Exploring Adelaide in the Heat (2.5 days Itinerary)

Throwback to all the way in December 2015 when I first graduated. I was heading back to Malaysia for good and decided that I should do a bit of travelling. I had friends all over Australia so we all decided to travel together. I bought my ticket to Adelaide and then heading to Brisbane and Gold Coast. My first stop was Adelaide and my friend picked me up from the airport. He had everything planned out so nicely for us. What better way than to explore the city than having a local bring you around to the best places. :)

Trust me, the summer in Australia is a real deal. It was 40 degree and the lesson I learn from this trip is to never travel at this temperature. You not only get sunburn but you sweat so much that you feel uncomfortable.

DAY 1 

Lyndoch Lavendar Farm

This farm was huge. It is also the popular lavendar farm that people visit when they are in Adelaide. For more information about them, you can visit their website here. It was my first time visiting a lavendar farm and I would say it would be better visiting during spring or when weather are more bearable. It was so hot that the lavender wasn't looking very healthy. However, I heard that during spring or cooler weather, its a purple field which looks really pretty.

You can tell that the summer in Adelaide pretty much drain all the plants and the ground just by looking at the soil colour. Despite that, I would love to give a shoutout to the Lavender Ice Cream. Its the first time I had Lavender Ice Cream and is still the BEST I had!

1847 Wines Chateau Yaldara Barossa Valley
Of course, you have to do the wine tasting when you are here. Our first stop was just near by the Lavendar Farm, 1847 Wines Chateau Yaldara Barossa Valley. The setting of this wineries is beautiful and perfect for wedding settings. Its grand and has the European style and feels to it.

They have a beautiful garden as well. Did some wine tasting there but not too much because my friend has more winery plans for us.

Jacob Creeks Winery 
160 year old, Australia largest wine brand. This was a really famous wine and I often had it when I was back in Malaysia. I like this winery much more as it is modernised and most importantly it had air condition which was what I really needed at that point in time.

At that point in time, I was in love with Moscato so we all bag one whole box of Moscato back. It was my favourite among all the wine I tried that day. I always had a sweet tongue so I guess Moscato was the go-to choice for me. 

This view is my favourite. It look like a perfect weather but the heat was unbearable. I am pretty sure we were able to fry an egg there. 

St Hallett Wine 
Finally, our last wine stop was the St Hallett Wineries which was also located in Barossa Valley. Shiraz is the core of St Hallett Wineries. By that time, I felt like I've already had a little too much wine from the past two wineries so I went in to just try the shiraz.

This was their packaging style of wines. I didn't get any from them but it was a good tasting of shiraz I had. Decided that we had enough of wine , my friend was like let's go feed the animals and hence we head over there.

Gumeracha Wildlife Park 

A 7 ache wildlife park which has variety of animals in it such as the peacock, Illama, emu, wallabies and so on. I had quite a fright here. I think the animals weren't fed as much so when they saw us they literally charge at us. The whole time, I felt like I was running for my life with my friends. It was fun nevertheless just a little scary. It would have been better if the animals were fed enough because you could tell that they are starving. I fed quite a lot of animals in zoo and never have a seen such hungry animals in a park. I've asked the owners and he said normally during cooler season there are a lot of tourist so the animals are well fed. In a hot weather, there are lesser tourist, so even they were fed but its much lesser than what they use to have previously.

This guy here, the emu. His friends that were running around was the culprit who was charging at us. 

Also, the wildlife park is right beside a toy factory with its famous big rocking horse. If you are planning to stop by here, the big rocking horse will let you know you are at the right location.

Hahndorf (German Town)

This town is the oldest German Settlement in Australia. They all practically German theme and you really do get a different feel rather than the typical Australia town. Most of the shops were selling German goods and products. Keeping the town real German. Hahndorf is only about 30 minutes away from the CBD and I would definitely recommend to visit when you are in Adelaide.

We had our early dinner at about 4pm in this German Restaurant which I can't remember what was it called. Apparently it's super popular and the deco in the restaurant in on point with the theme.

Mount Lofty 

Our last stop was to have a panoramic view of Adelaide so we went the highest point in the Mount Lofty range to get this cool view. Since there were a lot of wineries here, the view you get is not your typical city view but a scenery of green grass.

