Today we had a super early morning and headed out for the start of our road trip adventure! We had a six am flight to Adelaide from Brisbane, so were up at three am to pack up, drive out to the airport and return our car. I was very surprised to see how slack security is here compared to North America. We didn't have to show any form of ID at any point- not at check in, security or boarding! Liquids didn't seem to be an issue either.
We landed in Adelaide to a warm, sunny day. Everybody said how "freezing" it would be but it was quite pleasant, around fifteen degrees. Their airport was very modern and clean. We went to pick up our rental car, which was going to be a Subaru Forrester, but Dad and Joel talked them into an Audi A4 instead. Bolla!
We drove into town and checked into our hotel, the Ambassador, which was right in the CBD. It was built in 1842, so quite old! We spent the morning walking around the city and exploring. Adelaide is a really pretty city with a good vibe. There are tons of old buildings as it was founded around 1836. Things are within walking distance and there are trams for transportation. It's the capital city of South Australia and the population is around 1.6 million, making it the fifth largest city in Oz. All of us really enjoyed the city and felt very comfortable. Adelaide has much more of a European feel and most of the buildings are made of stone with intricate iron trims. (I also learned that Joel hates sightseeing, so he was quite grumpy today!). SA also has a time change of half an hour- go figure!
Joel and I at Haigh's Chocolate (famous Adelaide brand)
The Parliament
Victoria Square
The Light Monument, where the city was planned from
In the afternoon Mom went shopping and I went with the boys to the Migration Museum, where I learned tons about Australia's history and Adelaide's beginnings. Australia was first discovered in the 1600's by the Dutch, and it wasn't till 1770 that the British arrived. Most Australian cities were built by convicts who were sent to Oz as punishment, but not Adelaide. This was a city people came freely to. Lots of English, Irish and Germans. It is called the "City of Churches" as people came here to escape religious oppression from their home countries and were able to freely worship whatever their beliefs here. Australia was an extremely racist country until the seventies. They had something called an "All White Policy", which basically made it impossible for any non white person to come here. If you were not white, you had to pass a language test, in which the government would pick a random European language (one you likely wouldn't know) for you to do a diction test in. If you failed you were sent home. There was also a big push to rid the country of it's Aborigines people and you were allowed to shoot them until the seventies! In the early 2000's, one of the prime ministers finally made a public apology for this.
When we were done here we picked up Mom and headed to Glenelg, a beautiful beach retreat in the summer. We walked down the pier and along the boardwalk and enjoyed a beautiful sunset over dinner and drinks. In the evening we walked along the North Terrace to Victoria Square, where all the fountains and statues were lit up.
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