The VH Adventure Part Three: Mini Golf and Monopoly

This is part three of the Victor Harbor Adventure! Here are part one and part two.

Day two of our trip started out pretty lazily. All of us slept in, exhausted from the day before. Breakfast was pancakes - pretty thin pancakes as we put too much water into the instant mix. The weather was definitely better than the day before, cold but partly sunny. 

On this day, we played mini golf! Nick and I were supposed to go on a whale watching tour but it was cancelled due to rough seas, which was disappointing. So we just went back to the carnival area - apparently it's called Girdler's Family Amusements. None of us ever played mini golf before except Sha, I think. So we decided to try it out. I got an orange ball! It matched my top. Hurrhurr. 

Nick didn't play, but continued his role of official vacation videographer. There's already a video of the first day of our trip on Facebook! :D I can't share it here though, so oh well. If you're Facebook friends with me, you would have seen it on my wall. 

Sammie is amazed by her big catch. 

Mini golf got a bit tedious after a while as the holes got more and more difficult to score. I got the best scores though, hehe! Sammie got two hole-in-ones, which was pretty awesome. I got one too, but Nick didn't catch it on video. ;__; Oh well. 

After mini golf, we decided to have lunch. I was torn between having baked potatoes and a fish burger - in the end, the fish burger won. It was an amazing fish burger! I should have taken a picture of it. Basically, they took an entire fried fish fillet and slotted it into a large hot dog bun. Sound unglamorous, but it was really filling and delicious. Good food for a happy tummy. 

And of course, no self-indulgent meal is complete without dessert! Above you can see the assortment of stuff we got together: Pavlova with strawberries and cream, chocolate mousse, strawberry mousse and ice-cream with strawberries and cream. Fyra had two servings of the ice-cream, which is an amazing feat as she usually eats so little. 

We still had a whole half of the day left, so we decided to visit Granite Island again. I wanted to look at the other side of the island that we didn't visit, as we took a route that cut across the top of it. The path we took was really steep though, and a part of me tried to console myself by declaring it my day's share of exercise (I really do feel like I put on a lot of weight after the holiday. I was eating all the tiiiiime).

More hanging out among rocks and watching the waves. Some time after this, Fyra started getting stomach aches, probably due to the huge amount of sour cream that came with her baked potato, and all the ice-cream she ate. Poor thing was really in pain. We walked back to the mainland and Nigel piggy-backed her for almost half of the Causeway length back home. Then Nigel's friend Jordan drove her to the house in his car so she could take some Panadol. She felt better after that, so that's good.

We still had some daylight to spare when we reached home, so Nick, Sha, Nigel and I went to the beach to hang out. It's nice to look at the island in the distance, and the waves rolling up the the beach. You can really see the white foam of waves in the distance. Sammie and Fyra dropped by for a while, but they went back because Sammie was cold. I don't blame her - it was 12 degrees out. 

Clever Sha brought her blanket out with her to the beach! This is her in 'igloo' mode. Haha. I tried to do some sketching but it really didn't turn out so great, as my fingers were cold. Nick did some shooting with his camera and Nigel gamboled around the beach, taking pictures of the waves and tossing mussel shells in our direction. We only spent a short while outside, as it started to get too cold.

The following photos are all screencaps from Nick's camera.

Since we got home way earlier than the day before, the dinner wait was much more relaxed. Sammie made mashed potatoes with buttermilk and chives while I baked honey mustard chicken. While waiting for the chicken to bake (it took an hour and a half, which is 45 minutes longer than the recipe suggested. The apartment's oven must be old or something), we hung around and had girl talk which we haven't had in a while. By girl talk I mean with us girls, while the boys were showering or something. Haha. 

Anyway, dinner was really satisfying. There was just enough meat and potatoes for all of us, and for that I'm thankful. 

After dinner, we started a game of Monopoly, a follow-up to the previous night's match. I wanted a rematch with Nigel, and I really wanted to see him lose. Somewhere along the game though, things took a sudden turn and everyone ended up ganging on Sammie, who pretty much monopolised almost half the board all by herself. She was pretty mean about it too, haha! Unsurprisingly, she won the round while Nigel came second. 

The rest of the night was spent playing murder in the dark. If you haven't tried playing it before, man you definitely should. You'll need a group of people and a really dark apartment. It was pretty fun, and we played until we got too sleepy. I think my second night's sleep was a lot more comfortable than the first one. 

And that was the end of day two! Next post will be the very last one about Victor Harbor; our last day there. We didn't do much, but I want to be complete with these blog posts, and I'd like to think that in future I can come back and read all this and remember the awesome time we had. 

The VH Adventure Part Two: Rain, Sea Spray and Penguins

This is a continuation of the Victor Harbor Adventure blog post series! Part One is over here, if you wanna read it.

