Dolphins, New Year’s Eve & a Giant Koala
The week after Christmas has been a transition week so a bit of everything.
We moved out of our two week rental in Carrickalinga, said goodbye to Whitney’s family with an airport drop off on Boxing Day (Marc and Nikki) then her Mum and Dad three days later. We then loaded into the car and drove to Melbourne. These few days included…
Adelaide Ocean Dolphin Safari. This was a really fun final day activity with Iowa Grandma and Iowa Grandpa. It was a 75 minute cruise from Glenelg, an Adelaide suburb, south to Hallet Cove. It was a beautiful day, and the 8:30am cruise time was perfect for us (hour 2 or 3 of the day for our kids!). We cruised south from Adelaide learning a bit of local history, seeing the beautiful coast line and searching for dolphins 🐬. We found some, enjoyed watching them and then cruised back. We loved the experience being less than two hours, it was perfect. Then we had brunch at the marina and headed back to the hotel in downtown Adelaide we were staying at for two nights.
An 8 Hour Drive (over two days). We left Adelaide, drove 3 1/2 hours to Naracoorte, South Australia (my home town). We swam in the swimming lake, had dinner and then got a little sleep. Then we drove from Naracoorte to Melbourne. It is about 5 hours of driving, so about 7 hours for us, and was an amazing weather day to experience from the comfort of our air conditioned minivan. The temperature rose to 41 degrees Celsius (~105 degrees Fahrenheit), then dropped to 19 degrees Celsius (67 degrees Fahrenheit) and raining as a cold front passed over us, before bouncing back to 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) as we reached Melbourne. That tumultuous weather isn’t unusual in southeastern Australia. Although a historic number of fires across multiple states in Australia is providing a sobering backdrop to these early summer heatwaves.
The Giant Koala 🐨 at Dadswells Bridge, Victoria. This is NOT a destination you plan for but if you need a stop on the drive between Adelaide and Melbourne (and the baby is awake!) this is a fun few minutes. Pictures tell the story, not much else to report, a great little coffee shop and literally right on the highway.
New Year’s Eve. We welcomed in 2020 at the (too trendy for us) but nonetheless awesome Crown Metropol hotel in Melbourne, Australia. We had a fun 4 nights here. The fireworks were visible from our room (so I am told). Whitney’s pictures are included. I maintained my 10+ year streak of being asleep 😴 well before midnight. Will write about our 3 days and 4 nights in Melbourne in a separate post, lots of fun as you would expect in such a great city.
Hello 2020!
