Day numero uno.
For reasons (which are mostly 'no real reason'), my family and myself decided to go explore Kangaroo Island for an extended weekend holiday with a quick stop-over in Adelaide. Smack bang right after Semester two started at Uni.
Yes, you heard correctly. (Never fear, I'll catch up... soon.)
So with an early morning, we navigated our way towards Sydney Domestic Airport, only to be told that the plane from Sydney to Adelaide had been delayed by an hour.
That's one hour extra I could have slept, mate.
Either way, to kill the time, we decided to head for Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
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| Doughnuts all 'round. |
It seems like doughnuts have replaced my usual ritual of buying a Macca's hash-brown.
After flying a relatively comfortable two-and-a-half hour flight from Sydney to Adelaide, we had a few hours to kill before our connecting flight to Kingscote (on Kangaroo Island).
We decided to head off into Adelaide and check out Chinatown, because why not?
With much debate on what to eat, we settled with Pepper Lunch. I know, exotic, right? But I guess we were craving it. And, to be fair, from my experience it seems that most of the Capital cities of Australia seem quite similar -- just urbanised places.
We decided to try the steaks for the first time ever and let me just say that it tasted so good. It was far better than I had anticipated, but of course it came at a price.
I'll stick with my $9.90 Beef Pepper, thanks. Though it was a nice change and I'd recommend anyone try it at least once!
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| Yum |
A bit more time to spare so we desperately decided to check out the Adelaide Markets which happened to be open on that Saturday.
It wasn't much of a tourist attraction -- more a market for locals to purchase niche products and fresh produce for cheap prices (believe me, they were very cheap).
We roamed around a bit and I really just took a few photos. The goods they had there were incredible! Such a unique market -- I even managed to find a camera shop selling vintage film cameras for $50 (and I mean, really nice looking vintage cameras!)
The variety of foods they had were incredible! Never would I ever have thought I'd see so many different types of sausage.
And don't even get me started on the surprise I had plastered across my face when I laid eyes on this:
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| So many cheeses! It's like my kindergarten life dream come true! |
(For those who don't know, I wanted to work in a cheese factory when I was a little five-year-old girl. Long story with a weird explanation, but I'll save it for another time).
After finding ourselves bored with the markets (and the closing time approaching and the stalls closing) we made our way back to the airport to really just hang around until boarding time for our flight.
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| My brother intensely trying to consume his first ever Gobstopper (aka a Jawbreaker). |
With a bit of time to kill I took a few photographs here and there of the airport.
In the distance I could see the small Rex airlines plane that I would soon be riding. I can assure you, this was the smallest aeroplane I'd ever ridden and I was both keen and slightly anxious.
Soon, it was time to board and I was as keen as a bean. Hopping onto the plane and managing to snag a window-seat meant I spent a large proportion of the 30-minute plane right staring out the window and saying goodbye to Adelaide.
Very soon after take-off I found that we were already beginning our descent. This was one heck of a short plane ride. Soon enough, the horizon of Kangaroo Island came into view and I found myself bubbling with excitement.
There'd been a big hype about Kangaroo Island -- it was a long anticipated trip, and I guess a part of me wanted to make the most of it because, after all, I was skipping two entire days of Uni for this! What a rebel?! Haha.
We arrived just after the sun had sunk, so it was quite an interesting experience to see the sunset from above the clouds; I had wish I had taken photos of it but I simply admit I was too excited and caught in the moment to whip out my camera.
You know what surprised me the minute I stepped out of the plane?
1. How cold it was.
2. There wasn't any phone signal.
Like, at all. No signal. Nothing. Nada.
That was... unexpected. But I'll manage! I've gone longer without my phone and social media, and I always see it as a great 'detox' opportunity. (I was actually soon to find a source of Internet later, thus explaining my Instagram posts, but I wasn't aware of that at this moment).
Kangaroo Island was so barren. Hardly anyone in sight, and the airplane had zero security measures. They don't even scan your luggage when you board the plane!
Say goodbye to buses or trains, or even your telephone signal (unless you were with Telstra, in which you'd get some limited signal in certain places, e.g., high up on a mountain).
Thankfully, we had a friend who lived on Kangaroo Island who had lent us a place to stay and offered to drive us around for our four-days.
Too exhausted from the early morning wake, I conked out immediately on the car-ride and woke up to our family friend telling us to "Look up! There's a koala in the tree" as we were approaching our temporary accommodation.
And woe behold, there really was a koala! No photos though -- it was late and night and I was incredibly groggy from waking up.
Fast forward an hour or so after we'd settled in, we were told that Hotpot would be for dinner tonight. One catch -- we'd need to obtain our own vegetables from the Green House on the plot of land that our family friend owned.
Wait, what?
It was a reality to face -- us urban-nurtured, luxury-living Sydney-siders having to obtain our food manually instead of simply purchasing it at the local Woolies. (Speaking of Woolies, I was told there was only one on the entire island, and it happened to be 1.5 hours drive away from our place and closed at around 6-7pm).
So, we got our hands dirty! And of course, technology isn't completely dead, so our phones provided a handy source of light.
After a bit of manual work to prepare all the food for consumption, we managed to set the table and prepare for the long-awaited dinner! It was absolutely freezing on Kangaroo Island (the average temperature across all four days was at maximum 11 degrees Celsius).
Not to mention we'd been hungry from such a long and exhausting day.
After a satisfying and (very, very) filling meal (absolutely stuffed full), we settled down around the freshly-lit fire for warmth.
Ahhhh.
It had been such a radical change from the technology-bustling city of Sydney that I had found myself flying away from in the morning. Now I was sitting there with my family and no distractions -- really just soaking in the night.
Don't get me started on the appearance of the sky. Light pollution is truly an incredible thing that the world could do without -- the stars, they're beautiful. But more on this later.
Of course, how did we finish the night?
With a niche meal of ice-cream! There's always room for desert, after all.
This was 'special' ice-cream, in the sense that it was made entirely out of organic materials and of honey from Kangaroo Island. Honey is a real big thing on this island because they apparently have a very unique (the only pure species, I believe?) population of Ligurian Bees.
I was told it tasted great, so despite the food coma I decided I'd give it a try. It's not like I'll be able to try this anytime later, anyway!
And let me just say that it was absolutely delicious. I could have eaten three more, probably, but I also didn't want to freeze to death, become obese, or be diagnosed with diabetes, so I abstained.
It was merely 10PM but to say that we were absolutely exhausted would be an understatement.
We headed off home, driving along being cautious not to accidentally hit any kangaroos or wallabies on the way. Arriving back home, I took a quick shower and clambered into bed, finally satisfied and comfortable after a very, very tiring day.
And of course, as keen as ever for Day 2, which was sure to be exciting.
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