Day 14: Visiting in Hallett Cove

I started the day by taking the tram down to Glenelg, Adelaide’s touristy beach suburb. I was meeting up with the parents of the teacher who switched jobs with my mom in 2009, and they suggested to go there so I could try out the tram.

I made my way to Victoria Square, which was just a short walk from the hotel. On the way I passed the historic post office, which looks like many of the old town halls in Australia with its tall clock tower. Interestingly, it operated as a post office from 1872 all the way up until 2019.

Victoria Square is located right in the centre of the Adelaide CBD, and was a nice place to wait for the tram, although I didn’t have to wait long. The tram was already pretty full when I boarded, and I met my first rude Aussie: a teen who was saving a seat for her friend who was getting on later down the line. Thankfully somebody else offered up their seat to me for the half hour journey.

I was curious as to why the tram was so full on a Wednesday morning, particularly with school-aged kids, and found out I was in the middle of South Australian school holidays. It seemed like I was following the holidays with every state I visited.

Rick and Pauline met me right as I got off the tram in Glenelg, and looked no older than when I had last seen them almost fifteen years prior. I hadn’t eaten breakfast, so I had an iced coffee and a danish. I was warned not to ruin my appetite as there would be a big lunch to follow!

After catching up for a bit, we went for a drive down the coast towards their house in Hallett Cove. Along the way, I saw tons of relatively new looking mansions in the Brighton area. We had visited Brighton Beach when I was a kid, but it looked like a much more affluent area now.

Before long, we were at the Rickard’s house, and it looked quite familiar. They had graciously let me use their washing machine, which was a great convenience as it allowed me to do my laundry in the middle of the trip.

Soon after, Amanda and her family arrived, and we had lunch. I certainly wasn’t going to need any dinner as the sausages, chicken and potato salad kept me filled up. It was a wonderful opportunity to catch up and enjoy some of the famous friendly Aussie hospitality.

As an aside, with all the sausages consumed in Australia, I’m surprised that the hot dog bun hasn’t caught on. Yes, I know it’s quite bready, but it’s more convenient than trying to wrap your sausage with a slice of bread!

The aviation nerd in me enjoyed watching the planes come into land at Adelaide Airport. Typically, the arrivals and departures would go in the opposite direction, but there must have been favourable wind conditions to have arrivals come in over the water.

Around 17:00, it was time make my way back into the city. I had an early morning the following day and wanted to make sure I was all packed and ready to go.

Rick and Pauline drove me to the Hallett Cove railway station, which was just a short distance away. It had been heavily upgraded since I was there last, as Adelaide introduced electric trains to the Seaford line in 2014.

We said our goodbyes and they waved me off as the train departed. It wasn’t super busy, but I was surprised at the number of people that were making their way back into the city at that time. Adelaide has quite an extensive rail network for a city not that much bigger than Edmonton, and it’s great to see it being used.

Less than an hour later, I was back in my hotel room getting ready for the next day. I double-checked the time my coach left and was somewhat relieved to see the departure time was 06:35 and not 06:00 as I had thought. I’d get an extra half-hour of sleep!

It was a wonderful day catching up with old friends, and I’m super grateful for to the Rickards for a fantastic meal and letting me do some laundry. Hopefully it won’t be another fifteen years until we see each other again!

Today by the numbers

Steps taken: 4,501

Sausages consumed: 3