So, after hanging around the town area for a bit, we went to buy groceries from Coles and brought them back to the apartment in the rain. Yes. It rained on us. Sammie and Nigel pretty much sprinted through the shower to get back home faster while the rest of us squelched our way down the street at a steady pace.  I am so glad I took my marshmallow jacket with me on the trip. It got sunny again after we were indoors for ten minutes. -__- 

So we headed for the horse-drawn tram that takes visitors across the Causeway to Granite Island. The tram was pretty soaked, so we didn't sit down. The driver was really nice though, he came up to wipe the benches down for us and everything. 

We took the upper level of the tram, because the view is better there. It was a really nice ride, although I felt a bit concerned about the horse pulling us along. There were a lot of signs everywhere assuring us that the horses are given lots of rest, and that the tram is on ball bearings so the load will be easier for them. Even then, I can't help but feel that the horses look a bit sad. :( Maybe it was the weather? I dunno.

This was a seal carved out of granite. It's pretty cool! Wish I could have gone nearer to check out the detail. I caught this on camera while we were on the tram.

A quick photo and thank you to the horse who pulled us along the whole 650 metres! Ours was the last tram coming to the island, so I hope it got a good rest after it reached the mainland.

It started to drizzle again as we started walking around the island. Our first stop was the Breakwater, a man-made stretch of granite pointing out into the ocean. It's pretty awesome there, as the waves literally come crashing against the rocks, sending a salty spray high into the air.

Check that out. Again, Sammie and Nigel didn't hesitate to start their photoshoot. It was pretty cold and windy - Sammie took off her jacket so she could take pictures, haha! We spent some time hanging out on the rocks before it started to rain again. We rushed for shelter, which was a cafe and gift shop nearby. Unfortunately, it was closed. We stood around trying to dry off for a while when the door to the gift shop opened and a guy asked us if we wanted to come inside. What a nice guy! We went in, some of us got coffee and hot chocolate, and I bought a penguin hat pin, as I collect them. Nick said that the shop guy was watching us from the window while we were on the Breakwater, just in case we got swept away. So nice of him.

It started to brighten up again before long, so we took some pictures with the gorgeous background. I finally tried the panorama mode on my camera! This one above was taken by Nick. We took quite a few panorama shots, but I think this is the nicest. While we were standing around chilling, we saw a woman out on the Breakwater get thoroughly drenched by a particularly strong wave. Poor thing was soaked through. From our angle, it really looked like a huge bucket of seawater was upturned over her head. Felt pretty relieved that it wasn't us in that position.

We started climbing up some steps so we could reach the top of the island. One good thing from all the rain was the beautiful rainbow shooting up from the top of Sammie's head. Yup.

There was something about the cold air up there along with the way the sun's rays reached us. The lighting was stunning - we were surrounded by sparkling blues and shining greens. That slight rise of land in the distance is called The Bluff. It's apparently really good for hiking, but we couldn't visit without a car. We were more than happy with Granite Island though. Walking over the top really made me think of Lord of the Rings and the way the land was spread out in the movies. Little fangirl in me got excited.

Photo credit of this one to Nigel, who was sort of Sammie's personal photographer for the trip. Love this shot, especially since it's with three of my favourite girls. :3 

We spent the rest of the walk around the island just admiring the scenery and doing some really cheesy 'My Heart Will Go On' reenactments on rocks facing the wind. The trail we went on was called the Kaiki Walk, which is about 1.5km long. It's supposed to take about 45 minutes, but I think we spent a good hour and a half just taking photos and enjoying ourselves.

Once we came back to the front of the island, we headed for the Penguin Centre, where we would go on a dusk tour and see fairy penguins coming home to their burrows. They're the smallest of all the penguin breeds in the world, and they're adorable! Unfortunately, the tour guide said that the penguin numbers on the island have gone from 2000 to less than 30 within the past decade. The problem is not just people, but also the sudden increase in seals living in the area. :/

This was one of the penguins at the centre who is a permanent resident. Usually the penguins here are rescued and unable to be released back into the wild. We heard some really sad stories about a penguin being attacked by seagulls and losing her eye and another penguin who as a chick was bashed against a rock by some kid who was visiting the island. So horrible. These rescued penguins pretty much live comfortably at the centre with all the food they can eat. 

The tour we went on was alright I guess - we got to see a few penguins, about four I think, one of them a chick. It was hard to enjoy the experience, as it started to rain again and the wind was blowing so hard. We were all frozen in our boots, damp and exhausted from the long day. The lack of penguins was probably because of the cold. 

The tour guide said so anyway: "It's probably too cold for the penguins!"

"They're not the only ones," Sammie said next to me, shivering in her light coat.

