Hey, what’s up?

Welcome back to part two of my Adelaide adventures. Here is a quick recap from the previous episode. I flew over to spend time with friends who kindly became my unofficial tour guides and extremely generous hosts. They showed me around South Australia, gave me a place to stay for free, and took me beach hopping like it was an Olympic sport. I shared a generous collection of sandy views and ocean photos last time, so in this post I will be bringing you along to the other places we explored.

1. Mount Lofty

Adelaide was serving full sunshine, yet we bravely decided this was the perfect time for a not so short hike up Mount Lofty. It is only about thirty minutes from the city centre. The total hike only around 8km which sounds very manageable until you remember the sun exists and enjoys making things dramatic.

The reward at the summit was absolutely worth it. There is a famous panoramic view of the whole city and, on a clear day, you can even spot the coastline stretching out in the distance. The breeze from the ocean somehow makes its way all the way up there, which felt like nature kindly switching on the air conditioning for us.

Mount Lofty sits within Cleland National Park, which basically means you start expecting wildlife sightings like a nature documentary. I was fully prepared for a magical koala moment, but the koalas clearly had other plans and better things to do. Instead, I had a close encounter with a very confident wallaby who looked like it owned the place and possibly paid the entrance fee before we did. There was also a small botanical garden filled with bright and cheerful flowers, which gave the hike a surprisingly wholesome and colourful finish.

2. Adelaide Botanical Garden

Later that day we headed to Adelaide Botanical Garden for what we confidently labelled as a relaxing afternoon. The garden is massive, the kind of place where you feel like you could accidentally start a new life and no one would notice.

Since we arrived in the late afternoon, we claimed a shady spot and set up a picnic. The breeze was doing a great job keeping the heat in check, which felt like perfect timing on nature’s part. There were plenty of attractions around us, but we made the very serious decision to ignore productivity and instead sit, relax, and play card games. Honestly, it felt like the garden approved of our life choices.

3. Glenelg

In the evening we headed to the beach again. Yes, another beach. At this point Adelaide was really committing to the theme. This time it was Glenelg, which is conveniently close to the city and full of people living their best seaside lives. There were crowds sunbathing, playing volleyball, swimming, and generally looking like they belonged in a summer advertisement.

Naturally, we joined in by doing the most important beach activity of all. We bought gelato from the famous Bottega and settled in for some quality people watching. The only challenge was the race against time because the ice cream started melting almost immediately. It turned into a high pressure situation where eating quickly was not greed but pure survival.

4. Rundle Street

The next day we wandered over to Rundle Street in the CBD and I had a sudden moment of confusion because it genuinely felt like I had teleported to Manchester city centre. The vibe was unmistakably British. It was very much giving England.

There were plenty of shops and restaurants to explore. I popped into Rebel and bought some running clothes, which felt very optimistic of me considering my current relationship with running. And of course, true to our habits, we made an essential bubble tea stop. At this point I am convinced the pearls have a strong emotional hold on me.

5. Cultural walk

Lastly, before I was sadly escorted to the airport, we went on what we proudly called a cultural walk. This mostly involved walking under the very enthusiastic Australian sun while admiring a collection of impressive buildings. Our route included the Art Gallery, a few museums, and the State Library of South Australia.

Despite the heat doing its best to test our dedication to culture, it was actually a really lovely walk and a nice calm way to wrap up the trip. A wholesome finale before the inevitable airport goodbye.

And before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye to Adelaide and the familiar faces that made the trip so special. It was such a memorable getaway and definitely one I will not forget anytime soon. I also bought an alarming number of postcards and cannot wait to send them out like a very enthusiastic travelling pen pal. Huge thanks to the two wonderful humans who planned everything from start to finish. You know who you are.

Thank you for sticking with me until the end, and I will see you in the next post.