Adelaide, SA, Australia - Day 4

Saturday, February 22, 2025

It was a hot one today in Adelaide, South Australia. This part of the country typically has warm days with low humidity, but today was exceptionally warm. It was already 90 degrees by 9am this morning. The sun was intense.

Andi and I brainstormed things we could do inside air conditioning today, knowing that Tory isn’t happy in the heat. Andi suggested a virtual reality gaming session. This is right up Aden’s alley; he was so excited. Tory was too, surprisingly.

None of us have ever played VR at a studio before. Our family was paired with another group of four people to make eight players total in our game. We were led into an empty room, each given the VR headset and plastic weapon, and instructed what to do.

The 45-minute session flew by so quickly. It’s funny to think that the eight of us were walking around an empty room for almost an hour while our eyes & our minds were seeing something completely different. Walking was the most challenging part of the game because it felt like we were stepping up sloped ramps or riding elevators when, in fact, we were in a flat-floored room. I was worried we’d run into each other, but red barriers formed around each other in the headsets, so we could tell where everyone stood.

At the end of the game, the instructor shared pictures that she’d taken of us playing as well as stats from our game play. Andi did the best of our group, followed by Aden, then Tory, and finally me.

I was skeptical about playing at first, but VR was a lot of fun! Something totally different, and an activity Aden was really excited about doing.

Adelaide’s CBD (downtown area called the Central Business District) was surprisingly empty this afternoon. After our VR session, Andi offered to treat the kids to frozen yogurt. Tory’s choice if she wanted to walk there in the heat. Of course, she said yes.

We went to a different frozen yogurt shop called Yo-Chi this afternoon. It was packed with people, like every frozen yogurt shop in Australia seems to be. Can you guess whose frozen yogurt belongs to each person? Aden likes the sour strips, Tory likes boba bubbles, and I filled mine mostly with fruit. The cool treat was refreshing on a hot day.

Since it was such a hot day, Andi and I decided to shift our activities to later in the day. We’ve been wanting to check out Adelaide’s coastal areas and tonight felt like a great opportunity to do so. A local woman we met yesterday told us Henley Beach “is a vibe,” and recommended we visit in the evening to watch the sun set over the jetty. She warned us it’d be busy, and it was; it was a totally different atmosphere compared to Adelaide’s CBD.

Andi made us a dinner reservation at Stella’s on Henley Beach. Our dinner experience was … underwhelming. This the number one rated restaurant on Henley Beach with sweeping views of the ocean. Andi reserved us at a table for dinner at 6:30pm, and we were seated right away at a table near the kitchen. Not just near the kitchen; literally underneath the kitchen pick-up window. We expected to be seated in one of the tables next to the big windows overlooking the ocean, and instead all we could see was a wall and the kitchen staff.

Our seating arrangement was almost comical. It was a plastic folding table with a tablecloth draped over it. All of the other tables in the restaurant were wooden. It seemed like our table was an afterthought. “This is ridiculous,” Andi said, and asked the host if we could be seated at another table inside the busy restaurant. She looked at him like he was crazy. “But this is the table we have reserved for you?” she questioned. It felt like we were seated at the kids table during Thanksgiving dinner.

Andi and I ordered grilled chicken breast, barramundi, and a pear salad to share. Tory and Aden each had fusilli pasta with bolognese. The quality of our meals were pretty good, but we couldn’t get over the ambiance; our experience felt like we were an after-thought.

After dinner, the four of us walked along the jetty. Henley Beach was a busy place, full of families lounging in the grass, kids running through the water at the splash pad, and loads of people drinking and eating on restaurant patios.

We also wanted to check out Glenelg Beach, so we hopped into a taxi to go there. The kids and I like to give Andi a hard time because he’s always striking up conversations with locals, but this taxi driver was the wrong person to engage in a conversation. With one simple question about travel, the guy launched into a passionate political speech that lasted our entire ride. Geesh. We couldn’t wait to get out of his car.

Glenelg Beach is Adelaide’s busiest beach with lots of shops, restaurants, and entertainment. This was a great spot for people watching. We walked down to the jetty and along the busy Jetty Rd.

After it got dark, we called an Uber and made the 30-minute drive back to our apartment in the CBD.

We had a fun day in Adelaide today doing things we wouldn’t normally do. That’s the fun part of traveling; experiencing things outside our normal day-to-day lives. This city continues to charm us with its variety of activities, ease of getting from place to place, and its laid-back atmosphere. It was nice to see a different side of Adelaide aside from the downtown area, too. More to come from Adelaide tomorrow.