Hiyas!

Welcome back to the Australian travel blog. If you’re just now joining us, this is the third part to this four part blog series. That means if you managed to make it here without giving part one &/or two a read, then it’s time to turn that little tuchus around & give those other bits a gander before you continue on. That is, unless you WANT to continue on without the knowledge of the previous works, in which case live your life I guess. If you would so like to give them a proper read first, I have taken the liberty of linking the two lovely blogs that came before this below. Enjoy them. Relish them. Comeback here when you’re all caught up & ready to continue on & we’ll keep trekking! Sound good? Perfect! Let’s get to going then!

PART THREE:

Day Nine (Continued)

Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

We landed in Adelaide around noon. I had downloaded a few new LUT (Look Up Tables, prefixed color filters that you apply to a picture or video) packs & had started digging through the dive footage I had while on the flight & Evan had worked a bit.

We were met at the Adelaide Airport by Leena & Max, who were kind enough to pick us up & allow us to stay with them.

Two things before we go forward. The first is a bit of history. The second is a bit about what this portion of the blog will be going forward.

I met Leena Regan in 2010 at Belmont University where we both found ourselves in the Commercial Voice program. We became fast friends & have been ever since. In 2013 she moved to Los Angeles where she eventually ended up taking up a job at Musicians Institute (MI), where she taught voice, songwriting, & performance. She herself being an outstanding vocalist, accomplished songwriter, & having performed as an artist since her youth. At MI Leena met Max Hurrell, an Adelaide native, who was in the states as a student but would later become a teacher himself specifically in the realm of production. Max would later go on to produce Obliterated for Hektor Mass & me! The two of them got married around 2019 & in 2020 moved to Australia due to the US’s lackluster at best response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Once they got to Australia, Max’s mentor unfortunately passed & his widow offered the Hurrells the studio which they purchased & turned it into Songbird Society, a musical community center seeking to to transform the music industry and create a thriving environment where the well-being of artists is supported and prioritized.

The second note that I have is that this part of the blog series is going to be a little more pedestrian. This is by design. Max & Leena are close friends whose home we are staying in, who were kind enough to inject us into their day to day lives & give us a taste of what normal life looks like for those living in Adelaide. That is not to say that it will not feature incredible meals, fun stories, & adventures. It is chockablock full, I just feel that each day may have a little less to share then the previous two installments as the four of us were also working while we were there to varying degrees & a lot of what we end up doing is sitting around, basking in camaraderie, socializing, & simply enjoying each others company. You know, pedestrian things.

So yes, Leena & Max picked us up & we played a lovely little round of car Tetris to get all of our ‘too much, too large’ luggage into their car.

Our first stop was their flat on the Northwest side of the city, in an area called Bowden. I would say this is the area that they habitat with the majority of their lives. Their apartment is here as is the studio that houses Songbird Society. They had prepared for us their spare room & were kind enough to buy an air mattress, complete with an inflatable headboard so your pillow doesn’t roll off, for us to use! After we dropped our stuff, we made our way down & out to do a bit of looking about & to grab some lunch/coffee.

We walked along in the glorious 77° day for about five minutes until we got to the studio. We were shown in by the duo, brought from the vibrant, arid seaside of Adelaide, into a space of tranquil darkness accented by vibrant strikes of color.

The interior of Songbird is entirely black. You walk through the foyer to an almost living room set up complete with vintage gaming consoles, funky furniture, an upright piano, a shelf of vivacious knick knacks, & a stage. Off to the right you have the studio; double sided with an isolation book sandwiched in the middle. Straight on from the main room you find River Lane’s office (more on her in part four!) & to the right, Leena’s studio which sits on the opposite side of the isolation booth from Max’s.

After we wrapped the studio tour it was time for food. Down the street we went to Seven Grounds.

Seven Grounds is a lovely little cafe with some really solid drinks & some really solid food. We sat outside in the glorious day & began our orders. The first drink that I got was a Coconut Vietnamese Iced Coffee with Ube Whipped Cream. Yes, you read that correctly. It was absolute heaven. For lunch we all attempted to order the same thing, the Burger. However, there ended up being only one burger left for the day (we were there about an hour before closing) & we opted to let Leena have it. Instead I got the Hong Kong Full Brekkie complete with Taiwanese Sausage, Grilled Mushrooms & Tomatoes, Two Fried Eggs, Rasher Bacon, Sourdough Toast, Potatoes, & the best Chilli Oil I think I’ve ever had. Evan got a Chicken sandwich that was also pretty phenomenal. I ordered a second latte, though I can’t recall what specifically it was. I do remember it also being immaculate though!

