2 hours later, we arrive at Lake Hart. It is a smaller lake in the Lake Eyre basin- a drainage basin that covers just under 1/6 of all Australia and is one of the largest in the world covering around 1.2 million square kilometers, including inland Queensland, South Australia, Northern Territory and part of western NSW. The actual Lake Eyre is actually not accessible by vehicles, can only been seen via helicopter. Lake Hart itself looks deep, like a real lake, where you can swim or kayak in it. However the lake is probably only 20mm deep due to the rain from 2-3 weeks ago.
Alligator Gorge- Southern Flinders Ranges
Today Laura, Jack and I are off our first real Australian Adventure- the Outback. We have been planning this trips for months and promised each other that we must go visit Uluru before we move back to New Zealand. We decided to go on our glorious adventure by joining the Groovy Grape Getaway’s 6 day Rock Patrol tour which travels from Adelaide to Alice Springs. The reviews of the tour are great on Trip advisor, the price is reasonable and the destinations are all places I wanted to go.
Waitomo Cave Adventures: Tumu Tumu Toobing
Today we visited Waitomo Cave for the god-knows-how-many-th times. This place is around 2 hour drive from Auckland. Every time we have families or friends visiting from overseas, we will take them here. The cave is famous for the limestone composition and beautiful glow worms. This time I’m visiting the place with people my age, so we can do more adrenaline pumping activities. There are many options you can choose, including Black Water Rafting which is quite unique to this area. Black water rafting is completely different to white water rafting. You sit on a big rubber tire and float through underwater caves with glow worms directly above you.
Les Misérables Review (Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne)
As soon as the announcement for Les Miserables coming to Melbourne’s Her Majesty’s Theatre was made, Laura and I bought the tickets as soon as the tickets went on sale for the public. We bought the tickets 10 months before the show! Which we thought was pretty crazy. It seems like it has become a yearly thing for us to travel from Adelaide to Melbourne for a weekend to watch musicals, last year we watched King Kong. This Edition is 25 anniversary edition that premiered in London in 2010. It’s awesome how they came to Australia 4 years later.
The French Cafe (Auckland, New Zealand)
Today my family and I visited an extremely famous restaurant in Auckland- The French Cafe. It has been awarded multiple times each year since 2004 to 2014. The restaurant is located on top of Symonds Street near Khyber Pass Road, the parking was relatively easy since there was a paid car park a few meters away. The interior design of the restaurant was very calm and contemporary, the feeling was simple but elegant. The room we were in has a view over looks the courtyard which opens to dining in the warmer months.
Kangaroo Island Day Trip: Penneshaw Farmers’ Market
On this particular Sunday morning, we headed off to Kangaroo Island for its monthly Farmer’s Market at Penneshaw. Kangaroo is the third largest island in Australia and is 112 kilometer south-west of Adelaide. The island is only 13 kilometer away from the mainland. It is one of the most expensive ferry in the world in relation to its distance and cost. SeaLink is the only company that carries passengers across commercially and charges AUD$98 return per person and AUD$188 return per vehicle. Even the locals don’t get much discounts.
Turkish Halal Pide House @ Yarralumla (Canberra, Australia)
Apparently if you are looking for the best Turkish place in Canberra, you will have to come to Turkish Halal Pide House. Situated in Yarraluma, this place was worth the drive for some authentic cuisine. The portions were certainly HUGE! And they kept coming. We were so glad that we only ordered 2 portions. Herenia even took some left over home for lunch the next day. The shop also sells some Turkish desserts in a box such as Turkish delights. I now wish I have a car in Canberra so I can come back and try their kebabs and traditional Mediterranean pastries.
Max Brenner @ Nishi Building on NewActon (Canberra, Australia)
My first time having Max Brenner was in Sydney. It is an international chocolate restaurant based in New York, with more than 50 locations worldwide. They specializes in creating chocolate-based desserts such as crepes, fondue, milkshakes, hot chocolates served in signature utensils (such as “Hug Mug”, where the tip of the cup is in a pointy shape so you can hold the mug in your hand and drink from the tip). It was a sweet craving on a Sunday night after Sri Lankan food at Camellia Restaurant.
Failed day trip to Barossa Valley (Due to no famous wineries)
Barossa Valley is one of the most famous wine regions in Australia. It was a fail day trip since we did not go to any famous wineries. However we did end up trying out a few food places and experience the fresh produce provided by South Australia.
Veggie Velo Food Truck: best vegetarian burger in Adelaide
Veggie Velo is the store that makes the best veggie burger in town. they opened in many location and you can track them via face book. We had them at the Market Shed on Holland Street. The burgers we ordered were “Local Lentil Burger” and “Grilled Adelaide Mushroom & Haloumi Burger” Both of them were AUD$10 each. The “Local Lentil Burger” pattie was made of organic lentils and chickpeas which was extremely filling. Mixed with my favorite raw beetroot and homemade onion jam, I can probably have this every single day.