ace. Vancouver in Surry Hills
After lunch we walked through Surry Hills and came across Bourke St. Bakery, a bakery Chloe recommended but we were too full to try out anything. The bakery smelled really good so maybe if we have more time tomorrow we will stop by.
Bourke Street Bakery, Surry HillsCute little garden shop in Surry Hills
The other area that we wanted to check out was Newtown, which is an area close to the University of Sydney. The weather went from gloomy and rainy to blue skies and sunny, so we were in a walking mood (especially after eating a heavy lunch). When we told our friend from Sydney that we walked from Surry Hills to Newtown, she was shocked and compared it to walking from Downtown Vancouver to Richmond (but it was probably a bit of a stretch since it’s only about 3.5km away but it’s two areas that people don’t usually walk between).
Walking through tree lined Sydney residential streets.These truck are common in Australia. I’ve never seen cars like this before.
The walk to Newtown from Surry Hills through the southern part of Sydney was nice. We both really enjoy walking around without a firm plan and it was interesting to see more of Sydney’s residential areas. We went from seeing some very affluent looking condos and then in about 5 minutes we saw a bunch of complexes that looked more like social housing (and a lot more police presence) (Tim: based on our very small sample).
Somewhere in south SydneySydney St. in SydneyOn the other side of the tracks from Sydney’s CBD. You can see the CBD in the distance.
After about 45 minutes, we made it to Newtown. There were a lot of vintage stores, street art, and vegetarian restaurants in the area. Tim remembered coming here when he visited his cousin, Christina, back in 2009.
Lots of buildings with character in NewtownMartin Luther King Jr. with the Australian Aboriginal flag. A guy with a homemade didgeridoo.Colourful buildings in NewtownLots of street art around NewtownLove all the Aussie street art in Sydney and Melbourne
We walked through the University of Sydney and felt like students for a little bit (and probably looked like ones too). We continued on our walkathon and walked through Pyrmont (south west of the CBD) to get to the Sydney Fish Market. We weren’t planning on going here but wanted to check it out since we were kind of close by. The Sydney Fish Market is the largest full functioning fish market in the Southern Hemisphere. 95% of the people in the market were Asian and same with the vendors.
Victoria ParkAt Victoria Park at the University of Sydney, there’s a totem pole donated by the government of Canada. I assumed it was from BC as soon as I saw it from a distance.Broadway Shopping Centre across the street from Victoria Park
Peter’s seafood inside Sydney Fish Market.Fishing boats docked by the fish marketIbises and seagulls everywhere
After our quick visit to the fish market, we walked back into the CBD and went to the QVB (Queen Victoria Building), which is now a mall. The QVB is one of the nicest malls I’ve been to because of it’s in such a beautiful building. The mall has a decent selection of stores, but I was more interested in admiring the architecture than going into any stores. We hung out at the QVB and then the Westfield mall beside it before dinner.
Pyrmont Bridge at Darling Harbour heading back to the CBDQVB is a 19th century building that is now a mall in Sydney’s CBDFirst floor of the QVBTop floor of the QVBMeeting Julie on Pitt St.
For dinner we met our friend, Julie, outside of the Westfield for dinner. We met her two years ago in Vancouver when she did a work secondment with her accounting firm for 5 months and have kept in touch (such a sweet girl). We were really happy we got to visit her in her hometown! One of the first things she said to us was, “I missed your accents!”. We walked to her favourite Thai restaurant called, Home Thai, about a 5 minute walk away for dinner. We ordered a bunch of dishes to share and had a great time catching up with her. There are tons of Thai restaurants in Sydney and Australia in general, and from what we’ve had so far it’s all been really good. Julie treated us to an awesome meal. She’ll be coming to Vancouver at the end of the year so we’ll get to see her again then.
Home Thai on Sussex St.Fresh spring rollGreen papaya salad that was supposed to be mildly spicy but it was extremely spicyWe had Pad see ew, pork belly with green beans, and green curry (not pictured)Mango sticky rice. My favourite Thai dessert!We forgot to take a picture with all the food. This somewhat blurry selfie will have to do.
Looking forward to seeing some of Sydney’s beaches, including Bondi Beach tomorrow. It’s also the beginning of the Vivid Festival which is supposed to bring crazy crowds into the city. We’re lucky we get to see some of it and hopefully get some good pictures tomorrow night of the city all lit up.
Finally! We didn’t have a 9-hour car ride ahead of us for the day. We packed up and went for a quick morning walk across the street along the Noosa River. I had no idea the river was across the street from us because when we got into Noosa, it was dark. The sun was shining and it was already about 27°C at 9:30am. There were a lot of people getting their morning walk and run in and there were a few yoga classes going on.
Noosa RiverSo beautiful hereNoosa Sun Motel, right across the street from Noosa River Park
We went back to the room, checked out, loaded up the car, and made our way to Noosa Beach. We planned on having breakfast and spending the morning at the beach before we headed south to Brisbane. Noosa Beach was only about a 5 minute drive down the road from the motel. We found parking on Hastings Street, which is a nice street with lots of restaurants and stores.
Hastings St. in Noosa
We walked up and down the street to see what our choices were for breakfast/brunch. We ended up picking a restaurant called, Aromas, which had a good breakfast menu and had some pastries and sandwiches in the display cases. I ordered a salmon and avocado sandwich on rye ($9.50 AUD = $8.95 CAD) and Tim got their sausage crumble on poached egg ($16 AUD = $15 CAD). Both items were tasty and the cafe was a nice setting for people watching.
Aromas on Hastings St.Nice patio for people watching while we waited for our foodSalmon Avocado sandwich and sausage crumble
After brunch, we walked down Hastings St. all the way to Noosa Park until we got to the end of the beach. Noosa is known for having very calm waters making it ideal for paddle boarding and for beginner surfers. We saw a lot of paddleboarders out around Sandy Cove. We also overheard some talking about how there was an eleven food shark out there. We continued to walk along the Noosa Beach until we got back to where the hotels and businesses around Hastings St. were. Next time we’ll have to spend more time in Noosa and just have a full beach day. Like the sand we felt in Adelaide, the sand was like powdered sugar. It’s some of the softest sand I’ve ever felt before. The water was a lot colder compared to the water we went snorkeling in. It wasn’t freezing by any means but it was definitely not 28°C.
Walk through the forest to get to the beachSandy Cove, such clear blue water.Noosa BeachGetting our feet wetWe came across a few wild turkeys just walking aroundHello from Noosa, QLD!
After hanging around the beach and walking in the water, we made our way back to Hastings St. and got a smoothie from a Jugo Juice/Jamba Juice/(Tim: and Booster Juice) type of store called Boost. It was the perfect day for a fresh fruit smoothie and it was exactly what I had been craving. We got back into the car and headed on the more scenic drive down the Sunshine Coast towards Brisbane.