After lunch we opted for a walk. Adelaide has a very unique set up where the original city is bisected by the River Torrens & then surrounded by a series of parks. This series of parks is then further surrounded by more city that stretches out in all directions until they run into the mountains to the east or the ocean to the west. Bowden boarders an area of park on its southeastern ridge. This is where we walked, along the Bunyip Trail.

I cannot reiterate how much of a lovely day it was. The sun was shining, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the light breeze carried with it the smell of the salt from the ocean which picked up the oil from the groves of Eucalyptus & other Gum Trees. The four of us walked & chatted before we made our way back towards their flat.

Along the way we stopped at the IGA (Independent Grocers Of Australia) for some more drinks. Feeling pretty parched from the walk we stocked up on an assortment of mostly Australian beverages then continued walking on to the apartment. At this point I think it was approaching early evening & we sat around their living room chatting for several more hours before the need for food once again set in.

Leena & Max came prepared. They know & appreciate how much of food people Ev & I are & they came ready to encourage that behavior with a full on list or prepared restaurants that either they love or their friends love. That’s right, they’d gone above & beyond & asked around in advance for recommendations on restaurants to take us to. Let’s stop here & give them some proper snaps. One such listed place was Busan Baby (or Bussin’ Baby as it became known to us).

Busan Baby is a modern korean restaurant located in the central part of Adelaide. It is served family style & we ate the menu.

The Hurrells had gone a few times previously, mostly for special occasions, & since our coming to visit was seen as a special occasion by them (& of course us) we went!

We ordered Bibimbap w/ Spicy Pork, Kimchi & Ban Chan, Soy Garlic & Sweet Spicy Korean Fried Chicken, Japchae Noodles w/ Bulgogi, Giant Chicken Katsu w/ Melted Cheese & Fried Kimchi, & I’m honestly not sure what else. The meal was a blur of joy & excellence. Nothing we had was anything short of exceptional. I’m pretty sure the wait staff hated us by the end of the night as we had so much fun that at times we were crying laughing. Oh well.

We wrapped the evening back on the couch where Max & Leena introduced us to a Dropout show called Very Important People in which comedians are done up in full make up, prompted to come up with a character, & give a full on sit down 20-30 minute interview entirely improvised. I highly recommend you give it a watch!

With full hearts & bellies we made our way to bed & drifted off into the night.

End Of Day Nine

Day Ten

The next day we had a quiet morning. We slept in a bit, Max & Leena had some work to get done at Songbird, Evan & I had some work to get done at the flat as well as some laundry that we’d accumulated over the previous nine days & so it was until the early afternoon. (I told you all, some of this would be pedestrian, you didn’t believe me did you?) I do think at some point Evan & I walked to Seven Grounds for a latte & a pastry, but I think that was fairly early on. At around 1 in the afternoon Leena came home from the studio & we went about making a plan for the day.

She had a few benchmark items that she wanted us to hit while we were there, a lot of it was just up in the air & came down to us deciding kind of ‘when & where.’ One such item was the Central Market, which we opted to make our afternoon excursion.

The central market, located smack dab in the center of Adelaide (shocker I know, who’d have thought with a name like central market it’d be in the center & also a market?!) is a large building that houses around 70 different stalls. From grocery to restaurants, bakeries to clothing, there’s a lot to see & a lot to explore amongst the purveyors. We meandered through them until we stumbled upon Sustainable Co. where I was drawn in by the assortment of smells radiating from the booth.

As I mentioned towards the end of part two, Evan & I are lovers of fragrances. This naturally extends to candles as is apparent by the fact that I also make & sell them.

Shameless Plug

The shop had a quant selection of candles themselves, most notably from a company called etikette. I love me a marine scent & they have two that I instantly became enamored with; Tallow in Salt Bush & Sea Kelp & Freycinet in Coastal Moss & Sea Salt. Additionally I really enjoyed their Otways in Bush Botanicals & Evan liked the Wilpena in Cactus Flower, which is subsequently the fragrance used all over Songbird Society & Leena & Max’s flat!

