Adelaide - days of the beach, chocolate and Australia's best pasty!

The reunion photo! Taken at Glenelg Beach
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And here the story continues! I arrived at the bus station at 6am after almost no sleep at all. The lady next to me on the bus had a great sleep though. Not suprising considering that she pushed me out of half of my seat! I decided that it might be a bit too early to call Jason so I took a nap in the station seats and walked up and down the street a few times. Finally, at 8am, I could wait no longer and I gave Jason a call. It turns out he had set his alarm for 6:40am so he had been sitting up waiting for my call since then! Oh well, I had good intentions!

Eating Australia's best Pasty!
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He took me to his house where I once again had my own room (I think I've gotten a tad spoiled this trip!). I took a nap and then had a much needed shower. Then it was off to the beach! We went to Glenelg beach, the most popular beach in Adelaide. A bit of sun tanning, frisbee and then we got a little too hot. There was a little shop just around the corner that boasts Australia's best pasty so we decided to try it out. Now, I've never actually had a pasty before so I don't really have room for comparison, but I will tell you that I was pleased by it's taste! A little more of a wander and we hit up an ice cream parlor. I think my new goal will be to have ice cream at least once every remaining day of my trip!

There was jealousy from the rest of the tour group so we had to keep the source of our chocolate wealth a secret.

Liz and Jason TRYING to cook chicken fried rice Thai style...
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That night (after another cat nap) we bought some groceries and headed to Jason's sister's house to try to cook her Thai fried rice. Now, neither me nor Jason had ever actually made it before, but we had printed off internet instructions, bought some of the right ingredients and made a few last minute substitutes, so really what could go wrong? Well apparently something could. I still maintain that it would have turned out fine if Jason hadn't cooked about 10 pounds of rice which basically just swallowed up the rest of the ingredients. But we ate our semi-tastless dinner and pretended we were in Thailand!

A heel click by the waterfall at the base of Mt. Lofty
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The next day we were ambitious and were going to try to walk the trail to the top of Mt. Lofty (which really isn't a mountain at all, rather a slightly large hill, but I didn't want to insult the Adelaidians!). We got to the start of the trail where there was a lovely waterfall, only to find that the trail was closed for repairs. Probably for the best, as I got tired walking the 3 minutes up to get a good view of the waterfall. I guess it's been a while since my last jungle trek! So we drove up to the top of Mt. Lofty where there was a great view of the city of Adelaide. After heading back to Jason's for some lunch we decided to drive around to some of the local spots so Jason could reminice about his childhood. At one point we interrupted a romantic encounter between a much to young school girl and her much too old boyfriend, at which point they retreated back to his truck. Now the truck turned on but sat there for a long time with the air conditioning running but without moving. I can only assume that they were having an in depth discussion on the meaning of life though Jason seemed to suspect some foul play going on :)

I had been waiting to get a photo of this sign my whole time in Australia! It is going to be the cover of my yet to be made scrapbook! (The one that's going to weigh about 50 lbs!)
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Then it was off to the Beach! This time to Henley beach, another of Adelaide's hangouts. Unfortunately it was so windy that we couldn't stay in one spot without being sand blasted, so we ate some french fries (sorry, chips!) and then did the next best thing....went to Ikea! I'm not even kidding when I say that I was really excited about this part of my trip as I was most anxious to see if Ikea was the same the world over. Much to my pleasure, it was! So I've already made a mental checklist of things I need to buy when I get back ...after I've gone back to work and made some money that is! It was Jason's first time in Ikea so it was funny to watch a first timer in action. The look of awe mixed with helplessness they get on their faces when they realize that they are stuck in the middle of a huge furniture maze with no chance of escape is priceless!

The view of Adelaide from the top of Mt. Lofty
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The only thing that could beat the excitment of Ikea is what we did the next day. We took a tour of the Haitz's Chocolate factory!! I already know the next question on your mind's and yes, we did get free samples! I felt like a little kid on Christmas and I couldn't wipe the silly grin from my face! Jason made eyes at one of the cute factory workers and she snuck us some extra treats by telling her supervisors that she knew us. There was a bit of jealousy coming from the rest of the tour group so we had to keep the source of our chocolate wealth a secret. I got to learn all about how chocolate is made and I made the decision right then and there that one day I want to own a chocolate factory! (I'm sure Daddy won't mind helping me out with the initial investment?)

Me outside Ikea. Yeah for low priced mass manufactured furniture!
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The rest of the day was pretty exciting as well. I got to check a few more firsts off my list! We met up with some of Jason's friends and I went through my first drive through liquor store! Then we went to Tim's house and I learned to play backyard cricket (and kicked ass by the way). Then it was time for my first Aussie barbie! We cooked up chicken, sausage and all kinds of other goodies! After our tummies were full we settled down for a relaxing movie (a little Borat anyone?) Tim, who is a great musician and played us some of his songs) piled a bunch of new music, mostly Australian bands, onto my iPod so I could absorb even more of the Aussie culture! Then it was off to bed.

Jason expressing his excitment at his first Ikea experience
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Now I'm sitting in Jason's house and he had just taken off for a weekend and his friend's shack in Wallaroo. Unfortunately I couldn't go with them as my flight leaves tomorrow at 6am so I will be dining and watching movies with his parents and sister tonight. Tomorrow I leave for Cairns where I will be completing my PADI dive course on the Great Barrier Reef. I just love the way that sounds (and looks) so don't be suprised if my next entry states that fact about a bizillion times! (I'm still convincing the Australians that one bizillion is actually a number).

Liz's action shot during a tense backyard cricket match!
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Until next time (after I've been diving on the Great Barrier Reef!) I love you and miss you all!