We got to feel some penguin skins before the tour ended, which was interesting. The guide brought a couple with her to show it to us; the reasoning being that if people could touch the feathers, they wouldn't try to do it to the live penguins on the island. It was pretty interesting, but a bit strange, as the skull of the penguin was still connected to one of the skins.

Finally, the tour ended and we brisk walked back home. It was the coldest I've ever been in my entire life. It was so cold, I reached a point where my face just felt like a lump of clay attached to the front of my skull, and I couldn't feel my toes. It was another kilometre before we could reach home, and it was drizzling too. I can't explain just how relieved we were to finally step into the apartment. We were all drenched. It was a good experience though, albeit not one I would ever want to go through again.

We had pasta for dinner cooked by Sha and Fyra - our first dinner as a family on vacation. While waiting for that, we took turns taking showers and just lay around on the sofa beds. I'm thankful for the heater they had in the apartment. We spent the rest of the night playing Monopoly. It was a good day overall, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. 

My next post will be about day two, so stay tuned!

The VH Adventure Part One: Fish, Chips and Bronze Cats

I just got back yesterday from my very first holiday with friends here in South Australia. We decided on traveling to Victor Harbor, which is about an hour and a half's drive south of Adelaide. We went by bus, so we started off from the Adelaide Central Bus Station at 9.30 am, Sunday the 23rd. There were six of us who went together: Me, Nick, Fyra, Sha, Sammie and Nigel. If Lynn and Eric had joined, the Keluarga Adelaide would have been complete! Haha. Because 'Mummy' Lynn didn't come along, she sort of appointed me and Nick to become temporary parents. We actually did become sort of parents to everyone in the end, haha! 

I saw this in the distance from the bus window. It was pretty amazing; Sammie called it a 'field of gold'. We really had no idea what made it so yellow. It wasn't till further into the ride that I got to see a similar field up close. The vibrant yellow colour was due to all these tiny flowers clustered together over a huge patch of land - that's what made it look so bright from afar. Pretty cool. Not sure what kind of flowers they were though.

The first thing we did after getting off the bus was to find something to eat! And what's a seaside holiday without some fish and chips? We ended up having lunch at The Original Fish Shop. The sign outside the shop said that it was the runner-up for some best fish and chips shop competition in 2003. The fish and chips was actually pretty good - the batter had a lovely, buttery taste. It was a bit on the pricey side though, for what you get. I'm not really surprised, as Victor Harbor is mostly a tourist's town.

Here we are standing outside the apartment we stayed at: Blue Seas on the Esplanade. It was a really cosy place, just nice for the six of us. Three bedrooms, kitchen, living room, a bathroom and a toilet. We had a really nice view from the living room of the ocean and Granite Island. The decorations inside the apartment were really cute too, and the beds and sofas were really comfy. 

This is the beach right opposite the apartment. There's Granite Island in the background! The weather was pretty cloudy at this point, and windy. Not that cold yet though. The cold only started setting in much later. More on that in a bit.

Some of us didn't hesitate to start with their model photo shoots. Heh heh. 

We walked back to the town, and on the way we stopped at this sort of flea market. It was really small, and they sold second-hand toys, bags, some jewelry and flowers. It started to drizzle about that time, so we continued while the stall owners had to quickly cover up their wares. By the time we reached the town and horse tram station, it was sunny. It was a nice place really, with a ferris wheel, some carnival games and rides. 

This is Trim the cat! We found him in the Visitor's Information Centre. The statue is a tribute to Trim, who was a cat on the ship that first came to Victor Harbor. Apparently he was an excellent mouser who helped to keep the ship free of pests. Click on the photo so you can read more about him. The display also asked for us to give him a rub, as the friction will slowly expose the different colours in the bronze. 

The carnival area also had a shop that sold strawberries and ice-cream! The one pictured above is called the 'Volcano' - vanilla ice-cream, yoghurt, fresh strawberries and cream covered in a three berry sauce. IT WAS DELICIOUS. It's so hard to find strawberries that taste good to me, and these were just amazing. The perfect combination of sweetness and sourness. The yoghurt tasted a bit weird at first, but I realised that the trick was to eat it all together at once, a little bit of everything. Such wonderful flavours erupting in my mouth. Ahhh. 

Check out the tiny pony! I'm assuming it's there to give kids rides, but we didn't see anybody doing that. It was so small and cute. It looked kinda bored though. Can't really blame it, it didn't look like it had much to do.

The camels seemed a bit more happening though. I saw a couple of kids riding them before we came over to check them out. Is it just me, or do camels in general always emanate this chill, laidback aura? Like they really couldn't care less about what you're doing as long as you don't disturb them or anything. 

This is the view of the Causeway from where we were standing with the camels. You can just see the horse-drawn tram in the middle of the bridge. 

Wow, this post is much longer than expected! And I haven't even gotten to the good parts yet, haha! Part two of the trip will be posted up within the next day or so. I have to break it up into pieces so I can talk about everything. Hehe. Till the next post!

