Glenelg 2017 Day 14 – Arrival in Glenelg and harbour town outlet shopping and Beachouse

It was another day of travel and waking up early. I woke up early to check out the sunrise again. Before leaving the apartment, left a bottle of milk in the warmer before driving out, which was a really chilly morning. Instead of hitting the beach like I did the previous morning, I drove around to see if I could get a higher view of the bay. In fact, going around the estate I found a dirt road that was at a level higher than our apartment and gave a full view of the bay and the rising sun. There weren’t any clouds blocking the sun this morning and a perfect yolk could be seen at slightly past 7. Had to wait in the car for a while since I was very early and later tried to get a clear view of it by going low beside and past a bush. It was there I also noticed that there was a herd of sheeps at the land above the apartment where we stayed.

Sunrise at Emu bay

After returning to the apartment, found both mommy and K awake. Then we got prepared for our trip back to mainland, first was to catch our 1030am ferry at Penneshaw an hour drive away. This meant we needed to get moving by 9am. As we worked towards that target, trying to overcome the same daily challenges for preparing a toddler to leave the apartment, I loaded up the baggages as and when those were packed and ready. Then as we finally said goodbye to the nice apartment with a nice view, K couldn’t bear to leave the binos, we were on an hour drive to the ferry terminal.

Uneventful along the way and as we approached the ferry, I lined up behind one of the busy car lanes. Mommy got off the car as usual to get the tickets and boarded herself through the passenger bridge while K stayed in the car while I waited for the staff to direct my car into the ferry, learning from the trip to Kangeroo Island. After some really tight parking, with the assistance of the staff, I carried K to the passenger’s lounge, and found mommy at the front of the ferry with a good view, the benefit of being early.

Lining up at Sealink ferries
Ferries tickets
Inside the ferry, front facing seats
Signboard at the terminal
Penneshaw waters

The ferry left Kangeroo Island and it was about an hour trip back to Cape Jervis. K was the usual active self, climbing up and down the stairs from the 2nd floor to the 3rd floor. We spent some time sitting at the 3rd floor with him on my phone and finally just before disembarking, we rejoined mommy on the 2nd floor. Carried K back to the car and sat him onto the child seat and after a short wait for the cars in front to leave, and again waiting for the staff’s instructions, we drove off the ferry and onto the passenger pick up location where mommy stood waiting.

Leaving Kangaroo island
Top most deck

From Cape Jervis to Glenelg, it was at least an hour and a half. K was already feeling tired and was physically in agreement to take a nap until we arrived in Glenelg, and did fall asleep. The drive was the same feel until we hit the freeway and as we got closer to Adelaide,  we went thru the beach towns which had a lot more traffic and felt more and more what we were used to. I was looking for a gas station to pump petrol to full for the car return and as we got into Glenelg, I found a Caltex at a awesome low price of aud1.19/liter and filled to full, costing me aud36. Paid with credit card since we were already low on cash.

A couple of minutes drive later, we arrived at the Airbnb that was just close to the beach, but we had to stop by the side of the road to read the instructions again, in order to recover the garage door remote and the keys to the apartment. Mommy opened the gate for me and I parked the car at the designated car park. Had to take 2 trips to bring stuff to the apartment, first was to bring K who woke and some small stuff and the second trip for the luggage.

Guestroom
Master bedroom
Bathroom
Laundry machines within the bathroom
Master bedroom toilet
Living room
Dining and kitchen
View from balcony
View from room balcony

We took the opportunity to have lunch in the apartment, K having his cooked meals and I went downstairs to explore the surrounding for any stuff to eat. As we were staying so close to the Jetty road, the stretch of street lined with eateries and stops, there was no lack of food to eat. I didn’t go that far but just across the road next to a massive indoor arcade building the Beachouse was a small street and a store Sushi Arari selling Japanese cuisine and got ourselves takeaways of ramen and teriyaki bento. It took awhile to prepare as it seemed like a one man show and I took the chance to walk around and to the beach before collection and returning to the apartment.