Originally Tim had squeezed in 9 hours of driving each day so we would have a full day to go to the Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin’s Zoo), which is about 40 minutes from Noosa. There was some miscommunication about who really wanted to go. Tim was under the impression that I really wanted to go but I thought I had just mentioned that we would pass by it on the way to Brisbane. The only reason why I would be interested in going was because the zoo is linked to Steve Irwin. But since we went to Cleland Wildlife Park in Adelaide, I was pretty satisfied with my experience there and I did’t think anything else coul top it. Plus the admission is $59 per person and I didn’t want to go that badly. It worked out because we got to have a more leisurely morning in Noosa and spend the afternoon in Brisbane before it got dark (at 5:30pm!).
Along the Sunshine Coast, some parts were very scenic. We stayed on the coastal beach roads until we got to the Sunshine Airport, then we headed for the more direct route to Brisbane, which was a little less than an hour away.
Coolum BeachThere were two girls surfing here (the two specs in the ocean where the waves started to break).
Before we knew it we were in Brisbane. I got used to long drives that today was a breeze. I’m glad we got to spend at least one day in Brisbane while in Australia. It’s not on many people’s radars since there aren’t many tourist sites to see in the city, but I was still very interested in visiting. A good friend of mine did her Masters here so when we arrived I messaged her that I was thinking about her. It’s too bad I didn’t get my travel bug before she left. It would’ve been nice to visit her while she was living here.
We checked into the Ibis (Tim: “Style”) Hotel in Brisbane’s CBD (Central Business District). It’s our second time in an Ibis and we’re both very happy with their rooms and their very comfortable beds. Considering the hotel is in a prime location downtown, the price is really good at $117 CAD/night. The downside of being in a prime location downtown (with a car) is that we had to pay for parking. Luckily Ibis said they will validate the parking, but it will cost $35 day. When we drove down to the Myer’s shopping parkade, we saw the regular price for more than 3 hours is $55. So we’ll take the $20 off.
Our car killed a lot of bugs on our drive here.Tim checking in while I took creeper photosRoom with a little view of the river
After we settled in for a bit, we went straight out to take advantage of the sunlight. We walked across the bridge to South Brisbane, along the river on the south bank, and across the pedestrian bridge straight into the Botanic Gardens. It was a really nice walk, and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. My first impression of Brisbane was that it’s a very active city. There were so many people going on runs and tons of people riding their bikes for leisure and to commute. It seems like the city is very accommodating to cyclists which is great. I love cities that have pedestrian only bridges going over rivers or canals. I wish Vancouver would put one over False Creek.
Brisbane Treasury building. Love buildings with character.Brisbane’s South BankBrisbane’s CBDSouth Bank, BrisbaneWalking along the south bank of the Brisbane RiverPublic pools along the south bank of the Brisbane River.Part of the public pool. This part had a fake beach (and an Ibis).Brisbane is a very laid back cityThere were flowered walkways parallel to the river walkways which were prettySun was setting as we were crossing the pedestrian bridge
When we got back into Brisbane’s CBD, we walked through the Botanic Gardens and back on to another river walk way. By this time, it was getting darker and we were looking for something to eat for dinner. There were a bunch of restaurants around Edward’s Pier which didn’t open until around 5:30pm, so we continued to walk towards the pedestrian only shopping streets.
Brisbane Botanic GardensLots of boat docked around Brisbane
Like Rundle Mall in Adelaide, Brisbane has a pedestrian only shopping street called Queen Street Mall. It was larger and had higher end stores than Rundle Mall. We walked through trying to see what restaurants were around but nothing really caught our eye. When we got to the end of the street, Tim wanted to check out the City Hall building on the corner and low and behold there was a food market set up. There were all these food tents set up in the middle of King George Square (later we learned it was called “The Paper Plate Supper Club”). We walked around and found there were a lot of delicious options so we decided to have dinner there. I had Malaysian food (chicken satay with nasi lemak) and Tim had Vietnamese food (a vermicelli bowl with chicken and spring rolls). Both were really good and satisfying. It was our first proper dinner in a while.
Queen Street MallInteresting street art. Kangaroos everywhere!Brisbane City HallPaper Plate Supper Club at King George SquareOne of a few Malaysian stalls. This is where my dinner was from.Chicken satay with nasi lemuk ($10 AUD = $9.40 CAD). This dish is not for people with peanut allergies.Tim’s Vietnamese spring roll and grilled chicken bowl ($9 AUD = $8.45 CAD)We shared a delicious cannoli for dessert ($5 AUD = $4.70 CAD)
After dinner, it was still early (around 6:30pm) but it felt more like 9pm. We’re so used to the sun setting at like 9pm when it’s warm out, so I think that’s why it being dark at 6pm is weird for us. We headed to ANZAC Square which has a memorial dedicated to Australian and New Zealanders who fought during WWI. This memorial was one of the nicer one I’ve seen in a city.
ANZAC Square Memorial
We walked back up Queen Street Mall to get back to our hotel and we called it an early night. We did a quick overview of Brisbane and we liked it. It’s a very relaxed big city which are usually my favourite places.
Tomorrow we’re flying to Sydney! Looking forward to finally seeing the city for myself. We’ll be meeting up with a couple of friends there so it’ll be great to see some more familiar faces.
Today we had another long drive ahead of us. We didn’t end up waking up at 5am to drive back to Cape Hillsborough to watch the sunrise and see kangaroos on the beach. As we were snoozing our alarms, we said we’d come back and do this drive over a week or more in the future. We could camp there and walk to the beach instead of driving 45 minutes from Mackay to Cape Hillsborough. The bed at Ibis was extremely comfortable (probably one of the best beds we’ve slept on so far) so it made it even harder to get up.
We went to McDonald’s (again) for breakfast. I ordered a spinach, egg and feta wrap trying to be healthy. Tim, however, found the most unhealthy choice. He ordered the “Aussie BBQ Brekkie Roll”, which had double sausage patties, eggs, bacon, and BBQ sauces on a sesame bun, two hash browns, and a flat white coffee! Our breakfast was basically our only meal for the day so it was good Tim had a huge breakfast.
Our McDonald’s breakfast feast. $15 AUD = $14.13 CADTim’s messy Aussie BBQ Brekkie Roll. It was a really heavy breakfast.My spinach and feta wrap.See you later, Mackay!
Our drive today was from Mackay to Noosa, which is about 850km away. Tim had another ~9 hour drive to do today. I don’t know how he drives so long and is still okay. Tim’s done a lot of road trips on his own while working in Columbus, so long drives like this are nothing to him. I’m just used to driving max 6 hours a day (to get to Portland). The weather was better than our first day on the road but the scenery was pretty boring and repetitive. In my mind, I had pictured the drive from Cairns down to Brisbane to be scenic and beautiful. Since we were driving a more direct route we weren’t seeing anything interesting.
