Adelaide Day 2 - Port Adelaide, Glenlg, Botanic Gardens

Following on from day 1's winery tour, Dennis and I thought we would take a break from the wines and visit some towns.

First stop was to Port Adelaide. From the Lonely Planet book, it sounded like there was a lot more to do at Port Adelaide than there really was. Most of the activities in Port Adelaide involved going from one old historic building to another. That's good and all if you're into that type of stuff, but it can get a bit similar after the first few buildings. The whole area was really quiet and there didn't seem to be much activity around.


We visited the Sunday market where a lot of trash and treasures were being sold. We were really tempted to take a ferry ride around the bay but due to time, we opted not to. Instead, we went and visited the Aviation Museum. There were many restored planes and the history of their involvement in various wars. It was very interesting to see these old planes close up. I can't believe how small the pilot area were in some of the planes.


After the aviation museum, it was time to leave Port Adelaide and visit the glitzier Glenlg. This place was much more to my liking. The main marina was a beautiful expanse of boardwalks, with many fancy looking yachts parked close to it. The view from the marina was very beautiful, picture perfect.


We stopped at The Oyster Bar to have some Coffin Bay oysters. As good as the Kilpatrick ones were, the natural ones were just outstanding. These oysters had so much flavour. An oyster may be freshly shucked, but can still taste rather dull. These though were so packed with flavour that I could have eaten another two dozen. Eating the saltiness in the oyster reminded me of the previous day's lunch at Penny's Hill. An elderly gentlemen on the next table replied to the waiter's enquiry of how his lunch was going that he didn't like the saltiness in the oysters. The waiter told him that they oysters were freshly shucked. The gentlement then asked the waiter if the chef added any salt or soaked the oysters in saline solution. I'd never heard of soaking oysters in saline solution. What would that achieve? Anyway, when the waiter left, the gentlemen preceeded to tell his wife that sometimes restaurants do that, they soak the oysters in saline solution to preserve them for longer. Is this complete bull dust or is there any truth in it? Anyway, I like the saltiness in oysters, that's what makes them what they are.


After a walk around Glenlg and the beach, it was off to lunch at Good Life Organic Pizza. The surroundings were a tad dark and felt a touch uncomfortable. You would think they would put more windows with such a great view outside.


We ordered the Salami pizza to share. The pizza was very good. The base was a thin crispy base instead of those solid thick Pizza Hut things. The salami was hot, the way I like, and olives, cheese and basil finished off a simple pizza.


After lunch, we were slowly wandering back to the car when both Dennis and I turned our heads quickly at a kid running past. The kid was holding an ice cream that looked like a McDonald's soft serve, but with chocolate bits in it. We were really curious so went inside the Maccas. As it turns out, there is a chocolate vanilla soft serve called a choc swirl. Of course we had to try one, having never seen them before. We thought it was something that they have in Adelaide. But as it turns out, no other Maccas that we went to after that had it. Must only be available in Glenlg. They really are a posh bunch there, having their own soft serve style.


Last stop for the day was the Botanic Gardens. The gardens were nice, but I would say the Melbourne Botanic Gardens are better. I liked this glass sculpture a lot.


This vine archway made me think of movies for some reason. Yet if you forced me to name a movie where they actually had an arch like this, I couldn't name one. Can you name any movie with an archway in it?


Dinner was again at another totally forgettable place. It was so forgettable that I actually have forgotten the name. They served dumplings though, and there was the word Noodle in it because I remember the wait staff aprons had that word on it.

After dinner, we visited the Cas(h)ino. C'mon, we're two Asians. Gambling is in our genes, hehehe. The casino is so much smaller than Melbourne. Crown really is huge. It's amazing this town is able to support such a large casino. We really must love gambling in Melbourne. Anyway, like most other buildings in Adelaide, the casino was a historic looking thing and looked and felt very refined. That's one thing I liked about Adelaide. I loved how the buildings were all different and not boring. It added to the charm of the place.