Taking the 'kids' Down Under - 2009

They do say that, 'Time flies when you are enjoying yourself'. So I must have been really enjoying myself of late since it really doesn't seem like a month since my last posting. So, if anyone is actually reading these ramblings, let me apologise for the delay.
My last post concluded the trip to Aus taken by Christine and me during February and March 2000. Christine and I had another tip to Queensland in 2006 when we once again met up, and stayed for a time with Oraline, Christine's pen pal of some 40 odd years. That trip was all too short at only 2 weeks but in May/June 2009 I was able to take my daughter Samantha, and grandson, Matthew on a 3 week trip to South Australia where we were well looked after by my sister Valerie and her husband Nick. For the next couple of posts I will be offering a largely photographic record of that trip. That should just about get me to the launch of my next trip down under when I fly out from Manchester on 27th August.

The following view will, no doubt, be familiar to many travellers and is a view from the Heathrow terminal building as we were waiting for our first flight (to Singapore) on 22 May 2009, having driven down from Saint Anne's on the Sea.

The flight to Singapore, was uneventful but, as ever with long haul flights, hardly a relaxing experience. However, we arrived safely and while Samantha and I were feeling some what jaded, Matthew was still bouncing although looking a bit 'frayed around the edges.' He did however, manage to find the children's play area and so burnt off a bit more energy.

Departing from Singapore following our 5 hour stop over, the flight to Adelaide had quite a number of spare seats, so we were able to spread out a little. A situation which Samantha took real advantage of, as you can see below.

Arriving at Adelaide Airport on the morning of 24th May was a welcome relief although the place seemed to have had something of a refurbishment and expansion since I had been there in 2000. However, they are obviously still 'big' on the Flying Doctor Service.

Sister Valerie and her son Ben had been good enough to meet us at the airport and then ferried us and our luggage to Valerie and Nick's home in Willunga. This is their Bed and Breakfast business but they had very kindly set aside 3 rooms to accommodate us during our stay. I would like to say that I was personally extremely grateful for their generosity as without it, the trip would probably not have been financially viable.
The view below shows "Willunga House" which is a state heritage listed Georgian stone residence built in 1850 and, as such, is one of the oldest buildings in town.

The house is situated in St Peter's Terrace just off the main crossroad, shown below.

We took the rest of that day to unpack, settle in, get acquainted with our surroundings and generally catch up with family gossip from opposite sides of the globe.
The following day, Nick drove us about to see some of the local area and we headed for the coast which was all of about 10 minutes drive away to a place call Aldinga Beach, where Matthew demonstrated his amazing strength by holding up the cliff

This beach is the source of Nick and Val's business card design when they used the remains of the original jetty as the background. Can you tell what is is from the views below?

Following a couple of hours touring around we all went back to a family celebration for Nick's sister-in-law's birthday. Naturally, I am far too much of a gentleman to divulge her age. However, we were, once again, made to feel very welcome and were royally fed and watered.

Tuesday 26th saw us make an early start when we all went into Adelaide for a general tour about. We had a sumptuous breakfast in the market and then a wander about to view some of the stalls. The size of the shell fish amazed me but, I was assured that this was just average.

Leaving the market, Matthew was fascinated by some of the street art and spent much of his time 'interacting' and dashing about from one to the next.

We were delighted to see how clean and free from rubbish the whole area was with a general air of being cared for that seems to be missing in so many UK cities and towns.
Below are views of the Arcade, which we naturally had to visit

On Wednesday 27th Nick and Valerie once again took us to see some of the 'local' tourist sights and we visited a delightful little place called Hahndorf which, as it's name suggests has a distinctly german flavour as you can see below.

Whilst there we were treated to the local delicacy of 'pot belly' pie for lunch, following which we vowed to return.

The following day, Nick and Valerie had to get back to their business as they had paying guests, so I borrowed their car and took Samantha and Matthew for a visit to 'Victor Harbour' a small coastal town at the end of the Fleurieu Peninsula, overlooking 'Encounter Bay'. This was named after the encounter on 8th April 1802 between Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin, both of whom were charting the Australian coastline for their respective countries (Britain and France). Apparently, the encounter between the scientists was peaceful, even though their countries were at war at the time.
While there we took to opportunity to visit Granite Island, which is noted for it's penguins, although we didn't spot any during our visit. We travelled across the causeway to the island on board the horse-drawn tram.

The island is a beautiful spot to explore although small enough to circumnavigate in about one hour. As I said earlier, we didn't get to see any of the penguins, but we were lucky enough to spot a seal swimming around one of the inlets, Matthew saw it first but, unfortunately we were not quick enough to get any decent photographs. So, you will have to make do with this view of a seal carved out of the rocks next to the causeway.

Returning to Victor Harbor we had a late lunch of fish and chips. However, I was totally over faced by the mountain of chips with a red snapper balanced precariously on the top.
We had a leisurely return trip to Willunga and that evening Samantha and I sampled the delights of one of the local hostelries, the "Bush Inn" where it was 'open mic' night (sort of a do it yourself karaoke session) this provided us with entertainment of dubious quality but endless amusement.
That's all for this time folks. In my next post we will set off on our camper van trip which included a whistle stop tour of Kangaroo Island.

See you soon.