Halfway through our drive we got pulled over for a speeding ticket, which is really unlucky. I was thinking we hadn’t seen a police car at all on both our road trips in Queensland and while we were in Victoria. Tim thought we were still in a 110 zone but it became a 100 zone and he was going 119. We got pulled over and they gave us a ticket for $235 AUD. From that point on we were pretty paranoid with the speed limit changes. On the bright side, the police officers were really nice and friendly.
That put a bit of a damper on our day since $235 AUD is more than our car rental for 3 days. We were still really full from lunch and there wasn’t much food selection in the small towns we passed by. After two meals in a row at McDonald’s, nothing I saw at gas stations or any fast food was appetizing.
The sun set really early in Queensland. Around 5:30pm it was already pitch black out. This made me feel a bit uneasy while we were driving because the highway was only one lane each way with no median, the roads were winding, there were no street lights, and there were so many semi trucks going the opposite direction. As much as I trust Tim’s driving skills, I don’t really trust others. Considering there were so many warning signs about driver fatigue and a lot of road side memorials, it made me a bit paranoid.
When we arrived in Noosa at 9:30pm, I went from being thankful we made it there safely to feeling physically exhausted (and I wasn’t even the one who was driving). The long hauls of our road trip are finally over. I’m looking forward to seeing Noosa during the day and finally seeing the Sunshine Coast.
The motel we booked for the night was called Noosa Sun Motel. It was the nicest motel we’d stayed in so far. The room was huge and was more like an apartment than a motel room. It had a kitchen, dining table, sofa, an extra bed, and our bed was in a separate room. The room was $125 AUD/night.
Our bedroom at Noosa Sun Motel. I forgot to take a picture of the rest of the unit.Extra bed and couch in the living area. I didn’t get to take a picture of the kitchen/dining area
This morning we woke up and packed up. Our relaxing days in Cairns have come to an end. Like yesterday, the rain was coming down and it was another gloomy looking day. We’re lucky we got two nice days before the rain started to come in. We went downstairs for a leisurely breakfast before checking out. We walked to Hertz to pick up the rental car, picked up our luggage from the hotel, and were on our way heading south towards Brisbane.
Cairns to Brisbane is approximately 1,680km and we’re going to drive there in three days. Ideally, we should have allotted more time for this drive since there’s a lot of very nice beaches (Whitsunday Islands) along the east coast but unfortunately we don’t have enough time. Lonely Planet recommends two weeks for this “road trip” and we’re doing it in three. For the first two days, Tim will be driving about 8-9 hours each day (which he says he doesn’t mind at all) and then the last day we’ll only drive a couple of hours so we could spend more time in Brisbane before flying to Sydney. We’ve been winging most of our planning but in hindsight I probably should have tried to plan out Australia a bit better so we didn’t feel so rushed during this portion. If we come again in the future, I’d like to go to Whitsunday Islands and spend a good chunk of time there. The pictures look so beautiful!
More tropical rainstormsThen it cleared up and the roads were dry
The rain was coming down quite hard as we drove for the first couple of hours. The area south of Cairns reminded us of Hawaii’s landscape – lush greenery with tropical crops on either side of the highway. Instead of pineapples, there were a lot of sugar cane and bananas. Our first pit stop was in Ayr, which was about a 5 hour drive (436km). We had a late lunch at McDonald’s – there aren’t many options for food on Sundays in small towns (most things are closed).
Finally some sun as we moved further southAyr seems like a cute quaint town with a main street but it’s a ghost town on Sundays. Nothing is open and the streets are fairly deserted.McDonald’s road trip meal. $20 AUD = $18.93 CAD. McDonald’s isn’t cheap in Australia
Ayr to Mackay (which is where we’re staying for the night) was another 3.5 hour drive. There wasn’t much (at all) in between these two places unless you are going to Airlie Beach or The Whitsundays. The sun began to set and we had to be more careful while driving because kangaroo like to hop around at dusk. We didn’t see any hopping around but we did notice a lot more (and larger) kangaroo road kill during this road trip than on the Great Ocean Road.
Full moon tonight. It was bright while we were driving. Would’ve been even brighter if there were no clouds.
At around 8:30pm, we finally got to Mackay, which is a small city that has its own airport. We’re staying at the Ibis Hotel at the airport for the night. At first when we got to the parking lot, we saw that parking was $35 a night. But luckily when we checked in they said that it’s validated for hotel guests. It’s our first time staying in an Ibis hotel and it’s quite nice and comfortable. I’ve seen the chain around but never stayed in one before. If they’re all like this one, I’d stay in one again (Tim: we’ll find out soon enough as we’re staying at another Ibis hotel in Brisbane).
Today was the first day in a few days where we didn’t have anything planned for the day. We already knew the weather was going to be bad so we had a restful day ahead of us.
We took our time waking up and went downstairs and had a leisurely breakfast. We haven’t had a free breakfast in a hotel since Taiwan. They have all your typical western breakfast items, fresh fruit, and even some Asian items like gyozas, miso soup and congee. I tried the congee with Chinese doughnut and they were both pretty horrible. Other than the bad Asian options, everything else was good.
We spent most of the morning and early afternoon catching up with Masterchef Canada and the Mindy Project while finishing up some of my blog posts for the last few days. Tim worked on updating our spending and finance situation. The rain was coming down really hard and we could see from our balcony that a lot of people walking along the esplanade were getting caught in sudden downpours throughout the day.
In Cairns there, isn’t much to do when it rains. The guy at the front counter asked what we had planned for today and he suggested watching a movie at the mall. I didn’t even know Cairns had a mall! We walked to Cairns Central and killed a couple of hours walking around. We went to an Australian Target for the first time and it was really nice. Not to say the ones in the states aren’t nice, but the one in Cairns looked a bit fancier. The prices were pretty decent as well and their home decor section would be stuff that I would buy for my home (if we had one).
People (mostly with children but some adults) rented these safari animals and rode around the mall ($10 for 20 minutes)Inside Cairns Central (Tim: Felt like Brentwood Mall)
After browsing through the mall, we went to the food court to get a late lunch. We went around to look at all the options and decided to go to Hungry Jack’s. Since we’re in Australia and we don’t technically have Hungry Jack’s in Canada (although it’s just a Burger King) we got a Whooper meal and an extra Whooper Jr. burger to share. And yup, it tasted just like Burger King.
Hungry Jack’s late lunch. A large Whooper combo with a JR Whooper ($14.05 AUD = $13.30 CAD)
Before heading back to the hotel, we went to Coles (supermarket) to pick up some snacks and bottled water for our upcoming three day road trip down to Brisbane. While walking back to the hotel, the rain was coming down even harder than before. Luckily we had our rain jackets and umbrellas so we were well prepared for the heavy rain. On the bright side, at least it was still quite warm out (25°C).
When we got back to the hotel, we continued with our work and watched Fresh off the Boat in the background. We headed back out to town for a late dinner at a ramen place called Ganbaranba Noodle Colosseum. It was also another restaurant recommended by Chloe. The restaurant was located close to all the Japanese and Asian shops I mentioned a few days ago. When we got to the restaurant, we had to wait for about 20 minutes for a seat. The restaurant was run by Japanese people and, while sitting at the counter listening to all the staff interacting and speaking, it felt like we were back in Japan. Even when we went to pay at the cashier, Tim asked for a “receipto” and said “arigato” to the lady (he was on cruise control).