Beachouse
Ferries wheel under maintenance
Jetty Road
Glenelg beach side
Glenelg Town hall
View from the beach
Pano view from the town hall
Pano view of the beach
Lunch

After having our lunch, I had to return the car by today and before they closed at 430pm. And since we had decided to visit harbour town anyway, I dropped mommy and K at harbour town for their outlet shopping before driving to the airport. The main problem was I didn’t check the instructions of the return location and assumed it was at the airport. So I drove there and found the rental car return location in a multistory carpark after going around in circles (literally because of the roundabouts because the direction on the sign  seemed to be wrong  because the first exit should be the one to be taken to the multistory parking instead of the second exit indicated on the signboard). Apex was not there, only the major ones such as Hertz, Thrifty, Budget and Enterprise. I left again stopped at a carpark somewhere and referred to the paper documents that were handed over to me then. Luckily there was the return information there on the  car rental documents as I didn’t have access to internet as the 3GB data plan that we had purchased was gone already (even though there was minimum usage, suspect those pesky apps auto updates or feedback were eating up the data). It was at a street behind the runway and they would provide a shuttle return to the airport after dropping the car.

Quickly I drove there (not as quick because of multiple traffic lights and traffic, something different from the road trip) and returned to the huge carpark of Apex rental company.  Almost immediately upon entering the office, I was served by the staff who did a quick check and signed off the return of the vehicle. As I was going to meet my family at harbour town, I was asking if he could drop me at harbour town instead of the usual airport. Initially he informed that he could only do the airport trip and I should get my own transport from the airport to harbour town, easiest by taxi which should cost about aud15. Later, he offered to drop me there as he still had time to receive another customer scheduled to come in a little later and I was relieved for this kind gesture and excellent service, as it resolved the transportation problem and saved me some money.

Apex Car rentals office

It was a short 10mins drive back to harbour town and I bade farewell to the staff who let me disembarked at the carpark. The area was huge and I had to give mommy a call to find out where they were. They were actually at a playground right in harbour town itself. On arrival to the playground, I saw K enthusiastically climbing the obstacles and having lots of fun. Mommy then could finally go for her shopping while I looked after K in this playground.

Harbour town
Inside harbour town
Playground in harbour town

In the end, I got myself 2 Quiksilver tees for aud60 from one of the surf shops there mommy didn’t manage to get any as the down jacket didn’t have the colour that she wanted. K had the most fun of the trip, having taken a kiddy ride and watching aeroplanes take off from the nearby Adelaide airport and also eating almost a whole ice cream cone when mommy bought a vanilla and salted caramel ice cream for all of us to share.

We visited the information center to find out how to return to Glenelg, since we didn’t have the car anymore. It was just to take the bus J1, scheduled to arrive at 510pm, according to the board on the bus stop, just outside the center office, which was within the parking lot. We waited for a while for the bus to come and paid the tickets to the driver itself, a whopping aud10.6 for 2, something unheard of in Singapore. And went on back in the almost empty bus.

Bus stop back to Glenelg
J1 bus
Expensive bus tickets

We got off the bus as it arrived onto Jetty Road and walked along the road back towards our apartment. Along the way, we went into a pharmacy Chemist Warehouse to buy a mouth ulcer gel for me and some pastries for breakfast at a Baker’s delight bakery. The center was lighted up mostly by eateries as the shops were either already closed or mostly closing. The skies were in a sunset hue with a mixture of blue, a beautiful sight.

Jetty Road
Baker’s delight
Church
Sunset view from balcony

Back at the apartment, K didn’t want to sleep though he looked tired the entire day out in harbour town. So after 30mins, we went to the Beachouse indoor games building that was opened till 9pm to have some fun first before going for dinner. There were 2 levels of fun, including bumper cars and boats, arcade machines to win tickets in exchange for prizes, small kiddy rides and big ones including a train, a carousel and a Ferris wheel that was under maintenance. Bought a package of aud22 that had a ride of the train, the carousel and the playtime in the indoor playground plus 3 other games and K sat on the carousel and one other ride before we proceeded to dinner (saving the rest for the next day as it was already getting late).