We found lunch at a restaurant that sits half in the market & half outside, Zuma Caffe. I got a Chinotto soda (which Leena found appalling) & their Fish & Chips which were excellent! We sat around enjoying our lunch in the sun for around an hour before I made my way back in to one of the fruit stalls to buy a beautiful looking bunch of green grapes & a couple of local mangos.

After lunch Leena took us around the bend to Breadtop, a Singaporean bakery, where we all got an assortment of different Southeast Asian buns, cakes, tarts, breads, & snacks before making our way back to the apartment.

We worked back at the flat a bit longer before it was time to go eat once again.

Another restaurant on the list from Leena & Max was Africola. Though they themselves had never been, they had a lot of friends who recommended it & apparently it was also nationally renown.

Our reservation was a bit on the late side, we ended up being the last table at the restaurant, but on the way we got to witness the bats migrating from one end of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens to the other. There were thousands of them & it was an incredible site to see!

We sat outside at Africola in the balmy evening air starting our meal off with cocktails then ordering family style with our meal once again.

We had Peri Peri Chicken with Mpumalunga Fire & Boom Chakalaka, Goolwa Pipis with Fermented Chili & White Pea, Crispy Chicken Tea Sandwiches with Peri Peri Dripping, Cabbage with Whey & Prawns, & Boston Bay Pork Loin with Mustard Leaf Gremoulata. I think the group favorite of the items was either the Tea Sandwiches or the Pipis! We also got dessert; Tahini Ice Cream & Chocolate Mousse! Both were amazing!

After dinner we made our way back home, watched more Very Important People, & went out like a light.

End Of Day Ten

Day Eleven

We once again spent the morning doing our respective works. Max had a session for the greater part of the day so it ended up being Evan, Leena, & me again.

Around noon, when we’d exhausted our intake of items we’d pilfered from Breadtop the day prior, we went in search of food. Opting for something a little different from the options that were in our immediate vicinity, we ended up taking about a fifteen minute walk down the road to Pony & Cole.

It was a sunny, if not outright hot day in Adelaide as we walked to Pony & Cole, to the point where I wondered if the t-shirt I was wearing was too much & I should’ve swapped it out for a tank. We were unfortunately a little sweaty upon arrival at the cafe but I guess that’s what air conditioning is for.

At Pony & Cole I got an Iced Hazelnut Latte. It seemed no matter where we went in Australia our three coffee flavor options were always the same; vanilla, hazelnut, or caramel. I don’t know what is different there, but each of these flavor options actually smack. Three is enough when they’re strangely exceptional despite their casual nature.

I was feeling rather hungry so I ended up getting a smaller menu item as well as a ‘main’ plate. I got the Bircher Muesli with Blueberry Compote & Hazelnut, along with the Scrambled Chilli Eggs with Seeded Brioche, Housemade Chilli Crisp, & Pickles. I think my favorite out of the two was actually the Bircher, which was surprising to me! I just have such an affinity for the dish, even though it is just basically oatmeal.

We hung out at Pony & Cole for a while before walking back in the heat. We then used that opportunity to do further work & finish up some personal chores.

Late in the afternoon, around 3:30-ish, Max came back having finished up his session. We then took to planning our evening. In a bit of a flash of inspiration I suggested we pack a charcuterie board & take it to the beach for a sunset picnic as I wanted to see a west coast facing sunset while we were in Australia. The rest of the gang loved the idea so we went about making it a reality.

First we went to IGA, we bought cheese & sliced meats, fruits & veggies, crackers, chips, nuts, dips, & a bag of candy or two. We rationed out the gatherings evenly to split the cost as such & then went around the corner of Plant 4 to Bowden Cellars to grab a few canned, boozy beverages for the beach. It is here we meet “Yeet Juice.”

Yeet Juice is a product of Bowden Brewing, located just down the street from the flat. It is a hella tart hard lemonade with a cult South Australian cult following. We did not opt for the normal Yeet that day, though I would try it at some point later, instead we went for their summer seasonal Guava flavor, which was the correct option to choose. We also picked up a seller that Leena swore tasted like Watermelon Sour Patch Kids. It absolutely did.