Waiting outside Ganbaranba
I ordered a cold ramen and Tim ordered a garlic tonkotsu broth ramen. His soup base was very garlicky, which he likes, but the tonkotsu tasted more like shio (salt) than pork bone. I liked my cold noodles better than his ramen (Tim: I liked her cold noodles better too). The ramen was good for Cairns and the prices were very reasonable for Australia which was great. Unfortunately we’ve both been spoiled by being in Japan recently and for even having Vancouver ramen standards (we’re lucky to have such great ramen at home).
We’re back in Japan…nope, we’re in CairnsTim’s Ikemen ($11.95 AUD = $11.30 CAD)My sour and spicy cold noodles with chicken and cabbage. ($11.95 AUD = $11.30 CAD)
After dinner we walked back to the Night Market to look for a hat that Robin had bought from there but then lost. We managed to find the exact hat but they only had small sizes left. We made our regular stop at Gelocchio for our last night of gelato. We tried their caramel Himalayan salt in a cone. It was delicious. I think my favourite is the lemon and basil gelato.
Last night at Gelocchio. Tried the Himalayan caramel salt in a waffle cone ($4.80 AUD = $4.54 CAD)
Tonight’s our last night here. We rented a car and are planning on leaving Cairns at about 10am tomorrow. We have about a 8-9 hour drive to our first stop on the east coast to a town called Mackay.
Today was the reason why we came to Cairns. It was our Great Barrier Reef day! We booked a tour with Seastar Cruises which was recommended by Chloe and it’s also rated #1 on Trip Advisor (we use Trip Advisor a lot). Our full day tour was $200 AUD = $189 CAD per person (which is the average price of full day tours).
We arrived at the marina at 7:30am and they began to board. The majority of the other passengers were from Australia and the US, we were the only ones from Canada. There were two couples (they looked like they were in their 20s) from China in front of us in the line up to board. One of the couples asked twice if they were allowed to smoke on the boat or on one of the cays we were going to (the answer was obviously no). Then they said they didn’t want to go in the water either. From that moment on, that girl looked like she would not have a very fun day. Tim said on the boat she kept saying that she wanted to go home (Tim: she only said it once). It’s a pretty expensive day out to be miserable!
The boat ride there was pretty rocky because it was quite windy out. I’m actually quite proud of myself for not getting sick on the boat ride (usually, I’m prone to getting sea sick). The crew was really good at taking care of people who were feeling sick. Tim and I sat on the upper deck so I think it helped that we were getting fresh air even though it was probably rockier being on the top deck.
Michaelmas Cay. There were thousands of birds on the cay and you could smell it. You can’t really tell from my picture from far away but all those black specs are birds.Our seats on the upper deck. Waiting at Michaelmas CayTim in his stinger suit
Our first stop was about an hour and half away from Cairns. Michaelmas Cay is the largest uninhabited coral cay in the Cairns area, but it is full of birds (apparently 35 different species). We pulled up to the cay and some crew members went off on the rescue boat to get the glass bottom boat to bring us to the sandy beach. They gave us stinger suits to wear to protect us from jelly fish stings (although they said right now it’s not jelly fish season) and the sun. The water’s temperature was 28 degrees celsius, warmer than the current air temperature! There were two snorkel guides who took us around the reefs for about 30 minutes and then we had about an hour to go around on our own. When we went on our own we saw a turtle! We followed it for a while and probably swam quite a ways out because one of the crew members came out with the rescue boat and told us to swim back towards the boat since we were pretty far away.
We took some pictures with the GoPro but most of our better footage are videos (including the turtle and reef shark spotting). Here’s some of the better photos we have from each of the snorkeling spots. Michaelmas Cay didn’t have great photos since it was overcast and more murky as it was more shallow than Hastings Reef.
Waiting to get into the water at Michaelmas CayTim is all suited upSnorkel selfies are always not very attractiveSome of the reefs we saw. Pictures came out pretty murky on the GoPro
When we got back on the boat they had lunch ready for us. They had a selection of salads, deli meat, fruits and gave us a scoop of vegetable bake and two chicken wings. As we were eating, the boat was rocking back and forth. This was the only time on the boat that I felt a bit uneasy (Tim: me too). I’d rather the boat be moving quickly and be rocking than just sitting on the water that’s rocky. After we were done lunch, we made our way to the next and last stop, Hastings Reef.
Hastings Reef view from the boat
At Hastings Reef, the boat stopped in the middle of the ocean and we jumped out to snorkel. There was another 30 minute snorkel tour with a guide and then we got about an hour and a half to snorkel around on our own. We both liked Hastings Reef a lot better than Michaelmas Cay. There was a lot more to see and the reefs were more beautiful and we saw a larger variety of fish. We even spotted a reef shark and we followed it for a while (actually Tim followed it longer). We saw a reef shark last year in the Maldives while snorkeling as well but this one was a darker grey and a bit larger. After we got back up to the boat we went on the glass bottom boat and went around the reefs with a crew member.
Table top reefs Hastings ReefBlue large clams. I’ve never seen so many large clams before.A group of larger fishMoorish Idol
This really large fish was swimming around the boatLooking at Hastings Reef after snorkeling. Tim’s hair is getting long and crazy
The boat ride back was an hour and 45 minutes and was even more rough because we were going against the waves. I was so happy when we got back to the marina and was actually very surprised I didn’t get sick on the boat. It was awesome to see the Great Barrier Reef with my own eyes and to experience with Tim. We took pictures with the Go Pro but looking through them the pictures don’t do the reef justice with all the different colours and things we saw down there.
We walked back to the hotel, washed up and headed down to the restaurant in the lobby. Tim got some vouchers for free drinks and an appetizer from the restaurant so we went down to redeem them. We shared two pieces of fried barramundi, coke, and a beer. The fried barramundi was very good with light crisp batter and the fish was nice and moist. It sort of satisfied Tim’s fish and chip craving.
Free beer, coke and fried barramundiResident barramundis at the hotel
We walked down to the Cairns night market to see what they had to offer. It was basically a Chinese food court with stalls of cheap souvenirs and massages. I often crave westernized Chinese food so this was actually perfect for me. All the Chinese food stalls were the same. You pay for what size plate you wanted and you can put as much food on it as you can. Since we had a small appetizer, we just shared a medium plate ($13.50 AUD = $12.75 CAD) and I went through and piled as much as I could too (so Chinese of me. Tim didn’t want any part of it).
Cairns Night MarketChinese takeout counter at the night marketOur medium plate piled up…
After we finished eating we walked around a bit and headed for Gelocchio (of course) for dessert. This time we got two scoops, strawberry and passionfruit, in a cup. Two scoops are supposed to be $5.80 AUD but the guy only charged us for one $4.80 AUD = $4.50 CAD. I’m really enjoying all the fresh and delicious gelato.
