Keeping Busy.

I’ve been trying to keep busy as much as I can, though it’s definitely more difficult with classes. I’ve had at least two beach visits since orientation week. Two weekends ago I went to the beach with my Guelph friends again. It was sunny and warm for a couple hours before some clouds rolled in and we called it a day. However, we were able to jump off the pier. I didn’t jump off the highest part of the pier, but I managed to get the courage to jump from a lower platform. With one big splash, I hit the cool water before swimming back to shore. We spent some time collecting shells on the beach as well.

On my latest beach visit, Manny and I took a really long walk down the beach and we didn’t even make it to the end - I had no idea it continued for so long! Afterwards we had a delicious lunch at a small Mexican restaurant that not only had great food, but also yummy lime Miller beer. We walked down Jetty Road and all the shops that line the street. There were several nice clothing stores, souvenir shops, and a cheap book store (where I bought a new book by my favourite author, Terry Goodkind). We finished our day off with some really good ice cream!

This past Saturday, we headed over to the Adelaide Botanic park to tour around the gardens. Unfortunately, the majority of the gardens were closed due to the cultural festival, Womadelaide. It’s similar to Folklorama in Winnipeg, except that it is held over 3 days in the park. We thought it would be fun to go to the festival, however the entry fee was a VERY steep price of $120 for the afternoon and evening. We made the most of our visit by finding the duck pond, a greenhouse, some smaller gardens, and stopping for a while to lie in the grass. 

The Duck Pond

The greenhouse

A sign in one of the gardens

Looking up at the blue sky

We also found the National Wine Center. Although I hear that the Barossa Valley Wine Tour is a must, the National Wine Center is a bit easier to get to (being right in the city next to the Botanic Gardens). The building has some beautiful architecture and the inside is just as impressive as the outside. I have to go back to taste some of their wines since there were way too many to taste in one go.

The massive amount of wine bottles.                                                     The inside architecture of the National Wine Center.

A look at the exterior of the Wine Center.

We also stumbled on a peculiar looking fruit tree and to my delight, I realized that it was none other than a pomegranate tree! Unfortunately the fruit wasn’t ripe enough to pick or there might be one less pomegranate on that tree. I think you need one of these in your garden dad! 

That just about sums up the most interesting parts of the last couple weeks. I can bore you all with the details when I get home. The only other thing I think I should mention…the sidewalks in downtown Adelaide are quite interesting. I’ve seen chalk drawings, coins embedded in the concrete, advertisements in paint, and my personal favourite: random hug spots! Seriously, here’s proof!

Miss you all!