When you are turning 50, it’s important that you spread that celebration over as many months as you can…. For me, as my actual birthday isn’t until mid June – Im aiming for 3 months, but would be happy to extend…

So… straight after our Larapinta Trek in Alice Springs, Madz and I flew to Adelaide for Leg 2 of Chapter 1 of the Fiddy in Fabulaide Festival to meet some awesome friends to join us.

Seeya next time Alice….

We hired a great house in Glenelg – 2 minutes from Moseley Square and 2 minutes from Glenelg Beach. A gorgeously renovated old church.

DAY 1:

Our first team member to arrive was Tos… father, rugby fan, runner, hiker, cyclist, handbag holder and all round good guy.

Tos also knows Adelaide really well, so it was great to have a suggester of roof top bars & restaurants in the group. We headed straight to Moseley Square for a look around and a celebratory champers.

See what I’m saying… it’s super handy to have a handbag holder on the OWAF behind the scenes team.

Thank you Glenelg… I feel like you’ve rolled out the red carpet for us.

DAY 2:

After a cosy first night in our new home (for the next week) we all went for a walk along the Glenelg Beach pathway, before meeting for brekky and coffee at Europa – our new fave breakfast spot on the Square.

Then team 2 arrived – Felicity and Richard… Fliss is one of my oldest and dearest friends and I’ve loved her husband Richard for the 25+ years they’ve been together.

So it was back to the square for some more celebratory champers.

Madz had lunch with a friend and met us afterward… calling out from down the street – an OWAF photographer is always ready.

Fliss had organised a little surprise for me back at the house, so we sat quietly with our drinks while she popped home and set things up.

On our return we were greeted with this gorgeous picnic set up complete with a platter full of delicious food…

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And this is where Team 3 arrived… The beautiful Tammy, who I have adored for over 20 years and her lovely husband, Matt, who I have loved since they met! I’m so #blessed to have such a wonderful friends in my life. 💕

Fliss also organised a cocktail making class with Dan – the cocktail making guy. He showed us how to make a Negroni, an Espresso Martini, a Pineapple Mojito and a shot of something with Baileys…. it was epic.

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Once we’d made and drunk everything… Cocktail maker Dan headed off into the night and left us to it.

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It was a fantastic night to remember!

DAY 3:

Somebody upstairs in the weather department must have been watching over our Fabulous Fiddy Tour because we had the most amazing days from beginning right to the end… So on such a perfect day, we did our daily walk along the beach path, brekky at Europa…

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… and then we caught the tram into the city and hit the Central Markets lunching at the best paella restaurant I have eaten in since Spain! If I’m honest though, I haven’t eaten Paella since being in Spain in 2019, so….

Then we meandered around the city and strolled through the Botanic Gardens.

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On our return Glenelg put on the sort of show that I, living in the west, am lucky enough to witness every night… (it was still a pretty special effort by SA)

DAY 4:

The next day was our special wine tasting luncheon day in McLarenvale.

After our daily beach path walks and coffees we were picked up by Don from Chooks Tours… driver, tour guide, organiser and photographer extraordinaire.

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Our first stop was Mollydooker – which means left hander. This was just about the best experience at a winery that I’ve ever had – all because of Alex – our new best friend and wine tasting host. Also the wines were really good!

When we first talked about visiting wineries on this tour Mollydooker was the only name that came to my mind – My friends in Geraldton, Deb and Sampy have a Youtube show called “Bogan’s Guide to Wine” and I attended a taping of the show once where they/we sampled the Gigglepot Cab Sav and it was the nicest red wine I remember tasting… so we got Alex to add that onto our tasting menu… well done Alex.

So seriously – if you book a wine tasting at Mollydooker – ask for Alex.

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2nd winery – Hugh Hamilton… another lovely experience, but if I’m honest, I didn’t love the wines here – especially in comparison to the previous visit. We did enjoy the non alcoholic shiraz cordial though and bought a few bottles to take home.

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Then onto the Victory Hotel for our lovely luncheon… beautiful views, great food and excellent company! We chose this place because of the great reviews and glorious views but also because they apparently have an amazing wine cellar with wines from all over the world… but we only realised after we got on the bus to go home that we forgot to go and have a look!

Such a cool gang with our sunnies on! OR just being sun smart?

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We moved our table out to the beer garden in the shade of a tree to devour our cupcake desserts and special Espresso Martinis.

We all really wanted oysters as an entree at lunch, but they had completely sold out, so on our return to Glenelg, we hit the Oyster Bar at the marina… and had them for dessert!

DAY 5:

So, you’d that would be enough for the week… but we weren’t even close to being finished. The next day Madz and Tos took off back to McClarenvale to check out the Salvadore Dali Museum, whilst the rest of the gang met up with Tamski’s Mum and Tam & Matt’s beautiful daughter, Alara for brunch – at Europa, or course… and a ride on the Glenelg Ferris wheel.

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Then the rest of the day was a bit all over the place… Fliss & Rich are hard core Demons fans, and the Ds were playing the Adelaide Crows, so that was their afternoon taken care of… Madz & Tos were ensconced in culture and art… Tam & Matt were in parent mode with their bundle of loveliness and I was floating in-between.

But this day turned out to be one of those days that turns into night that you can’t plan – it just happens organically….

By the time that F&D were due to go to the footy, M&T were back from the ‘Vale and had headed into town – the handover of my care was seamless and the three of us – S, M & T headed to the trendy end of Adelaide City to meet up with Madz’ mate, “Munners”. He and his new lady friend, Ash had a window of free time before their dinner reservations and couldn’t think of a better way to spend it than with us. They are so lovely and a great laugh!

On the advice of Britty – the eyes and ears of trendy bars and eateries in Adelaide, the place across the road was suggested for dinner, so when Munners and Ash disappeared for dinner, we hightailed it across the road and got a great table… just as we were having a predinner drink, Fliss & Rich were on their way from the ground (after the Ds lost by 1 point… they were robbed) and we all sat down for an amazing dinner.

Here’s just one of our dishes… the ribs were very tasty, as were all other dishes – but we ate them before we could photograph them.

Then because we were all so much fun, just as we were leaving the restaurant, Munners and Ash reappeared and we crossed the road again for a small nightcap…

… before heading back to our abode for a night of Limoncello and dancing…. of which there are NO photos or videos.

DAY 6:

The next day was very difficult for everyone to get up and get packed and get to the airport… especially since some of us weren’t flying until late in the afternoon…

These were our last moments in the house before the cleaning staff arrived…

And then… it was over.

There was a confused mix of sadness and relief that day… my friends were all going back to their respective states, but I was going to be able to have a small rest… I mean, I’m nearly fifty for goodness sake!

I certainly don’t take for granted how lovely my friends are and I cherish the time I get to spend with them, especially during these Covid times and because they all live so far away so I thank you all for making such a massive effort to join the Fiddy in Fabulaide Festival.

Now home for that rest before embarking on Chapter 2 in a couple of weeks…