“Here’s To The Corkscrew” 7/11-17

“Here's to the corkscrew - a useful key to unlock the storehouse of wit, the treasury of laughter, the front door of fellowship, and the gate of pleasant folly.”- W.E.P. French

Monday started out with a trip for Taylar and I with our Australian Politics class to the South Australian Parliament. We really felt like tourists because most of the people in the class had been there before and we were aw-inspired and taking a ton of photos! We got to listen to two different men who sat in the different houses of parliament, learned some more history about the practice of politics and got a tour around the building. We were both very happy when Wednesday was over because we were done with all our politics lectures and tutorials… now all that leaves is our massive paper.

Thursday was another fun day because I never have class on Thursdays. Another Kelsey and I went to Glenelg which is the beach everyone told us to go to. It was the first beautiful day we had seen in a while, so when we got up to the sun instead of the rain we were excited to take the 45 minute tram ride to the beach. Glenelg was a cute little town and the sites were pretty. Even though it’s winter time, we still went down to touch the water. The beach here is really different than the Oregon and Washington Coast because there are like huge piles of seaweed stuff all over the beach and the water doesn’t look very clear…so I was kinda glad we were not going swimming in it. (However, when we go to Bondi Beach in Sydney, some people are planning on going surfing… so we’ll see. That beach sounds like it is a lot nicer though as well) That night we went out to this Irish Pub, but it was super crowded and not very fun, so a few of us left pretty early. (When I heard Irish Pub, I got my hopes up to high after the awesome experience at Kells Irish Pub in Seattle with Scotty and Elora!)

Friday morning and afternoon was spent researching a lot for both of my long papers for my classes before our whole group got together for a night of fun. Most of us went to this club called Swish and Friday nights are all 90’s with 2 for 1 vodka drinks! This was probably the best night out so far. Taking it back to the 90’s with all the music was so fun…. S Club 7, Britney Spears, N Sync, Backstreet Boys, and many more! (We all find it hilarious that almost all the music we hear at the bars is American music!)

Saturday is the day that everyone has been waiting for! We got on our GroovyGrapes tour van to McLaren Vale and Victor Harbor. Our van driver was awesome and played great music that we were all singing and dancing in our seats for the hour ride to McLaren Vale- where the vines meet the sea. Our first stop was Shingleback. We had the whole wine tasting facility to ourselves…which was probably a good thing since we had 29 people. The tasting room was set up very nicely with couches and even a fireplace inside. I think they went through about 15 wines with all of us there. I would have to say that there weren’t any that I loved at this winery, but my favorite was a Riesling that they served.

We got done with the first winery a little early so we stoped at this little chocolate factory along the way that is famous for Fruitchocs. These are only sold in South Australia and I guess they are highly know and liked… but I was really not a fan. It was like an apricot/peach inside covered with chocolate. I don’t know if anyone in our group liked it.

Our Second winery we stopped at was Woodstock. This was a little drive further into the hills where we got to see some neat scenery. This winery was a little more crowded because there was a wedding going on there… I’m kinda surprised they let our huge group come. Luckly we were off in another tasting room where there were only a few other people… and they left fast. This room was a lot smaller and crowded but it was still a lot of fun. We got to try probably about 8 different wines there. I really liked a Strawberry Rose wine that they had there. (That was my favorite except for a Mascato wine that I have bought at the wine shop on our street. I have to find a Mascato at home, because it’s actually a wine I enjoy drinking with an Italian Pasta dinner) At this winery they also had dessert wines to try. I was excited because I thought I would like them because they are sweeter. Boy was I wrong! I thought they tasted gross! They were pretty much like syrup… no thank you!

We ended our excursion by going go Victor Harbor. We walked along the beach at Victor Harbor and across a foot bridge to get to Granite Island. Granite Island was where we went on a penguin tour. It was pretty cold for the tour because it was night time, you have to go on the tours about an hour or two after sunset because that is usually when the penguins come to the island for the night, but I guess since it was a really nice day and a full moon the penguins decided to stay out a sea longer. We only saw two penguins from a very far distance behind a rock and then two more tiny babies that were in a burrow where you can only see their heads. We all tried to take pictures but you can’t use the flash… so that was hopeless. Everyone was a little disappointed in this tour because it was freezing and we hardly saw anything. At the end we went to a nice hotel for dinner before heading back to Adelaide. They had a good salad bar and I had fish and chips for dinner. The fish was so good! (Especially since I love fish and haven’t had any in Australia so far!) And my friends were excited because I gave them my chips since I don’t like potatoes.

We had a pretty long ride back home where most people crashed on the bus and then went home to bed in preparation for a dolphin cruise on Sunday.

Today (Sunday), when I woke up it was nasty and rainy outside so I and most others decided not to go on the dolphin cruise. We figured being on a boat when it was cold and rainy would make the ride rougher and not be very fun. So today I’m working on getting a heap of both papers done before we go out to Outback Jacks for a birthday dinner for Sabrina. (Her birthday is next Friday, but that is the last night we will be in Adelaide, so she wanted to go out tonight for dinner and next week to the bar.)

I can’t believe our time in Adelaide is almost over! We leave in less than a week. Time to get down to business and finish stuff up!