Off To Adelaide

The following morning we packed everything valuable into our suitcases and checked out the Quality Hotel. Because of our short stay, I can’t really give a full review of the hotel, but from I saw, the rooms were spacious and at an affordable price. Next time, I’ll try out the pool and the bar. Upon arrival at the airport, we returned our rental car and carted our luggage to the check in counter. There was a lineup (as always) but the wait wasn’t long; ditto for security screening. Our Virgin Blue flight to Adelaide took off at around 10am and my family and I settled in for a comfortable 2 hour flight. Spending two hours in the air is a lot better than spending 10 hours on the road . . . unless of course you’re a fan of road trips.

Adelaide is the capital city of the state of South Australia with a population of around 1.28 million. The coastal metropolis sits along the eastern shores of the Gulf St. Vincent. The city was established as a planned colony of free immigrants in 1836, promising civil liberties and freedom from religious persecution. Despite economic uncertainty and incompetent city leadership, Adelaide continued to grow throughout the 19th century. Electric street lights made their debut in 1900 followed by electric trams in 1909. Prosperity continued after the First World War but slowed to a near halt with the arrival of the Great Depression. The Second World War ‘rescued’ the economy and the post war years saw an influx of immigrants and industrialization.

After touching down at Adelaide Airport we collected our suitcases and exited the terminal to acquire our rental car. The weather was sunny and hot. The temperature was somewhere in the 30s (Celsius) in which case shade becomes your best friend. Thankfully, our rental car had an air conditioner and we blasted it while my brother drove us to our hotel, the Comfort Inn in Glenelg East. Our room was small but big enough to fit three beds and a washroom.

The first neighbourhood we explored was Glenelg, just to the west of our hotel. It’s all about the sand, tanning, and swimming in this Miami-Beach-like neighbourhood. Tourists and Adelaide citizens flock to Glenelg to cool off and to hang out. Just wear plenty of sunscreen (Slip, Slop, Slap). Giving in to our addiction to computers we found an Internet café to check out email. My dad passed the time at the Used Books store next door. After 45 minutes we headed back towards the main square and had lunch at a Gringos Mexican Cantina, ordering nachos with a side order of jalapeño peppers. The peppers were for me because I’m the only one in the family who enjoys eating spices.

No lunch in hot weather would be complete without a cold dessert so my family I moved over to the McDonalds to get ice cream sundaes. Since it was a Saturday, the fast food joint was crawling with loud laughing teenagers. Since the staff was too busy fulfilling orders and making money, some of the tables were left unclean. Nonetheless, my hot fudge sundae was delicious as always and my family felt the same about their strawberry sundaes.

From there we progressed back onto the main terrace, photographing the palm trees, beach, and pier. When the heat was too much, we ducked into a large building that was hosting an exhibition called Henry Hoke’s Arcadia. It displays many of Hoke’s inventions, my favourite being the Random Excuse Generator and dehydrated water tablets. Okay, if you haven’t figured it out, there is no Henry Hoke’s. Hoke’s is a play on the word hoax. The exhibition’s many comedic inventions are made by a group of people.

For kids and adults who want to act like kids, there’s The Beachouse, an indoor theme park with waterslides, mini golf, games, bumper cars, and much more. We chose to forgo the Beachouse because we had enough of the scorching heat and wanted to rest for a bit back the hotel. It took us a few minutes to air out the car of hot air and to somehow sit on the seats that had been heated by the hot sun.

In the evening we drove to the city centre and walked over to The Original Pancake Kitchen to have dinner. The restaurant was established in 1965 and is open 24 hours a day. It is located in an alley off King William Street. My parents had previously eaten here and wanted my brother and I to enjoy the quality food. Since I consider pancakes to be breakfast food, I ordered a chicken Caesar salad while everyone else had pancakes. The Caesar salad was delicious and judging from the looks of my parents & older brother, the Pancake Kitchen was still living up to its reputation of serving top quality pancakes.