Luke & I just booked our first holiday (mid-year) sans Kobe bear & it made me remember the last time we went on holiday as a family. It was a few months back, Luke was in Adelaide for a work trip so Kobe & I tagged along on cheap flights with Jetstar. It was the flight from hell complete with angry guy infront of us yelling at me for hysterical kicking chair child of mine & don't get me started on the catty air stewardess. I couldn't wait to get off the plane & start the lovely calm trip that I had in my head (obviously forgetting about toddler routines & the comforts of home).
We only had a couple hours to explore the
botanical gardens (you really need a full day to make the most of the beautiful greenery this park boasts). Its free entry but take coins for street parking. There are a plenty of pergolas & archways covered with vines for silly photo ops:)
The rose pavilion is picture perfect displaying many many many types of breeds of flowers. You feel like Alice in Wonderland walking thru the roses.
The cactus & succulent gardens was my favourite. They seem to be the only plant other than weeds I can grow hee hee. Kobe ripped out the succulents I lovingly grew in our courtyard so one day soon I hope to start growing more pending lil boy with destructive tendencies.
One thing that
I just had to do whilst in
Adelaide was visit
Maggie Beer farm. Long time lover of this self taught cook I was thrilled the whole hour drive to Barossa valley to visit the farm shop café.
We ordered from the picnic style menu & the food came in cute picnic baskets. The view from the café was ah-mazing, we couldn't ask for more when we saw turtles (in their natural habitat) casually swimming in the turquoise coloured lake.
I am a hopeless cook so I skipped the cooking demonstration that her staff hold & we did the scenic walk instead. One thing to be wary of is it gets busy with tour buses. We went early to avoid the lunchtime rush.
I was also so very super excited that the
Gilles St Market home to quirky fashion, one off vintage pieces & hand crafted goodies was on when we were there. I could almost move to Adelaide for this market.
I was like a kid in a candy store running thru all the stalls while Luke entertained Kobe on the play equipment at the school where it was held. (What a bonus being held at a primary school, being kid friendly for die hard market loving mamas:)).
Conveniently located on Gouger street. We parked at the Gouger street carpark & caught the lift down, easy peasy lemon squeasy.
We went on a Saturday & it was extremely busy but no matter how large the crowd was, Kobe sniffed out the chocolate shop within 5 minutes. That boy ate so much chocolate freckles & smarties on our trip to last him several months. They were our bribes & I certainly paid for it when we got home trying to wean him off it (& failing). He still tells me "we need to to the shops to buy chocolate" when I tell him we ran out (he is too little to find my hidden stash in the pantry so what he doesn't know wont hurt him ha ha).
Travelling with kids is hard work & even though I am feeling extremely guilty about not taking Kobe to Bali later this year, I have to remind myself he was up from 6am-9pm for the 3 days whilst we were in Adelaide (which is a super long tired day) so its best leaving this fiesty ball of energy to his grandparents.
Happy Sunday!
Grace