A quick side bar here about guava.

I love guava, absolutely adore it. Unfortunately, this country where I live, The United States, has not, other than it seems the Latin-x & Southeast Asian communities, embraced the lovely fruit & flavor that is the guava. I find that to be disheartening. I find that choice blasé because we so often don’t embrace the things that are best for us here in the US of A. Anyway. All of this to say, more guava please. More guava flavors. More guava fruit. Etc.

Thank you for attending my TED Talk.

We went back to the Apt, packed up all of our goodies into a cooler, grabbed beach towels & swimming suits, & off we went to the beach!

The Hurrell’s beach of choice is Henley Beach & I understand why! It’s a stunner for starters! Additionally it’s almost a perfect twenty minute straight shot from their home to the beach with next to no turns. Additionally, the part that we went to, sits almost smack dab in the middle between the Henley Beach Jetty & the Grange Beach Jetty to the north, so people are more likely at either of those places. We took an uber as to be able to partake in the beverages we’d bought, so we didn’t have to worry about parking. Not that it would be an issue when we came back a few days later.

We claimed a spot on the beach at around 6:30. The sun wasn’t due to set for another hour & a half to two, so we decided to start out our dinner with a swim.

The water temperature was a good deal warmer than that of Sydney, at least that’s how it seemed to me. Subsequently, despite my numerous global travels, this was the first time I had ever been in what is technically the Indian Ocean!

Evan & Leena stuck to pretty close to the shoreline where they picked through the sand for shells, of which there was an abundance. Max & I went out to about the point where we could no longer touch & mulled about the shallows. I had brought my dive mask with me, so I got a kick out of all the Sand Crabs that would spring up from the sand & throw a fit anytime you got even within a foot & a half of them. There were hundreds of them.

The visibility was a bit low for the day, but we didn’t mind. We spent about thirty minutes out in the waves before hunger began to set back in & we made our way to shore to dry off & dine on our provisions.

Leena had received this sick ground cover for her birthday. It was basically a seven foot by seven foot mat that came with tent stakes. It can be washed & is very easy to get dirt & sand off of. It fit all four of us on it perfectly fine & there we sat & drank & ate & laughed & waited for the sun to dip below the strait.

The sunset was stellar (lol), a wash of pale yellow fading into fiery orange that washed the entire coastline in a warm marigold. It lasted a while too, I would say around 45 minutes! It was truly magical. Evan even decided it beat out the ones in the Philippines which I’m not entirely sure I can get on board with, but I don’t think that one is necessarily better than the other. They’re different, the hue of the sky is different.

From there we packed up before the sun was completely gone, leaving us in darkness, changed back into dry clothing, called an uber, & went back to the flat to sleep the night away.

End Of Day Eleven

Day Twelve

We started our day off with a plan to go out to Mount Lofty & do a small bit of a hike around the Botanic Gardens up there. However, first we needed coffee & sustenance.

Down the road from the flat, in an old clothing store, a bakery has taken up residence. It’s called Against The Grain Bakery & they feature an assortment of different sweet & savory bakery options. From cookie to hand pies, croissants to breads, they’ve got it covered, as well as offering a full coffee bar. I once again got a Hazelnut Latte & I believe the baked good I purchased was something S’mores-y. Not entirely sure. All I can remember is that I ate it quickly because of how good it was!

Carbed & Caffeinated we made our way out of Adelaide up to the Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens.

There were two main reasons why the Hurrells wanted to take us up to Mt Lofty. First was because Ev & I are plant lovers & it being summer in Australia, a lot of the foliage was in bloom. The second reason is that Mt Lofty is a great place for wild life sitings; mostly Eastern Grey Kangaroos & Koalas, though the latter can be hard to spot.

We arrived up top & immediately began our search for animals, Leena quickly spotted a mob of Kangaroos grazing in the valley below the parking pavilion, so down we went to see the roos.

In total there were four of them. There was a large male tucked in the shade of a low hanging tree, lounging about, waiting on the heat of the day to pass. Then there was a family; mother, father, & joey. We did our best to keep our distance but still tried to get close enough to observe them. The fella under the tree couldn’t have cared less about us being there, the family of roos wanted to graze & to have nothing to do with us, so we let them all be. From there we made our way up the hill along the paths that wind in & out of the different cultured gardens.