After this, we decided to head into the city for a walk before calling it a day. I got pretty bad sunburn that day and I prepared for it so I got cucumbers and aloe vera. I came back home at night and did a homemade mask with the cucumber and aloe vera. With such heat, this would help to cool down your skin and prevent any skin peeling off.

My friends just laugh at me when I was doing it but it felt so comfortable that they decided to try. Lucky for us, we did not get peeled skin and redness.

DAY 2

Cherry Picking 

During the summer, you MUST go for Cherry Picking in Australia. It's a super popular activity to do during Summer despite the hot sun. This was my first time doing it and I really had a lot of fun. When you actually pick those cherry, we were told to be very careful and only take the fruit but not the whole stem and pull it carefully for it to keep reproducing cherry. A lot of times tourist just hurt the cherry trees without realising.

Port Elliot, Horseshoe Bay

Second stop on day 2 was the beach. No way you can visit a place in Australia without visiting any beaches. We went over to Horseshoe Bay, played around the beach and mainly we were there for the fish and chips in Flying Fish Cafe.

Look at the water. Its so clean and the water colour just please my eyes so much. I love going to beaches with clear blue water and admire the beauty of the sea.

Granite Island Recreation Park

So, we decided to a bit of trekking around the Granite Island at Victor Harbor. This was a different experience to get to the island. We took a tram but not the electric tram but a horse tram. It took us from Victor Harbor to Granite Island. It took us about 2 hours to get around the island. We didnt rush it but just took our time admiring the view and rocks. Took a lot of photos too!

It was a amazing view despite the hot weather. Getting view like this makes it worth the trip, sweat and heat. It wasn't super crowded so it was just perfect going around the island and searching for the animals.

Hallett Cove, Rocky Beach 

Declaring it a beach day on the second day. Visited all the famous beaches in Adelaide. We mostly stayed and chill hearing the sea breeze. It was too hot at that time for us to head into the water as well. It so hot that the water itself is warm. I kid you not. You can't even walk barefoot on the sandy beach because it'll hurt you.

Glenelg Beach

This was my favourite beach and town. We stop by here for about 2 hours to get ice cream, chill around the jetty as well. There were so many things going on in this area. There were amusement part, museums for vintage swimwear and even dolphin watch. Also, there this jetty where people were just jumping down pretty similar to cliff jumping. My friends tried it but since I did not bring any extra clothes so I did not do it.

If you are there, do it! Its cooling and fun and kinda thrilling for awhile. We took a walk around the town after getting gelato passing by the amusement park as well.

It also my favourite beach in Adelaide. It has the right amount of crowd, the environment and a town nearby where you can get food and chill around with a beach view.

Adelaide Central Business District (CBD)

Finally entering the CBD for dinner after a whole day of strolling beaches and trekking. Really took all my energy away and I haven't gotten the chance to enter the city area yet. Well, the city is definitely less happening than Melbourne or Sydney but it's definitely not as crowded so you don't get the busy city feel.

DAY 3

Dolphin Explorer, Port Adelaide

Our flight to Brisbane was in the evening. My final stop was one that I've been waiting for. Searching for Dolphin! This was a two (2) hour cruise and its only $10 AUD. Where can you such a cheap deal to see dolphins. Also, there is no guarantee you'll be able to see them. If thats your lucky day, $10 is definitely worth the shot. You can check them out at their website here.

I was surprise when we were passing by the industrial area and I told my friends no way we have dolphins here. It's too polluted but then I realise, the water here is pretty clean and not as dirty as I thought. I was wrong because we manage to spot dolphins! I was pretty much so excited that I almost forgot to take photo of it. Or at least I was too busy spotting them that I forgot. I only manage to capture this shot of their fins.

Tadaaa ! The only shot I had. Oh wells but i manage to see them so I was really happy the whole day.

After we were done with the cruise, we had lunch and made our way to the airport. This also marks the end of my journey with Adelaide. I do hope to come back soon as there were many other places I have yet to visit. When I do, it'll be in Spring definitely not in Summer anymore. I do really miss Australia, stayed there 3 years of my life. I would seize my next opportunity to visit there again the next time. :)