We arrived in Adelaide on Thursday, February 5th for a four night stay. We spent the night at the YHA Adelaide Central, a hostel right on the centre of town. It was a little tight having us all in one room and the shared bathroom wasn’t ideal, but it was nice to have a large common room with a ping pong table and some puzzles where we could hang out. I think it was also great for the girls to see how people in their 20’s often travel and how you can create community on the road, especially when travelling alone.

We had to catch up on school and work, but were able to squeeze in some fun. On Friday afternoon the girls and I walked through the city centre to Adelaide Botanic Gardens. It was very hot but also beautiful. The downtown area is nice with shops and restaurants, but a little grittier than we have gotten used to over the past few months. Between Singapore, Japan, New Zealand and Melbourne, we have gotten used to very clean, very efficient, very orderly, very safe cities! And Adelaide was a little on the dirtier side.

From there we walked to the gardens and explored a bit. Beautiful but oh so hot!! We ended up taking the bus back, stopping at Adelaide Central Market for a delicious dinner. What a cool spot!

On Saturday the 7th, we had to do some more schoolwork but Luisa finished up early, so she and Steffen checked out the Australian Space Discovery Center which they both loved.

Then that afternoon we drove out to Henley beach for some beach time, dinner and a beautiful sunset. It was lovely! The beach was wide and sandy, there was a pier for jumping in and even a few dolphins were spotted, there was a Zumba dance party happening that the girls joined in on and we ate dinner at a delicious Mexican restaurant. It was really nice to see so many people out–there was a great atmosphere around the whole place. It felt like the kind of place we could easily have spent a couple of weeks.

Sunday was our last day in Adelaide, and we decided to do a “little” hike up to Mt Lofty through Waterfall Gully. It was only 4km one-way but so so so steep!! We were not expecting that. But we all made it up and back and felt so proud! Unfortunately it was a bit overcast so the views weren’t amazing but at least it wasn’t too hot. A great workout for all!