Carousel
Inside Beachouse

We walked to the end of the promenade to try the recommended seafood restaurant Sammy’s on the marina, going through a walking street lined with restaurants on the one side and yachts parked on other side. Upon reaching, we found that it was actually quite pricy and very limited choice for K. Worst of all, it was closed. Made a Uturn and ended up at a Tomiko Japanese Steak House and sat on the outside that had transparent plastic wind shields and a heater. Ordered a large side dish of fried rice, a California roll and a tonkatsu with steam rice, all for aud86, quite expensive meal but sorta expected it.

Promenade beside the yacht docking area
Tomiko Japanese Steak house
Fried rice
Sushi
Pork fillet
Yacht on the marina

The walk back to the apartment was very chilly as the cold wind picked up quite a bit, so much different from the warm afternoon. We returned to the apartment and had K bathed in the bathtub and some handphone time before going to bed. He fell asleep very quickly. I did an online check in through the Singapore Airlines app ( pretty convenient to use) and also scheduled a Uber ride on the app to the airport on Sunday morning, worried that we might not get any taxi at that unearthly hour, especially in this part of Australia). We spent some time out in the living room watching some reality TV of couples undergoing strained relationships trying to to get back together called “the last resort” and also turned in close to midnight, something we didn’t do in a while.

Kangaroo Island 2017 Day 11 – From Victor Habour to Kangaroo Island Emu bay – R&R

K was awake rather early, at 5am and as usual, I made him a bottle so that he could continue to sleep. We were gonna take a ferry to Kangaroo Island and it was scheduled for 9am to leave, since we couldn’t get anything later as it was fully booked.

Mommy was also awake before 7 to prepare the meals while I did the packing. At about 650am, I went out to take a photo of the sunrise that was happening at 7 while bringing stuff into the car. The skies were pretty clear but out in horizon where the sun was coming out seemed to be a little cloudy. Snapped a few shots on the beach and returned to the room as it was also a little cold out there.

3 poles
Sunrise at Victor Harbour
Sunrise
Bridge in the morning

Once back, continued with packing and bringing stuff bit by bit to the car, such as for the luggage that we knew K didn’t require any items from. At the same time, I also got some hot water stored into the hot flask for making milk from the hotel bar when they opened at 730am. Finally, changed K’s diapers which made him fidget with displeasure for a bit but not enough to wake him up, I carried him in my arms and transferred him to mommy while in the car so that he could continue to sleep all the way.

It was 8am while we were on the roads and it was a 45mins trip to the Sealink ferry terminal. We had to be there in fact by 830am for check in so I just tried to get there soonest. Along the way there were cars that were just keeping to the speed limit and below and I had to find opportunity to overtake, which was an issue as there were just long stretches of double white lines closer to Cape Jervis (couldn’t help linking it to Ironman).

Sealink Terminal at Cape Jervis

As we approached the terminal, we had to pass through a small township and then right around a corner near the waters was the loading zone. Unlike what we saw previous at Sorrento, this was opened to public and I just went into one of the lanes first. Read the email requesting only the drivers to be inside the car, mommy went to do the check in, whereas K also started to wake up. Since K didn’t have a ticket and it wasn’t required anyway, mommy went to board at the passenger side while K stayed in the car with me. After I received the 2 tickets (1 for me and 1 for the car) from mommy, and not knowing when I should go, I drove out of the lane in the direction of the ferry, but was stopped by the staff. He said he wanted to loaded the heavier vehicles first and asked me to wait. So I waited till he called to see the tickets and give the instructions on where to go.

Ferry tickets for the car

After being assisted by another staff on parking, I brought the bags that I thought required up to the 2nd deck where the passenger lounge was and mommy was waiting for us there. Unfortunately all the window seats, which came with a center table, were taken. We settled for the side chairs and helped K to change out of his pyjamas and started to have breakfast of muffin and pizza. When a table was available, we quickly took over and sat there till it was time to get off. But that didn’t mean K was sitting still. He was moving around and climbing the stairways up and down to the open deck on the 3rd floor, which I only stepped foot on for a while without opportunity to see around, with me closely watching him. Wifi was available onboard and I used it sparingly when my eyes could be off the boy.

