why adelaide

I am ashamed to admit that I have travelled shockingly little of Australia outside of Queensland. Apart from a a few visits to Canberra and a drive to Dubbo to visit the Western Planes Zoo when I was in primary school, I have yet to venture to most other parts.

Whilst Sydney and probably more so Melbourne have always been destinations that I have wanted to visit, somehow I have not actually gotten my act together to actually book flights. When organising trips, I tend to think big. Weekends are usually reserved for family, friends, markets, cooking, catching up on life, projects, big drives and down time. It’s not that I haven’t wanted to do weekenders away – it’s just that my weekends tend to fill themselves pretty quickly. Even booking a trip to visit my sister in Emerald, a small mining town in the middle of Queensland, took 7 months of her living there and an interesting discussion about my priorities.

So when my friend asked me a few months ago if I wanted to do a girls weekend in Adelaide, I jumped at the chance. Finding a weekend free(ish) proved not too difficult to completely deter the plans, and flights were cheap.

 

Like I said, Melbourne and Sydney have always been places I have wanted to visit. However, recently other places like Adelaide and Hobart have held increasing fascination and priority as places to visit. Undoubtedly it has been the foodie in me who loves an adventure, who has been tempted by the opportunity to explore these emerging little foodie epicentres.

Especially over the past few years, Adelaide has driven the trend of showcasing fresh, local regional food and wines on menus throughout the country. Wholesome home cooking styles have been elevated to new heights in the Barossa and Alexandra Hills regions, which have rolled into the city itself.

Adelaide could best be described as a big country town mixed with a European city. Businesses tend to be family owned, people are friendly, interspersed amongst the more modern architecture are stunning churches and buildings with distinct old-world charm. It’s hard not to be struck by the fact that stunning beaches and magnificent mountainous regions are less than an hour away. There are so many wineries to explore that spinning a wine bottle (because they are not in short supply) would probably have been a more effective way of choosing where to go than trying to see which looked the best from the travel brochures.

 

 

It’s a place where your biggest problems are time, luggage allowance and stomach capacity are your biggest enemy. Free test tastes are as common as vineyards in the Barossa. I’ve probably tightened my jeans on free chocolate and cheese alone.

Going to Vietnam and Adelaide have not exactly done wonders for my bikini body heading into Summer. And although my exercise and diet regime are going to do quite the 180 after the last month of travel, looking back, I don’t regret a thing.

xx Liz

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