Strawberry and Passionfruit gelato
It started to rain so we went back to the hotel and watched the much anticipated 2 hour finale of Survivor. This already aired back at home but we haven’t been able to download and watch it until we got to Cairns. It was a nice chill night and we planned to just take it easy tomorrow. We originally thought of going to the Daintree Rainforest but we’re both feeling pretty tired and it’s going to rain all tomorrow. So we’ll be taking tomorrow to catch up on blog entries and future trip bookings.
Our flight this morning was at 7:40am to Cairns. We woke up at 5:45am and finally had the crumpets Jess bought for us. She toasted them and I had mine with jam. It was delicious! Jess and Robin both woke up early to drive us to the airport which was really nice of them. It was great being able to spend time with them. Since they live in Australia, I’ve only been able to see them once a year, if even. It’ll be nice when they eventually move back to Canada closer to us!
The Adelaide Airport was recently renovated but is quite small for a city its size (1.25 Million people). We were flying on Jetstar for the first time. Jetstar is Qantas’ discount carrier that’s based out of Australia and flies throughout Oceania and Asia (mostly SE Asia). Like any discount airline, you have to pay extra for everything – like checked bags (different cost according to weight class) and preassigned seats. Our flight from Adelaide to Cairns cost $212 CAD per person (including seats and checked bags). It was the first time I’ve weighed my bag since Japan and my bag has lost 6kg (it’s so light now)! It’s mostly because Mom brought back most of my Korean and Japanese purchases back home. And then the remaining deliveries to Melbourne and Adelaide.
The flight to Cairns was 3 hours and we slept the majority of the way there. When we got off the plane, we felt the hot air hit us and it was like we were back in summer weather again (29 degrees C when we landed at 11am). We’ve been going back and forth between hot and cold weather quite a bit during our trip.
Cairns Airport
Cairns (pronounced “cans”), is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Cairns is in Queensland and is on the north east coast of Australia, so it experiences tropical like weather all year round. Cairns is a small town but since it is the access point to the GBR, it is quite busy and full of tourists all the time.
The only options to get into town from the airport is a taxi or a shuttle. We read online that the taxi would cost around $25-$30 AUD to our hotel so we opted to take the shuttle which drops you off at your hotel, but each shuttle holds about 20 people. The shuttle costs $22 AUD for up to 4 people, so it cost us $22 AUD for the both of us. Luckily, we were the second ones to be dropped off.
We’re staying at the DoubleTree which is on Esplanade Street (the main drag in Cairns). After doing a lot of research and reading countless reviews on our options here, we decided to just book the DoubleTree. It was not that much more expensive than some other places ($150 AUD/night) and it looked a lot nicer. Tim also has a lot of perks when he stays at Hilton properties (thanks to all his previous work travel), like free WiFi, free breakfast, and room upgrades. Also, I wanted to stay in a nicer hotel since we were relaxing more in Cairns (and after all the motels we stayed in).
We arrived at the hotel at noon and checked in. They gave us an upgrade with a ocean view, some vouchers for free drinks and food, and their signature warm chocolate chip/walnut cookies. Since we wanted to check in earlier and didn’t want to wait until 3pm for another ocean view room, we took the next one available – which happened to be another double bed room. Oh well, we’re used to them now.
Because Mahs like lobby picturesOur room at the DoubleTree in CairnsView from our balcony
We were excited to just relax and chill. I love warm beach towns. Tim says I’m the happiest when I’m in places like this (Hawaii, Koh Samui, Maldives, Kenting, Okinawa). I think it’s because I’m a summer baby so I like warm weather and being able to just wear flip flops everywhere (maybe if I were Australian I would walk around barefoot too). We looked up places to eat for lunch and found a Japanese restaurant called, Four Cinq, that was highly rated on Trip Advisor, so we headed there.
Four Cinq is a ramen place that also serves other Japanese dishes like tonkatsu and karaage. Tim ordered the chicken ramen ($13.50 AUD = $12.80 CAD) and I had the tonkatsu ($16.80 AUD = $15.93 CAD). We sat on the patio and enjoyed our meal. The food was surprisingly good, but I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised because on the way to the restaurant we noticed that street was full of Asian stores and a supermarket catering to Asian tourists (mostly Japanese tourists).
Cairns even has a DFS (Duty Free Store) Galleria just like in Honolulu. LV likely for the Japanese or Asian touristsFour Cinq in CairnsTonkatsu and chicken ramen with a lemon bitters soda ($3 AUD = $2.85 CAD)
After lunch we walked down to the Marina to check out where we would have to meet tomorrow morning for our snorkel tour. Along Esplanade Street, there’s a public salt water swimming lagoon which was very packed when we passed by. It was a good day to be in the water since it was quite warm out.
With the hills in the background, the marina looks like it could be in BCPath along the water (tide out) parallel to Esplanade St.Esplanade Lagoon
We made our way back to the hotel to relax for the rest of the day. I changed into my swimsuit and lounged on the balcony catching up on some blog posts. The sun was pretty strong and I thought it would be nice to go for a swim in the pool. The pool was busy when we left the hotel for lunch but when we came back the pool area was all shaded so it wasn’t very busy any more with people who just wanted to get some sun. I went downstairs and went into the pool and it was cold. I guess the water would’ve felt nice if the sun was still beating down. I stayed in it for a bit then jumped into the hot tub.
We washed up and looked up what to eat for dinner. We decided to go to an Indonesian restaurant close by that had good reviews and seemed a bit more local than touristy (although most of Cairns is pretty touristy). Bagus Cafe is on Esplanade but the part of the street that isn’t very busy. Bagus Cafe is a family run restaurant that has seats outside and you order at the counter. We ordered a chicken mee goreng ($13 AUD = $12.30CAD) and a beef rendang curry ($15 AUD = $14.19 CAD). When we arrived it was very busy and after we sat down we realized most of the people who were around us did not have their food yet, so we knew we would have to wait. There was an Indonesian family beside us (I didn’t know they were Indonesian until they started speaking to the owners) and they really enjoyed all their food so it made us look forward to our meals even more.
We waited for about 20 minutes for our dishes but it was worth the wait. The dishes were great and one of the owners came out (after they weren’t as busy) and was very friendly. He apologized for taking so long but they want to make sure everything is very fresh. I haven’t had Indonesian food before but from the menu items, it was very similar to items they would serve at Banana Leaf at home (Malaysian food). If I lived in Cairns, I would go there regularly.
Chicken mee gorengBeef rendang curryBagus Cafe exterior. Seating is all outside.