I find it really interesting with how strict customs is when it comes to plants entering Australia that the Botanic Gardens feature so many plants from around the world. It seems counterintuitive to me. I understand that part of the strictness is to prevent foreign pests & invasive species from entering the country, but fining people for lettuce on their sandwich then having gardens of plants from around the world seems a touch hypocritical to me.

Anyway. Around the top of the hill there is a large grove of gum trees, this is where we went searching for koalas.

Max had informed us prior to departure that we would most likely hear koalas before we saw them, if we saw them, especially since it was mating season. He equated the sound they make to a bellowing pig & honestly, I don’t think that’s far off. I’ll link you a sample to that sound below. They actually used the koala mating call as part of the sound effects for the T-Rex in Jurassic Park!

Koala Mating Call

We did not end up seeing (or hearing) any koalas, but that didn’t prevent the walk from still being lovely! We loaded up in the car & down the mountain we went.

Evan & I noticed something interesting about Adelaide. It reminds us a lot of a shrunken down Los Angeles. When you’re coming down from the mountains, through the twists & turns, you often end up with almost an overlook view where you can see the city below & then the ocean beyond. The climate, the foliage, the building designs & layouts are all very similar to certain parts of LA, particularly the Valley or down in Midcity. Naturally there are about 1/5th of the amount of people & Adelaide is markedly cleaner & more put together, but the similarities are bizarre. It just further added to feeling like we were in an alternate reality, especially since the day we went up to Lofty was the day the Palisades fires broke out.

Leena dipped when we got back to go teach a voice lesson or two, so Max, Evan, & I went in search of lunch.

Max ended up taking us to Real Rolls in Regency Park for Báhn Mìs. All three of us got the Mega Meat Combo (Crackling Pork Belly & Lemongrass Chicken) & in all honesty, it was one of the best Báhn Mìs I’ve had in my life!

After lunch he took us back into the city center to go by the Haigh’s Chocolate Factory.

Alfred Haigh was a chocolatier who studied under the Lind family (Lindor Chocolates). He took their recipes & what he learned & brought them back to South Australia to make his own chocolate company based around the tastes of Australia. I ended up getting a variety pack of Australian flavored truffles called the Australian Selection, a pack of Milk Chocolate Covered Hazelnuts, a pack of Dark Chocolate Scorched Almonds, & some Milk Chocolate Mango Truffle Bars. The clear favorites being the truffle bars & the hazelnuts. Then we headed back to the flat to do a bit of work & to prepare for our evening.

Leena had invited several of their friends to join us out on the lawn by Plant 4. On Fridays Plant 4 does a food hall type event where a bunch of venters either open up or come in to offer a variety of food & drinks. Additionally the bar in the plant is open & slinging cocktails, beer, & wine.

Alex & Sophie were the first of Leena & Max’s friends to arrive & when they did we once again spread out Leena’s massive ground cover blanket which was more than large enough to fit all of us on. Once we’d all settled we decided to take turns going into the plant to get food.

Evan & I went first & ended up at an Afghani Curry pop up that was, & I cannot understate this, completely & utterly mind-blowing. The dish came with two or three curry options & a side & I loved every second of it. The pickled veggies that topped each of them were *chef’s kiss.

On our way back we stopped & grabbed drinks from the bar as well. I went with a canned alcoholic ginger beer (if you read part one, you know!) & Ev, I honestly don’t recall what he did.

When we got back to the cover Oli had joined the party. After everyone had gone & gotten food we all sat around drinking, chatting, laughing, & enjoying basic merriment until the sun went down.

As we were drawing the outdoor portion of our evening to a close the power went out. Like the whole area of Bowden went pitch black. Evan had gone inside to use the restroom & this happened while he was in Plant 4…which had magnetic fire doors that sealed upon the power going out. I think he was in a bit of a panic trying to get out, by he eventually found some people who worked there who showed him how to get out through the side doors.

Alex & Sophie departed & the four of us, with the addition of Oli made our way back to the apartment where we sat around by candle light & continued to chat & drink.

At some point the power came back on & we ventured over to the living room for a few rounds of Jackbox before we all called it a night.

End Of Day Twelve

END OF PART THREE

Travel Blog: Australia- Part Three: Adelaide Back

Charlie Rogers