Adelaide and Hahndorf

Hi All,

Today we are at sea heading for our next port of Albany, Australia. Yesterday we arrived in Adelaide at 6am on a cloudy morning. 

 

One of the challenges in planning the cruise was to decide what we would do in each port.  While we love visiting the cities, sometimes we will choose to visit something outside the city.  That’s what we did today when we took a tour to the village of Hahndorf.  Hahndorf is where the first 54 German immigrants to Australia settled in 1838.  We thought the village would still look like something in Germany, unfortunately today it is mostly souvenir shops, ice cream and pie shops, candy stores, etc.  In other words, very little of German Hahndorf remains.  The town was very busy as it was Sunday on a three day holiday.  We did have a nice German lunch at the Hahndorf Inn which has been in business since 1863.

 

We had this healthy choice :), we shared it.

On the way to Hahndorf we stopped at the summit of Lofty Point, a high vantage point above Adelaide.

Adelaide is in the middle of this hazy picture.

At the summit is this column that honors Captain Matthew Flinders who discovered and named Mt Lofty in 1803.  That’s Helen reading the plaque at the base of the column.

We saw this pretty bird at Mt Lofty, have no idea what it is.

In 1983 there was a devastating brush fire on Mt Lofty that burned thousands of acres and destroyed many homes and businesses.  This fire spotting tower has since been built.

So, where are the pictures of Adelaide?  Well, we were only able to take a few pictures from our bus as we sped through the city on our way to Hahndorf.  The pictures are not very good, but here is a look. You will just have to take our word for it that Adelaide is a very beautiful city.  If we had to do it over, we would spend our day in the city instead of going to Hahndorf.  In any case, we had a wonderful day with fantastic weather.  It seems that any day in New Zealand or Australia is a good day, we have loved it here.  

A government building.

War memorial

A health research facility, interesting architecture.

On the drive back to the ship our guide took us through a forested area.  We were able to spot two Koala bears resting in Eucalyptus trees, pretty neat.

The seas are quite rough today as we continue across the Indian Ocean.  On sea days we usually walk on the deck in the morning, but today it is just too windy and rough.  We will be going to some of the enrichment lectures today including one by MSNBC’s Howard Fineman.  Bye for now, we probably won’t post tomorrow as it is another sea day.  Will post after our day in Albany.

Jer and Helen