Poor Morse will be feeling like this not knowing we are picking him up tomorrow morning
When I left you last Sunday, we were heading out for breakfast and ended up at the Waterfront Café, where we tackled eggs benny & a vegetarian stack both of very large proportions. Once again the staff were lovely & friendly, tables were well-spaced & the service was prompt & smiling. It is a real hub for the locals, who were busy getting takeaway coffees as they walked their dogs or themselves along the beach.
Vegetarian stack with haloumi, tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms & an egg
We had planned a quiet day and Wes even went back to bed late morning, as we were still recovering from the lethargy we experienced with COVID. Shortly after he fell asleep, a young earnest guitarist set up his spot outside our bedroom window & proceeded to entertain the hotel guests in the garden until 4pm. As well, the unit above us had a young child who ran around their lounge & bedroom non-stop, probably wearing hobnail boots!
After the cricket finished, we went for a walk to Rivoli Bay deli, where Judi & Michael had suggested we try the smoked trout. We bought a packet & Wes forked it through spaghetti that night for a very yummy, simple dinner.
On Monday, it was too cold, windy & wet to walk anywhere, so we packed up & drove to Robe for a late breakfast, finding ourselves at Drift Café, where we enjoyed Chili chorizo scram & Chili spinach scram (think scrambled). It was very popular, the staff were lovely & the food was excellent. Afterwards we went for a long walk to the waterfront, along the boardwalk & back to our car.
Our next stop was Kingston SE, which we reached early, so took a deviation to see The Granites. Our accommodation here was a lovely cottage, with everything you could wish for, including air-conditioning that went as low as we wanted, and cei3ling fans. Our generous host, Wendy, had left oodles of provisions including a lovely bottle of sauvignon blanc.
The Granites - Coorung
We walked down the pier in the afternoon & spotted a pod of dolphins leaping & swimming together - they were too fast for me to get a photo or video, but it was lovely to see them.
The next morning we had a leisurely start before enjoying a 5km walk along the Kingston beach. Apart from some surfers, we were the only people on the beach. We had enough energy to go out for dinner - the local pub, The Royal Mail, offered a large menu, and we couldn't finish our pepper steak & fish & chips.
On Wednesday, we said goodbye to our lovely cottage & drove to Adelaide, hoping to stop at a quirky cafe in Meningie that we discovered last year - sadly it has changed hands & wasn't open at 10am! We had planned lunch with Jenny & Graham Ellender, Daylesford friends, who now live in Adelaide & enjoyed a good catch up at the National Wine Centre, which was busy with Christmas functions & a conference. We have a love of Labradors in common & they were very sad to read about Lewis's death in our Christmas letter.
We were about 2 minutes from our present accommodation, Athelney Cottage, tucked away in a quiet street not far from the city & a pleasant 30 minute walk to the Adelaide Oval. The owner, Rosie, greeted us after we had unpacked & parked the car in the street. This is a lovely old-world cottage full of books, paintings, cushions & provisions & we were very comfortable for the 4 nights we have spent here.
We headed off to The Flying Fig, a wonderful Jewish deli in North Adelaide that we found last year, when our previous favourite breakfast spot had closed. This has changed hands, but not menu & there were the same amazing numbers of choices & interesting meals to be had. Wes finds it hard to go past the bagels with smoked salmon & plump capers, while I enjoyed the baked eggs.
Beautiful baked eggs
After breakfast we went to Rundle Mall, where we were successful in getting everything on our small shopping list except for The Age newspaper. Our usual newsagent had disappeared & we didn't find another. We drove back home to our cottage, got changed & organised & set off on a delightful walk to the ground via the Botanical Gardens & the Zoo.
The first day was wonderful - we were at ground level for a change, a bit hot, but we were well-protected & at intervals teenagers came around offering free sunscreen, water & red frogs! We stayed to see Marnus Labuschagne get his century & were back home in time for Travis Head, who batted very attractively, to score his.
The smallest supporter at the game
On Friday, we headed to the Adelaide Central Market after breakfast at The Flying Fig, where the owner greeted us warmly & we sat outside for a change. We love this Market & once again were successful with our small shopping list, although we had to drag ourselves away from the book stall with its wonderful selection of crime novels.
It was another warm day at the cricket & we stood out of the sun for some of the time. The Aussies played well with both Labuschagne & Head making 150+. We left when the West Indies were batting & had lost a wicket, arriving back here in time to see the last hour of play.
Fox Cricket setting up pre-game commentary
Yesterday morning we headed back to The Flying Fig for our final breakfast, which was the best of the lot - Middle Eastern eggs. As Wes said we started & finished our holiday with fried egg breakfasts. Afterwards we went to visit St Peter's Anglican Cathedral, but as we parked, a funeral hearse pulled up, so we gave that a miss & drove to Melbourne Street, which has been the site of most of our previous visits to Adelaide.
It was 35° as we walked to the Adelaide Oval for our final day at the cricket, which included a glass of Pimms. I was able to swap our seats in the sun for better ones in the shade & we sat under giant fans offering a welcome breeze. The cricket was entertaining, but we left early and arrived back here in time to see Scott Boland take 3/0 in another stunning second innings bowling effort.
We've woken early & hope to be on the road by 8am, which should get us back to Daylesford by 5pm tonight. We've had a wonderful break & are feeling rested & relaxed. It will be good to see Morse tomorrow, as well as get back to our usual routines - and, of course, Christmas is only a fortnight away!
Middle Eastern eggs - not sure we can wait another year to taste this dish again!
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