Polka Dotted Bovine

Thanks to UniLodge's Community Spirit Program, I got to go to the Royal Adelaide Show for free! Of course, I had to pay for membership to begin with earlier this year ... so I guess it's not so much for free, but simply prepaid. Ngyah. Anyway, we went to the show! The atmosphere was fun, Nick and I rode two rides (the Crazy Coaster and the Sky Flyer) while the others rode more. We got separated somewhere through and the phone line was terrible, so I missed out on the other rides. Everything was kind of expensive though. :/

This is the diseased rainbow cow Nick won for me! I think it's adorable in a strange kind of way. I have named it Sugus, because the colours remind me of the taste of Sugus. When Nick won, I had three toys to choose from: a normal coloured cow, a kind of freaky-eyed panda, and Sugus. I took Sugus because he's more colourful than the other boring cow, and the panda was scary looking.

We walked around to see everything, and there were pet shows and stuff. There was also a lot of farm animals! I saw chickens, cows, ducks, piggies and alpacas. The barn area had an option where kids could take photos with the farm animals for a fee. When I was there, two small girls were sitting on the stacks of hay, the older girl cuddling a bunny to her chest while the younger one clutched a chick. The younger girl did not look happy at all - she dropped the chick and started tearing up, so her mother had to go in and give her the bunny that her sister was cuddling instead. So the sister got a duckling, and the photographer tossed random baby animals onto their laps for the picture. It was weird to watch.

Here is one of the dogs we saw at the dog show. It was so big and fluffy oh my goodness. And it was enjoying all the attention! After a while of people patting it and scratching its ears, it rolled onto its side to give us more access. So cute. 

Girls who went together. Sha isn't in the picture unfortunately. Fyra, Nora, Prith, Farah and me! This was taken before we went in. 

Anyways, I had a pretty good time at the show. Wish I could go again, just because it's fun to walk around and look at all the colours and people. It's too expensive though. I already spent so much yesterday, and that's without paying for the entrance fee. Will just have to eat cheaper for the next week or so!

Transitioning Seasons

Spring has arrived and so has the season for festivals and events! The weather changes here are funny; the last day of August was cold and cloudy, while the first day of September saw the sun coming out and shining full blast down on us. So yeah, it was warm. Australian weather, you weird.

The first day of spring, me, Nick, Sha, Fyra and Lynn went to Uni of Adelaide for a Raya Merdeka celebration. We met a bunch of other friends there, and there was free food! It was fun, especially hearing the dedications DJs on the speakers - so very Melayu, and I mean that in the fondest way possible. Everyone was dressed in raya clothes and we listened to raya and merdeka songs. Felt so warm inside (and outside, because winter is gone, heh).

Then on the second day of spring, we went to the beach! It was the least I've worn out in a very long time. Also the first time wearing three-quarter trousers out since the cold set in.

Went to Glenelg and found a huge crowd along Jetty Road. The beach itself wasn't very crowded, so that was nice. The water was freezing, the sand was cold. Nick and I got ice-cream from Copenhagen, and it was yummy!

Here I am playing with the bubbles that Bahiah bought from Reject Shop. The natural wind speed made it fun without even trying. :) Here's to many more fun stuff with the rest of September!

Good Days

From now on, I'm not going to make excuses for myself when I don't update for a very long time! Heh. Let's just always assume that I am busy/lazy and had no motivation to write a blog update. But let's have a quick recap of my life during the past few months.

During the time since February 2012, I've grown up quite a bit, mentally and spiritually. Not physically, although I'd like to think that I've lost some weight, ahem (There's a lot of walking to be done in Adelaide). I've also managed to make a little cosy home for myself here, nestled in this small South Australian town. I won't go into all the details, because there are way too many things I've done this year. It's been amazing, and I'm blessed to be able to experience all of this, Alhamdulillah. I'll just be talking about recent events here.

August was a busy busy month, what with the family visiting and it being the end of Ramadhan. Prayed outdoors for the very first time in my life, and it was beautiful. A week after the first day of raya, there was the Eid Festival at Bonython Park. We went there thinking it would be small ... boy were we wrong!

It was lots of fun. We went on this one ride, some flying carpet thing. They segregated the lines so that men and women had to ride separately, which was something new for me. Heard some of the girls in line complaining that it wasn't the case last year. I understand why they did it though - everyone was pushing into each other. We ended up waiting for about a half hour.

Worth the wait though. It was a super awesome day. I remember waking up that morning feeling pretty good about it. We all had lunch together at Coffee Club at David Jones. Man was the food expensive, but my eggs benedict with smoked salmon was nice. Then coming to this event, it just made things feel really good. Ah, the surprisingly joyous days are the best ones.

A final shout-out of love to my Adelaide family:

You guys are the best.