After the hot, hot, hot weather in the Outback, it was refreshing to visit the southern coast of Australia where it really felt like Autumn. Adelaide is a beautiful city with parks seemingly on every street corner. When it was founded back in 1836, Colonel Light, one of the founding fathers, designed the city so that wide boulevards and lots of parkland were the main features of the city. Today this city of over a million people still is grateful for his vision. Adelaide is frequently considered the most liveable city in Australia because of its greenery, smooth flowing traffic, and festivals. One thing that is interesting is how this city can survive when it is surrounded by desert on three sides. Finding enough water for everybody is a constant concern for people here.
We were excited to revisit Adelaide because we wanted to visit Natalie Overall, a friend we met on our last trip to this city eleven years ago. Matthew had never met her and it was a real highlight to have her finally meet him after years of only seeing each other through photographs and Christmas letters. Adelaide will always be a special place to us because of her hospitality and friendship.
Between Adelaide and Melbourne there is a long stretch of coastline with many ports, lighthouses, and incredible rock formations. There are also vineyards, farms, and rainforests. We drove through the Coonawarra wine region (a little taste testing was in order in this unique area famous for its 'terra rosa' soil) before staying in the picturesque town of Port Fairy. As we continued along the coast, we rolled through green fields next to lighthouses along the ocean that were very pastoral. It reminded us a little of PEI back home in Canada. The Great Ocean Road is a very windy and incredibly scenic highway that was built by returned soldiers after WWI. The terrain varies from heavily wooded cliffs to rainforest to farmers' fields to world famous limestone formations. These rocks have interesting names like The Twelve Apostles (due to erosion only nine are left), Loch Ard Gorge, the Arch (okay some names are a bit more mundane), Razorback, and London Bridge (one of its arches collapsed in 1990).
Visiting with new friends George and Bev Anstey-Long was one of the highlights of our stay in this area. We had met them in our Airbnb in London in September and were told to look them up when we arrived in the Melbourne area. Not only did they show us the beauty of their Ocean Grove neighbourhood, they also were able to share their love of Australian Rules Football (footy) with us. We now know who to cheer for (not Collingwood) and what a good 'mark' looks like. (We won't even talk about that other sport- Cricket.) Traveling continues to be about making wonderful new friends in many different places.
Melbourne is a large city of over four million people and yet it doesn't feel overwhelming. It was founded in 1835 and really exploded in population during the Victorian Gold Rush of the 1850's. We stayed in a downtown YHA and really enjoyed wandering through the nearby Victoria Market as well as the rest of the city core. Rowers were training on the Yarra River as it flowed past the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Flinders Street Station, and endless skyscrapers. Buskers were busy working the crowds at Federation Square across from St. Peter's Cathedral. And in the midst of everything glided the Melbourne trams which are such an easy way to get around this city (Melbourne has the world's largest tram network). Everytime we visit Melbourne we say we should have stayed longer because this city is the cultural capital of Australia. Maybe next time!
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