After dinner we walked over to a gelato place that was highly recommended by my cousin, Chloe. She had just been to Cairns a couple months ago and said Gelocchio had the best gelato so we went to try it out. There are tons of ice cream and gelato places around town. If I didn’t know to look for Gelocchio we would have probably not tried it out (unless we read about it on TripAdvisor). It’s around the corner from Esplanade St. and the decor on the outside is a bit tacky compared to some of the other gelato places we passed by. But once you go inside the walls are covered in messages from happy customers and the flavours looked legit and are all homemade. Gelocchio is run by a local Italian family and their gelato did not disappoint! We tried the lemon basil gelato, it was awesome and refreshing. We’ll be back again.
GelocchioLemon basil gelato in a waffle cone ($4.80 AUD = $4.50 CAD)
We headed back to the hotel and slept early. It was a long day and we had another long day and early morning ahead of us. Tomorrow we were going to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef!
Today was our last day in Adelaide and we didn’t have much planned except for going to the Central Market. We didn’t have a chance to go during the week because they close on Sundays and Mondays. Adelaide’s Central Market is the largest covered market in the Southern Hemisphere (Queen Vic in Melbourne was the largest open air market in the SH). It seems like there are a lot of “largest/best…. in the Southern Hemisphere” in Australia.
Since we were heading back downtown (or the CBD as they call it), we dropped Robin off at work before going to the Central Market. Wednesdays at the market are optional working days for the vendors, so only about 70% of the stalls were open when we got there. All the fresh produce looked really good and were nicely displayed. We found a charcuterie stall that looked promising. They had some delicious sandwiches so we decided to give it a try. The place was called Lucia’s Fine Foods. They have different stalls (coffee, pizza, Italian groceries, and deli/charcuterie) all next to each other. We shared a prosciutto, mozzarella, and basil sandwich which was really good. I haven’t had a sandwich like that for a while. I really missed (good) Italian food while traveling in Asia, so this was hitting the spot for me.
Central MarketLove all the fruit and vegetable displays in the marketCheese galoreLucia’s Fine FoodsSimple yet super delicious sandwich. $10 AUD
After walking around the Central Market, we saw that Chinatown was across the street. We did a quick walk down the main street (which is only a small block) and went in a couple of stores. They had a Gong Cha and CoCo bubble tea which are popular Taiwanese bubble tea chains. The passionfruit bubble tea we usually got in Taiwan for 45 NT = $1.80 CAD was $6 AUD = $5.67 CAD here (likely the same price in Vancouver).
I always take Chinatown pictures in other cities because I’m ChineseThere are a lot of churches around Adelaide. Many of the old churches have been converted for other uses. I took a picture of this because St.Paul’s is my old elementary school.On King Williams St. in AdelaideMy favourite part of Rundle St. (for the buildings and nice shops)Our favourite place for free WiFi
We walked back through Rundle Mall to make our way to Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute. Tim wanted to show me Australian Aboriginal art work so we went to Tandanya which had a free exhibit featuring some art and pictures from tribes in Queensland. The gift shop had a bunch of didgeridoo and boomerangs with Aboriginal carvings and paint.
Entrance at Tandanya
We made our way back to the townhouse since Jessica took a half day off and was already home. She bought us some pastries from her favourite bakery close by called, Red Door Bakery. Tim’s favourite dessert is creme brûlée, and she bought this creme brûlée tart that was really yummy. Actually everything she bought from that bakery was delicious. Next time we’re in Adelaide I want to go there.
Jessica took us to another beach area called Semaphore. It’s more of a local beach and not as touristy as some of the other areas. We walked along the super long jetty (think it was over 100m out into the ocean) and walked through the small quaint streets. It was a nice and relaxing afternoon just chatting and spending time with her.
Long Jetty at Semaphore BeachPretty Australian Seagulls crowding around anyone with food.
We decided to have an earlier dinner since we would have to wake up fairly early for our flight to Cairns at 7:40am. Tim and I suggested Vietnamese again since there are so many choices in the Woodville area. Jessica suggested a more homey and family run restaurant in the area. The food was good but the style of Vietnamese food was different than NNQ and what we’re used to at home. The vermicelli bowl’s grilled pork was more soy sauce based and not as fresh tasting as the one at NNQ. Jess ordered this chive pancake wrapped in a scrambled egg that was really good. I’ve never had anything like that before and that was probably my favourite dish at this Vietnamese restaurant. While paying, the ladies asked if I was Vietnamese, and when I told them I was Cantonese. The lady started to say some things in Cantonese to me. After we left, we realized the bill total was a lot less than what it should’ve been. Maybe I got us a Vietnamese/Cantonese discount.
Chive pancake with spicy scrambled eggs
We got back home in time to watch Masterchef Australia and have the rest of the desserts. We packed up everything so we’d be ready to roll out of bed and leave tomorrow morning.
Today was the day I’ve been waiting for since arriving in Adelaide (and Australia for that matter). We were going to the Cleland Wildlife Park to see and interact with koalas, kangaroos, wallabies and more. We waited for a sunny weekday so it wouldn’t be so crowded in the park. Cleland is about 30 minutes out of the city and in the Adelaide Hills. Robin had the day off so he came along and drove us there.
Cleland Wildlife Park entrance
Cleland Park is massive, and unlike a zoo, the animals aren’t in small cages but are in enclosed large open areas that are separated by doors that visitors can roams through as they please. So basically it’s like a huge park where you can see all the animals roam around and interact with them. Admission is $22 AUD per person and we bought two bags of food ($3 AUD each) so we could feed the animals around the park. The small bag of food is a vegetable pellet mix.
The first animals we saw scurrying around were called potoroos. They are kangaroo-like marsupials the size of a rabbit and have long thick tails. These guys are all over the park and are fairly friendly. They came up to our feet a few times in hopes we would have food for them. They are basically like squirrels back home.
Tim with some potoroos
We went straight to the koala close up area, where you can come close to a koala, pet it, and take a picture. You can also hold a koala for $30 AUD. It would have been cool to hold a koala but I didn’t want to pay $30 AUD to do it. In the koala close up, we met a 16 year old koala named Ash. When I first saw her, she was a pretty good looking koala – clean, big and fluffy. Many koalas I’ve seen before in zoos in other parts of the world are a lot smaller and do not look as well taken care of. I later learned that South Australian koalas are a lot bigger than koalas in other parts of Australia. Since the park wasn’t busy, we were able to take our time with Ash and her handlers.
Robin, Tim and I with AshAsh the Koala
After our visit with Ash, we went over to where the other koalas were hanging out. The koala keepers were bringing in fresh eucalyptus branches for them to eat. It was entertaining to watch them because as soon as the koalas saw the fresh branches they all sat up and started moving to where the keepers would place the new ones. It’s funny though because the “old” branches that were there weren’t even old looking, but I guess koalas prefer super fresh leaves to munch on. There was even one koala that jumped out of his tree on to the ground to follow one of the handlers and wanted to be picked up (we later learned his name is Nicholas and he fancies one of the volunteers). These koalas are all rescues and cannot be put back into the wild because they don’t have the essential survival skills.
