Adelaide

We had one full day in Adelaide. We started out at Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Center, which was a small gallery of modern works by Aboriginal artists and a few historical artifacts, if which the most interesting to me was the collection of NAIDOC Week posters, mostly for the changing graphic design over time and what could be gleaned about the community's biggest concerns over time. This year was the first time they have focused on the time of women in Aboriginal culture and history.

From there we went up to the big museum complex on the north side of the city center. We started at the Migration Museum, where we learned a lot about the history of immigration here. We also got to see a fascinating series of works by a woman who was taken from her mother and raised in a mission home--deeply sad and wrong, but with a strong thread of the surprising joys that can be found, even in horrifying circumstances. Alice made the connection with a story about Tibetan monks in Chinese prison campus that I thought was really interesting.

After lunch at the State Library and a brief look at their Treasures Wall, we went on to the South Australia Museum. There we spent most of our time in the Aboriginal culture galleries, where the highlight was the Yuendumu School Doors. We also saw the Pacific Islander galleries and exhibits about Antarctic exploration, the first Australian astronaut, opalized fossils (so cool!) and more. Alice had no brain for art, so I left her there with Jason while I went over to the Art Gallery of South Australia for an hour wandering their collection.

The forecast had been for rain all day, but it was lovely as we left the museums so we spent an hour strolling down the Rundle Street mall, checking out various stores and arcades along the way. For dinner we went to the Press Grill, which was very tasty.

On Tuesday we took the recommendation of a former co-worker of Jason's and drive out to the d'Arenburg Cube, a bizarre structure of art relating to the wine, which is available to taste on the top floor. After that we had a nifty choose-your-own charcuterie platter at their very pleasant cafe before heading to the airport.

Kangaroo Island will have to wait for the next post.

Kangaroo Island

The flight to Kangaroo Island was just twenty minutes...I think that's the shortest flight I've ever taken! It was very foggy, but we made it across. Apparently the light rain we'd gotten in Adelaide was a major storm out here, with the ferry cancelled for two days, so we were very glad we'd planned to fly.

We claimed our bags, rented a car from the nice lady who clearly came in just to hand us the keys, and made our way to the Seaside Inn, where there was a note in the office window telling us that our keys were in the door of our room and they'd see us at breakfast. I think we were the only people staying there that night!

We found dinner at Bella's Pizza & Cafe, finishing up just as they were shutting down at 8pm. One gets the impression that Kingscote is a very different town in the summer.

In the morning we had a nice breakfast at the motel's buffet. They do eggs baked in bacon cups with cornflakes on top that were very tasty and easy.

We headed out of town along the coastal road. Our first stop was Seal Bay, where we were just in time for a tour and the only ones on it. On the way down the path we saw one of the local black kangaroos munching on a bush and our guide, Bridget, started looking under all the bushes, where the sea lions have made thousands of little dens. Then we started to see them: dozens of Australian sea lions, in twos or fours or lolling about on their own,just feet from the path. We watched one making herself a nice nest in the sea spinach, and a couple of male pups practicing their wrestling. Eventually we made our way down onto the beach, where there were a few adults basking while about happy a dozen pups played in the waves. Eventually one of the pups came right up to us and we stood stuck still while he booped our shoes before eventually deciding we were boring and heading up into the dunes for a nap. It was an amazing experience and I got some great video of various sea lions on the move.

Continuing along the coast we reached the Visitor Centre at Flinders Chase National Park, where we had a nice lunch and saw their various exhibits. I was fascinated by a series of paintings by a local Aboriginal artist illustrating a story passed down through the after that describes the last flooding of the land bridge between the mainland and Kangaroo Island 9500 years ago! The persistence of the culture here for over 40,000 (new estimates are up to 60,000) is just mind-boggling for someone from a much younger culture.

Out next stop along the coast was Admiral's Arch. Besides the Arch itself, it's a great view of the Casuarina Islets and the awe-inspiring waves breaking over them. It's also another breeding ground for seals and sea lions and we got to see dozens more lounging on the rocks and playing in a huge tide pool. One pup stopped on its way to higher ground to stare at us...so very cute!

After that we went to the Remarkable Rocks. They really were astonishing, like something out of a Salvador Dali painting. We played there for a while then tried to visit the Kelly Hills Caves, but their last your had already gone, so then we drive out to Cape Borda, but the end of the road was closed, so we turned back toward Kingscote. We got too many things at Amadio, an Italian wine bar with small plates and pizzas.

Then it was time to repack our bags, pulling the summer clothes and swim suits up from the bottom in anticipation of warmer weather in the Red Center.

This morning after another motel breakfast we returned to the airport, which is so small they don't even do security theatre. Our flight was delayed, so we wandered through the gates, checking out the wide variety of local art on display. Finally we got back in the same plane that brought us over and returned to Adelaide. Due to construction the bus from plane to terminal couldn't bring us around back, so we were dropped off out front to claim our baggage, recheck it, and go through security for our flight to Alice Springs.

We were scheduled to have a three-hour layover, but with the dealt it was only 90 minutes until boarding by the time we'd checked in, so we decided not to leave the airport and just have lunch at Bumbu, a surprisingly tasty pan-Asian restaurant in the terminal.

And now we're waiting to board again. Next up: the outback!