Inside the ferry
Front window seats

Nearing the jetty, I brought K and put him in the back seat with accompanied with my handphone as I waited for the tailgate to be lowered. When the vehicle behind me left, I thought it was my turn to reverse out (since I drove in head first) and was immediately called to stop. Then I realized how the vehicles were parked with my side being head first and the other side was reversed parking. We had to drive out in a loop. Waited for most of the cars to exit before it’s my turn and as the car hit land, mommy was already waiting for us by the shore.

Waiting for the cars to move

The turquoise waters were a beautiful sight, and it was totally out of my expectations as I thought that the island was entirely a national park and would be devoid of civilization. I was wrong as I soon found out, driving towards our accommodation at Emu bay. The street was the same and so were huge masses of land that belong to farms along side it. We did spot a kangaroo or two but mostly it was just like mainland, only the waters were more beautiful.

View of Penneshaw turquoise waters

Arrived at about 10 plus, after a 40mins drive, at a double storeys Bayview House and entered the place after retrieving the keys from a number locked storage. The place was unlike the one in Port Fairy which was a traditional cottage, this one was modernly designed and had a large balcony and kitchen. The view was impressive and K took to liking it immediately for its carpeted staircase, climbing up and down of it immediately.

Basement living room
1st guestroom
Basement shower
Basement toilet
Laundry room
2nd Guestroom
3rd guestroom
Master bedroom
Master Shower
Kitchen and dining
Living room and balcony
3rd Toilet

We hadn’t any plans for today as we were chilling a bit at the accommodation by first letting K watch his “Blaze and the monster machines” DVD that we bought from Woolworths the day before and at the same time, he was snacking on the cracker and cheese. We left only at 1230pm to get some lunch at Kingscote town, a 20mins drive away.

Initially we were looking for fresh seafood but the address that was on TripAdvisor didn’t seemed to point me to a restaurant and eventually, we ended up in town at a Lighthouse Cafe where we ordered a lamb shank and calamari and 2 bottled fruit juice for aud 38. The food was pretty good and K also finished quite a huge portion of his meal in the toddler chair.

Kingscote jetty
Kingscote town
Lambshank
Calamari and chips
Lighthouse Cafe

We walked back to the Foodland supermarket to get the groceries that we required for the meal tonight and for the food tomorrow since we were going to the national park. K had fun running up and down the ramp outside the supermarket and even became a gatekeeper for some time, opening and closing the gate for customers going into the supermarket. By the time mommy was done, it was about 3pm that we headed back to the apartment.

Foodland

Once back at the apartment, K took a bottle and went to sleep and so did the parents. By the time we woke up, it was before 6pm and the bright full moon was already up at one side together with the orange hues of the sunset at the other. The owner came to collect charges for the 3 nights and informed us (so late) that there would be power outage due to maintenance the next day. This meant that those items that require the fridge will have a problem or there would not be any heating in the morning. This was such an inconvenience for us, especially when we had a toddler with us.

Sunset pano from the balcony

Mommy then prepared dinner for us while K watched DVD again and I just chilling (pun intended) on the sofa. Had our meals on the big dining table that even had a toddler seat that K was familiar with. Ate our meals of rice and marinated chicken from the supermarket and nice warm vegetables soup. Then the clean up was done in the big dishwasher after which I prepared K for a warm bath in his blow up tub.

The room  did not have an aircon unit and was getting a little cold. The aircon unit was in the kitchen and living room in an awkward location but at least it was warming up the area. When K came out into the room to dress up he was shivering a little.

Mommy and I then took turns to bath and the rest of the night was spent on TV and YouTube. Time flew past and it was already 11 when we quickly got to bed, switching off the aircon in the kitchen. An easy day, a holiday within a holiday.