We got everyone fed and watered and out the door just after 730 in a bit of a panic – trying to get everyone and everything into one car was a hassle. I had a rip roaring headache and wasn’t feeling well at all after catching Krista’s strep that she has had off and on for a month. We got to the airport and checked in after Melissa dropped us off outside. There was quite a line-up but it moved quickly. Our suitcase was over the limit – again – so we had to do some creative repacking in the line – a common occurrence for the Moroz’s this Christmas – and our carry-ons got substantially heavy! After checking in and going through security, we grabbed a bite to eat at the food court and Darren discovered a pair of Melissa’s car keys in his pocket! Crap! We tried to contact Melissa but Krista had no phone numbers for her and so we hoped she had a second set and proceeded off to Adelaide.
Flying over South Australia was interesting as the landscape was quite dry and very different obviously compared to Canada. Occasionally we would see a huge body of water in a crater but hardly any other rivers or water source. Being their summer, it was quite dry for the most part.
We arrived in Adelaide on time at 11am and met George quickly with two of the kids Arianna and Zachary. They had drawn straws to see who got to make the trip! We got the Bandura out of the giant box and loaded up into the minivan and off and running to a friend’s place to pick up a case of homemade perogies! It was good to feel Ukrainian again!
We headed north to Gawler – about a 30 minute drive. Adelaide is a city of about a million people but isn’t nearly as hectic as Calgary. Being the Christmas season, there were hardly any people on the roads and we were out of the city quite quickly. The scenery is completely fascinating as all the foliage and landscape is so unfamiliar and foreign to us. George gave us the rundown on the climate/people/landscape and we soon at arrived at Club Sadiwnyk. George and Melissa have transformed 3 acres of bald desert into an oasis of amazement. They built a huge 4 bedroom bungalow complete with double separated garage/granny flat as well as an amazing outdoor pool. They have spent thousands of hours landscaping and planting as is required with an acreage. We got the tour and the kids were absolutely ecstatic to have boy things to play with. There is a trampoline and bicycles and footballs and you name it to play with. They have been so busy, the day just flew by.
We jumped in the vehicles after a great lunch from Melissa and headed out to see the country side. We drove through a couple towns and got the rundown on the areas and lifestyle. We ended up at the local reservoir that provides water to the whole area. There was 4 inches of rain a couple weeks ago which filled it to near capacity and the highest they have ever seen it. There is a 48 inch pipe running 10 miles into the town of Gawler and the water pipe is the lifeblood of the community. In a desert climate, water is the most important resource of all, and great care is taken to use it wisely. Every acreage has at least one huge water tank outdoors that collects rainwater in case water supply from the reservoir is suspended; you need to have at least 6 months of emergency water to survive. Some are 5000 gallons while others are huge and hold 30000.
The reservoir wall is designed as many others, but is somewhat unique in that the dry side has a curvature that creates a sound tunnel. You can talk from one side 100 metres away and hear the other person speaking as clear as if you were right beside them. We sent the boys to the far side and we had a conversation at the ‘whispering wall’. It was totally awesome! We had an ice cream and took off for the next stop.
We drove up into the hillsides to a beautiful viewpoint overlooking the entire valley for 20 miles in every direction. The Bourassa valley is the primary growing area of grapes for more than 10 major wineries including Wolf Blass, Penfolds, Jacob’s creek and many many others. We stopped at the bridge over ‘Jacob’s Creek’ and snapped a photo – can’t wait to come back in two days for the tour and wine tasting!
While on the top of the foothills overlooking the valley, we let the kids play on the 15 giant stone sculptures that were commissioned by a group of artists back in 1988. They were glad to get out and run around after a 15 minute drive to get there. George and Melissa have 4 children – Arianna 8, Christian 6, Zachary 5 and Gabriella 3. We have a real houseful with our two as well!
We piled back into the two vehicles and headed back to Gawler for a quick tour of George’s office where he works as a chiropractor. Great little place complete with fruit and vegetable trees right out the back door. A naval orange tree with little green oranges just starting – they will be ready in March. A Walnut tree – look like little limes as well until they ripen and the skin falls off revealing the nut underneath that we see in stores in Canada. A pomegranate tree is flowering and growing in the front. A quiet little dreamy town with a small business to run has George getting to know the whole town like a small town doctor would. I got a chiropractic tune-up as my one leg was out ¾ of an inch. No wonder I hadn’t been sleeping!
We headed back to the house for a swim while the girls did some shopping and picked up some pizza to bring home for us all. We ate like savages and the kids disappeared outside for more bike riding and adventures. We had some great visiting and George started making drinks like there was no tomorrow. I am not a coffee drinker, but George insisted I have an egg nog latte. It was amazing – though it was a huge shot of caffeine kick! Needless to say, I was hyper as ever and a general pain to everyone in the house! After several of those and a never ending supply of paralyzers, it was going to be a long evening!
We got the kids to bed and set in for an evening of Canasta. George and Darren cleaned up the first hand but the girls game back with a vengeance the next two hands and took the lead. We had one hand left to catch up – Darren got into his back hand, finished up a bunch of piles and went out before George even got into his back hand and sealed the win! Not the prettiest finish, but we had to get out before the girls racked up another 5000 points like the previous two hands! We were quite pleased with our win. We watched a bit of TV and off to bed after 11 with aspirations to sleep in as the children were informed there was a strict policy of no one getting up until at least 8am. Hooray!
Alas, aspirations were quashed by the number of washroom trips over the course of the evening/morning from all the caffeinated drinks! The children hung in there til 8 and another busy day looms for us on the 27th!
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