Koalas munching on their new eucalyptus
The next area we went to visit was where the kangaroos were. There were different types of kangaroos and they were all in separate park areas. There were red kangaroos (the large ones that are fairly common, more of a beige colour), western grey kangaroos (smaller and fluffier), and Kangaroo Island kangaroos (which are dark grey). The majority of the red kangaroos were just resting and lying down. Kangaroos are most active during dusk, which is why so many of them get into trouble while hopping around highways in Australia.
Red kangaroo just chilling
We found a few western grey kangaroos to feed. At first I didn’t know how close I should be to the kangaroos since you never know with wild animals but I quickly learned that the kangaroos here are extremely used to humans and are very gentle and friendly. It was a very different experience from feeding deer in Nara! There is a kangaroo “rest area” which is roped off to visitors and it was where the majority of the kangaroos were just lying around. We didn’t see the signs saying it was a rest area, which also meant do not feed them. Some of the kangaroos did come out of the area when they saw humans around if they wanted something to eat. Tim enticed one to come out to the open grass for some food.
Western Grey KangarooThey’re so gentle and calmMe offering food to a small Western Grey KangarooTheir fur is very soft
The kangaroo that came out of the roped off area towards us was a pregnant mama kangaroo. We saw that her pouch was full and at some points it was moving around quite a bit. We agreed that we should give her more food since she was eating for two. She stayed with us for a while munching on the veggie pellets. Then suddenly the pouch was moving around a lot and we saw a little head poke out. It was a joey! This was so awesome to be able to see a joey in its mother’s pouch still. He looked really young and a little like a puppy. He would pop his head in and out as he pleased for the rest of the time we were feeding his Mom. It’s one thing to be able to see kangaroos from afar but it was quite surreal to be interacting with one. After about 20 minutes, the Mom had enough food and hopped away to get some water.
You can see her pouch is fullHi Mama and Joey!You can see the hole in the pouch where the Joey sticks his head outSuch a cute Joey
The Kangaroo Island kangaroos seemed a bit more scared of humans compared to the western greys. Tim approached a larger kangaroo to feed it. He showed him the food and the kangaroo came and took a few bites. Tim tripped over his own feet as he was trying to get more comfortable and it startled the kangaroo and it hopped away pretty quickly. We found two smaller kangaroos around this part of the park that were interested in food. They were very sweet and sometimes they would put their paws on our hands to block the other kangaroo from getting any food. There were also a lot of ducks around that were just around for the leftovers that fell on the ground. Ducks aren’t featured at the park but it seems like a large population of ducks come to Cleland because they can just be scavengers there.
Kangaroo Island kangaroo ran away after being startled by Tim’s sudden movement.Tim and I made two sweet friends.Posing for the cameraThese guys weren’t interested in much food. They took a couple of bites then went on their way.
Before coming to Australia, I didn’t know what a wallaby was. We saw so many of them and they’re so cute. They’re just like mini fluffy kangaroos. We fed a few of them and found a very young one in the bushes around the walkways that was just hanging out. We offered it food and it came up to us and ate. It got really scared when two potoroos ran across the bush near it… it jumped back really quickly. I have a pretty cool video of that happening. By the end of the day, I had taken 500 pictures and 30 videos.
Me feeding a baby wallaby that was scared of the small potoroos
Along with Australia’s unique animals, they have vastly different birds. There were quite a few aviaries where we could see more unique birds flying around. There was also a large pond area that had huge pelicans hanging out along with ibises (garbage birds) and geese. I’ve never seen a pelican like that before. They definitely could eat as many fish as they like.
Tim feeding a Cape Barren Goose
Some other animals that were in enclosed areas that you couldn’t walk through (for good reason) were dingos. Dingos are mainly found in the outback and in Western Australia. They are slowly becoming extinct as many of them are mixing with domestic dogs and there are not as many pure bred Dingos left in Australia. We learned that Dingos are Australia’s apex land predator because they can actually kill kangaroos. When we passed by the dingo area, we were just in time for a feeding. Dingos are actually very good looking dogs, you almost forget they are wild. The Dingo keeper was feeding them chickens with the feathers still on. The dingos that were being fed were three brothers that the park got in November. There is a dominate brother who basically ate all the chicken and a very submissive brother who just kept hiding behind the handlers and if he touched a piece of chicken, the older brother would growl and bark at him. The growl and bark was very loud and aggressive sounding. The third brother took his chicken as soon as it hit the ground and ran away to eat it peacefully.
Dingos with their keeper
The Tasmanian Devil was very cute. It kind of hid from us when we came by his area. The Tasmanian Devils are becoming endangered and have been prone to developing a facial type of cancer which is killing off a lot of them right now.
Spot the Tasmanian Devil peeking out at us
After spending about 4 hours at the park, we headed out. We started and ended with a koala close up and got to meet another koala. It was a really fun day and was definitely the highlight of Australia so far (for me). Tim had been to Cleland before and he never hyped it up to me so I wasn’t prepared for how awesome it would be. He told me after that he knew it was going to be amazing for me but wanted me to see for myself. I’m happy we waited for Cleland and didn’t just see all these animals in one of Australia’s many zoos.
White haired wombat. Most wombats in Australia are brown.EmusBlack swan
Cleland is close to the summit of Mount Lofty – which has a view point of Adelaide. Most people hike up to the summit but since we were at the summit already we just drove into the parking lot to take a look. Unfortunately, the sky was very hazy so we couldn’t see much of the city from there. You could barely make out the outline of the skyline. Apparently there were some fires a couple of weeks ago so that’s probably why it was hazy.
View from Mount Lofty through the haze. On a clear day you could see all of Adelaide.
Also in Adelaide Hills, there is a town called Hahndorf, Australia’s oldest German settlement. The main street in Hahndorf is really quaint and very charming. The architecture and feel of the streets does feel like you’re in Germany or Germany at Epcot. We had a pretty late lunch at the German Arms pub where we shared a burger and Bavarian meat platter. Everything was really good, I especially liked the roasted pork and crackling. We walked to a leather smith shop and looked around. The majority of stores and cafes in Hahndorf close at 5pm so as we were walking around after our late lunch all the stores were closing. If we’re ever in Adelaide again, I would want to spend a bit more time here when stores are open and it’s a bit more lively.
Hahndorf had a couple of Chinese restaurantsSome of Hahndorf’s quaint storesDefinitely felt like Fall in Adelaide Hills. It got very chilly when the sun went down.
We headed back to the townhouse to meet Jess for dinner. Tim and I both fell asleep during the ride back and when we got back to the townhouse we all rested up. Jess and Robin made reservations for dinner later in the evening at a restaurant downtown called Red Ochre. It’s a restaurant that specializes in Australian and Native cooking and serve a lot of Australian specific meats – like kangaroo, emu, crocodile. It wasn’t ideal that we would be playing with kangaroos during the day and then eating them for dinner.
