if you only had a day in Adelaide, Australia
Adelaide is the capital city of of the state of South Australia. My write-up today will mainly be targeted to those who have a very limited amount of time that you get to spend in Adelaide. At most 1 or 2 days kind of schedule. Do cherry pick if you rather have more time strolling around the suggested locations.
Morning
(Assuming you're having cereal and milk for breakfast so that's sorted)Why not start your day with a workout! Visit Waterfall Gully and treat yourself to a morning hike. From the city centre, it will take you less than 20 minutes to get there. Park at Waterfall Gully and there's a few hiking trails up for grabs. The most famous trail is the Mt Lofty summit hike where online resources have quoted time taken will take you between 1.5-3hours at 3.9km return. Due to time constraint (knowing we have limited physical capability), we took other routes to explore. Don't worry, labels for each trail is quite prominent with clear indication on the distance involved. So once you get there, you can pick and choose at every junction.
If you want to just have a look at the waterfall, you don't even need to hike.
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| Top view of Waterfall Gully |
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| En route to trail "Eagle on the Hill" |
If you're a cyclist, this may suit you too because we found this map showing the different trails suitable for cycling.
Lunch
Leave Waterfall Gully around 10.30am and make your way to Hahndorf! About 30 minutes drive away, you'll arrive at a small town known for it's German-style architecture and food. I'm sure after the hike, you'll be famished by now. Time for lunch. Hahndorf Inn will be ideal with the amount of meat and beer you can get! If you're a vegetarian... erm... maybe you can munch on the sauerkraut?!
Portion was crazy! We ordered something which was indicated that it can serve 2-3 pax. There was 4 of us that day and we still couldn't finish the platter! Here you'll see the thick pretzels, crispy pork knuckle (oh yummmmm, that crackle), sausages, schnitzel, meat ball, burying the pile of mash potatoes, sliced potatoes, potato dumpling, sauerkraut (there was like 2-3 different types) and pickles.
Take a stroll around the small township after lunch and you'll discover stores selling candles, soaps, ice-cream and etc. Random gems I reckon. There's even a smoked meat shop beside Hahndorf Inn!
Quick detour down the road, less than 5 minutes away, you'll find yourself at Beerenberg Strawberry Farm. You can visit their farm shop and make a few quick purchases ranging from dressings, jams and even honey OR you'll be able to pick your own strawberries (only from November - April). During strawberries season, they make their own strawberry ice-cream too! It's a bummer we were there before the season started.
Afternoon
What better way to aid digestion if not by having some wine. Next stop, Penfolds Magill Estate!
Head straight for the Penfolds Magill Estate Cellar Door. There's also the options of Magill Estate Kitchen and Magill Estate Restaurant if you'd like to have some food.
The day I visited, coincidentally was the launch of Penfolds 2017 collection or something along that line, I'm afraid I'm not an expert. So wine tasting was actually FOC! Upon consulting one of staff members, I found out usually they will charge AUD$10 per pax. According to their website, there's some other tours you can choose from as well. This includes the heritage tour experience where you'll get to explore the vineyards and some other more expensive exclusive options!
Still afternoon
Well depending on how long you've hang around tasting wine and what not, you'll still most likely be able to head back down the city in time to do a quick visit at the Adelaide Central Market before closing hour which varies between days, link here to find out more. From Penfolds Magill Estate, it takes only 15 minutes to get back Adelaide City Centre. Tips, don't go at 5pm albeit the closing hour stated to be 5.30pm. Most shops are closed by then and it will be quite dull and boring.
Some other things you can do in Adelaide city centre includes scouting for more food! We went to SmallFry for some Lobster Roll which came with chips and side salad.
Next up, if you would like to do some shopping, visit Rundle Mall but again, take note of trading hours (link here). Rundle mall is a pedestrian street mall and if you're familiar with Melbourne, the concept is pretty much like Bourke Street.
If you're more into "cultural" / artsy-fartsy things, walk along North Terrace where you'll be able to visit State Library of South Australia, Art Gallery and University of Adelaide. All of which had really interesting architecture.
Night
About time for dinner! Along Peel Street, you'll see restaurants and some other bars that seems pretty decent too. Highly recommend Peel Street Restaurant as your dinner location.
Remember to make a reservation. We showed up around 7pm without any bookings but was lucky enough to get the one last table available, outside. Was a bit chilly but that beats no table at all.
Their menu is written on the wall. Smart move (sorta) to be able to change their menu often and avoid menu printing cost. I also realise that they categorise their food by just "smaller" vs "larger" rather than the usual entree, main course and etc.
Amongst the 3 of us, we ordered a "smaller" dish and a "larger" dish. Portion wise more than sufficient! For the smaller dish, we ordered the hot smoked ocean trout with rockets. Pan fried with the meat still lightly pink on the inside, served with it's crispy skin, dressed in lemon mayo and capers. Also came with chunks of dutch cream potatoes.
For the larger dish, I found it rather interesting! It was a fusion between western and Thai cuisine. Caramelised coconut beef ribs served with som tum and sticky rice noodles, sprinkled with peanuts. You can even taste the coconut in the gravy and the the beef was so tender!
Extra(s)
For supper, try out Yiros House. They are famous for their dish named AB, classic food to get after partying. It's sort of like a gyro sandwich but without the pita. What does AB stand for? The way it looks, I'm not surprised AB takes it's name from after-birth. (if you didn't get it already, it stands for ABortion)
Another place for food! Try Cardone Seafood & Grill at Glenelg which is just by the pier. So after your meal, you can take a stroll by the beach. We ordered half a dozen of coffin bay oysters served with a shot of lime and shallot vinagrette; char grilled calamari, baby spinach & cherry tomatoes drizzled in lime & mint aioli; panko crumbs garfish served with shoestring fires; and atlantic salmon linguine with bacon and capers.
Summary
If you like hiking, go to Waterfall Gully. Followed by a stroll in Hahndorf and perhaps lunch at Hahndorf Inn. Pick some strawberries at Beerenberg Strawberry Farm. Wine tasting at Penfolds Magill Estate and maybe even more food at Magill Estate Kitchen. Back to Adelaide city centre and visit Adelaide Central Market; shop at Rundle Mall; and take a slow artsy fartsy walk along North Terrace. Along the way get a lobster roll at Smallfry and end with dinner at Peel Street Restaurant. Supper at Yiros House for their infamous AB. If you have time to spare, check out the ocean at Glenelg and dine in Cadone Seafood & Grill.
