Even though we got up at 7, we didn't leave the hotel until 10 or so. It took us a while to sort out the change in the car rental pick up (from airport to downtown) and then the mobile data connection ... but they were all happy endings in the end!
We rushed over to the Adelaide Botanical Garden to catch the guided tour at 10:30. It was a small group and the guide was very knowledgeable. We learned that they are pushing for the Mediterranean plants in Adelaide as they require little water and are very hardy under the harsh sun. A lot of these plants have waxy leaves to minimize the loss of moisture, silver grey in color to reflect the sunlight and offer UV protection, leaves are positioned and shaped in such a way to collect water and direct them to the main stem ... maybe we can learn a thing or two from these plants! Another interesting tidbit is the Bunya Pine, whose pine cone is the size of a football and weighs about 5 kg - you definitely don't want to be hit by one! And then there's the Wollemi Pine, which dates back to the time of the dinosaurs. It was assumed to be extinct for quite some time, but it was re-discovered in the 90s. And then there are the Amazon Waterlilies. These guys can grow to 2m in diameter and it is quite interesting to see the large discs float in the pond, and the spikes and air pockets on the bottom side. Last but not least is the Titan arum, generally known as the stinking flower. It takes 7 - 10 years for these flowers to bloom, but the bloom usually lasts for less than 12 hours! While the flower has not quite bloomed because the weather has been quite chilly, it may be ready next week!
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| Amazon Waterlilies |
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| Titan arum |
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| Bicentennial Conservatory in Adelaide Botanic Gardens |
We then wandered over to the Central Market, which is similar to the St Lawrence Market in Toronto. We had a very good cappuccino and some pastry ... and 1/2 dozen of raw oysters ... YUMMY! Food in general are more expensive than Toronto. Banana is $1.99/kg in the market and $2.49 in a supermarket. Cheese are cheaper, about 2/3 the cost of those in TO. Since coffee cost about $5 a cup, David decided to get an Aeropress and make his own morning coffee. Though it is about 20% more expensive than Toronto, he figured he will break even after 12 cups of coffee, and has an Aeropress to bring home :).
Chinatown is right beside the Market. I counted 4 Chinese Supermarkets within 2 blocks and there are a number of different cuisines offered (Chiuzhou, Peking, Shanghai, Vietnam, etc.) Chinatown is not very big, about 2 blocks square. I'll say the number of people speaking Cantonese vs Mandarin is about half and half. We bought some buns for breakfast ... $2.40 for a pineapple bun(!), but it tasted alright. We ended up going back to the hotel and had Pizza in the restorante next door rather than having Chinese food. We checked out some prices, like a Vietnamese noodle costs about $15, and I doubt it is as good as those in TO.
Haha, I remember Chiachi saying he knew which kids in his class were rich because they'd bring a banana in their lunch every single day!! We had a lot of passion fruit and kiwi while we were there... Much more affordable!
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