Platter for two with pork & emu sausage, crocodile ribs, kangaroo steak, fried barramundi and lamb ($50 AUD pp)
The restaurant is situated on the Torrens River and we were seated at a table with a view of the river and part of downtown. Since our dinner was at 7:30pm, it was already dark out so we could just see some of the buildings lit up in the distance. We ordered a platter that had kangaroo steaks, lamb, crocodile ribs, emu and pork sausage, and fried barramundi. This was a good way to sample all the different types of Australian meats. Unfortunately, my favourite meat was the kangaroo. They cooked it really well. It was extremely tender for a meat that is typically very tough. I actually felt a bit bad eating meat for the first time. We ordered our meat medium rare and when I ate the kangaroo, I even flipped it over so I didn’t see the meat juice. I probably won’t be eating any more kangaroo meat on this trip.
Thanks to Robin and Jess for a wonderful meal!
After dinner, we headed back to the townhouse, made tea and played some more of the games we brought. Tomorrow is going to be our last day in Adelaide before heading up north to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef.
We woke up this morning to the smell of pancakes and pouring rain. Jess and Robin were both up early because Jess worked this morning and Robin was being a good husband and making breakfast. It’s also their first wedding anniversary today! When Tim and I went downstairs Robin told us the pancakes didn’t turn out well because the batter from yesterday had separated and it was inedible. Instead, Robin prepared a granola and fruit bowl for our breakfast. We had bought passion fruit yogurt yesterday so I added it in to make a fruit and granola parfait.
Passionfruit yogurt with granola and fruit
Jessica and Robin got us a 3GB SIM card for data from Telstra (one of Australia’s major cell phone providers). We got the SIM card activated at around 5pm the day before, but Tim and I had used all the data by 10am (whoops). I guess when we have 5 devices on WiFi, it’s easy to blow through that data. We added more money on to the SIM but we added it on to the wrong SIM card by mistake and had to call Telstra to get it sorted out. We waited the whole day for the credit to be added but no luck. So when Jess got home, she called Telstra again to help get things fixed. So many calls to Telstra!
Since it was raining this morning we decided to hold on off on going to Cleland Wildlife Park and just hang out downtown. Robin wasn’t working until 4pm today so we spent the afternoon with him. We went downtown for lunch at a vegetarian Taiwanese restaurant that Jess and Robin go to once in a while. The restaurant was called THEA and it was quite busy with what looked like office workers from nearby buildings. We ordered some dishes to share and a bubble tea – our first bubble tea since leaving Taipei. This bubble tea was not $1.40 CAD… it ended up being $5.70 AUD. The food was okay. Tim’s cold noodles were the best dish by far. The pearl milk tea was also surprisingly good – good textured pearls and solid tea. I wasn’t a huge fan of my dish or the special snack dishes for the day.
THEA – Vegetarian Taiwanese foodRobin and Tim at THEAMy mushroom rice bowl with tofu, dim sum, fried “chicken” and fried “squid” (Rice was $10 AUD, all other side dishes were $6 AUD)Tim’s cold noodles which was the best dish there. $10 AUDPearl milk tea ($6.20 AUD) and mango green tea with pearls ($6.20 AUD)
After lunch, Robin took us through other parts of the Botanic Gardens and to the Torrens River for a nice walk. The weather had totally changed from the gloomy rainy morning to beautiful blue skies and sun. Australian weather changes really quickly apparently. It was really nice to go for a long walk around some pretty peaceful areas of the city. Our end point of our walk before we turned around back to the city was to go to a suspension bridge that crossed the Torrens River. The bridge is scheduled to be updated, which made me a bit nervous while crossing since it is really old and it looked that way too.
Bamboo forest at Adelaide’s Botanic GardensAustralian flowersHuge lily pads from the NileInside the rainforest houseFig Tree on the way to the Torrens RiverPink peppercorn trees by the Torrens River. Tim and Robin chewed on some.Walkway along the Torrens RiverGilberston’s Swing Bridge that’s supposed to be fixed soon. Which made me nervous about crossing it.
We headed back into the city and Robin headed off to the hospital for his shift. Tim and I walked along North Terrace Road and went to the Adelaide Museum of Art for a quick look. All the museums are free in Adelaide, which is great. I like some museums, but I’m not a big fan of art museums so it’s good this was free or else I probably wouldn’t pay to go in. We did a quick walk through the museum and they had quite the mix of old English looking art to modern art that I don’t understand. They had a huge taxidermy horse hanging from the ceiling, which was really strange and a bit disturbing. We didn’t spend much time in the museum, just a quick walkthrough to get the gist of what it was like.
We passed by this building each day we were downtown on North Terrace Road. I really like the look and character of the building.University of South Australia on North Terrace Road. The hospital Robin works at is right beside these buildings.University of SA buildingsArt Gallery of South AustraliaWeird horse display inside the art galleryWar Memorial on North Terrace Road
After walking down North Terrace Road, we headed back to Rundle Mall for the free and fast WiFi. We basically sat on the many benches and surfed the net, downloaded shows, and posted yesterday’s blog post for about 1.5 hours. Adelaide is great for having accessible free and fast WiFi throughout the downtown core. It’s too bad it doesn’t extend out to where Jess and Robin are in Woodville Park (5km outside downtown).
Tim getting his downloads in while on Rundle MallFountain outside the Adelaide Arcade on Rundle MallSun setting and we’re still here
We finished with the WiFi and headed back to the townhouse to meet Jess for dinner after she was done her shift. We planned on going to a Vietnamese restaurant close to their place called, NNQ (Nghi Ngan Quan). The restaurant was in an old and charming building and looked like a very modern and somewhat trendy Vietnamese restaurant. Woodville and Australia in general has a very large Vietnamese community so you see a lot of Vietnamese restaurants around. The restaurant was full inside when we got there, so we got seated outside (with heat lamps that were really hot). The food was really good! I can’t wait to go to Vietnam where our meals will be a fraction of the price they are here. I enjoyed our dinner a lot more than our vegetarian Taiwanese lunch.
NNQ (Nghi Ngan Quan)Custard apple smoothie ($4.50 AUD) and grilled pork vermicelli bowl ($12 AUD)Tim and Jess at NNQTim’s pho ($10 AUD). The pho we’ve had so far in Australia have all been thick rice noodles not like the thin kind back at home. We aren’t as big fans of the thicker noodles (Tim: They get soggy and soak up lots of the soup).
We came back home just in time for the last half of Masterchef Australia (the show started here). It’s on every day at 7:30pm except for Fridays and Saturdays (no wonder it’s such a popular show here), we’ve only watched a couple of episodes and we know some participants pretty well. Our favourite is Con, a guy from Melbourne who looks like a sad Joey Fatone from NSYNC.
Jess boiled some hot water and made some tea and we played a card game called SushiGo. She got the card game from a friend in Vancouver and we had actually gotten the same game from Hon before we left. But since the packaging is a bit more cumbersome we left it at home. The three of us played a couple of games – Jess won two out of the three games. Tim gets sad when he’s playing badly, it’s quite funny.
