After much chopping and changing, 4 of us set off for a girls' getaway in Adelaide. This included myself, Mary, Alison and Jo - missing were Judy and Janette (both long stories). As I could use my 1 free flight per year with my Velocity AmEx card I flew Virgin while the others flew Qantas in the luxury of domestic business class. My ticket was in economy and my "bid for upgrade" attempts failed to get over the line - perhaps bidding the minimum amount had something to do with it. Dieter drove myself, Mary and Alison to the airport at the bright and early time of 7:15 am for 9:15 and 9:30 respective departures (Jo was travelling a bit later). I was though bag tag printing, luggage drop (now automated) and security in less than 10 minutes and was ensconced in the Virgin lounge sipping coffee in plenty of time for my 9:15 departure which was in fact eventually delayed by nearly 30 minutes. I met up with Mary and Alison at Adelaide airport on arrival and we took a taxi to our hotel, the Oval. We had a welcome drink while waiting for them to sort out our reservations, as Judy a booked them in her name through Luxury Escapes - they needed her permission to let us checkin. Anyway we got our rooms around 12:30 ish and took our time settling in while waiting for Jo. Once Jo arrived we took a taxi into the CBD (the markets) and had a wander around and a coffee stop before heading back to the hotel for showers before happy hour. We all met up at 6pm for our complimentary evening drink then took a taxi to Fugazzi for dinner. Our meal was excellent and by the time we got home it was nearly 10pm - so off to bed.

First full day - we met for breakfast in the hotel bar/restaurant at 8am - breakfast was excellent, a la carte which is my perference. My fruit plate was almost a 10 out of 10. Unfortunately Alison's hay fever from the previous day had morphed into a full blown cold;  Mary had a 4 in 1 test kit along and at least Alison did not any of the various influenzas. She elected to stay at the hotel with some cold meds and rest. The rest of us set off with our car and driver to the Adelaide Hills. 

First stop was the Mount Lofty lookout - it was lovely particularly since it was a sunny and warm day. Next stop was the touistico village of Hahndorf, Australia's oldest German settlement. We walked around checking out the various boutiques, art galleries, coffee shops and of course German themed beer gardens. 

We then moved on to the Bird in Hand winery for a tasting accompanied by a selection of tapas. All excellent.

We returned to the hotel around 3:30 for a rest and showers before happy hour and dinner at Jolly's Boathouse. Alison was feeling a lot better so she was able to join us. Dinner was fine; even though the restaurant was almost empty it was noisy and the food so-so (in my opinion). Nevertheless we all had a fun time.

In spite of a sunny and warm forecast, the day turned out to be very overcast with  drizzle threatening. After breakfast we set out for the closest tram stop (5+ minutes away) only find that the tram to Glenelg did not stop here on weekdays. So we walked to the Rundle Mall where we wandered about hoping to find some interesting boutiques but alas it was all mediocre chain stores. We hopped on the tram here and off we went to Glenelg - the closest beachside suburb. It took about 35 minutes so by the time we got there it was midday. After a quick look around and coffee/snack stop we Urbered back to the hotel. We arrived in time to freshen up, then it was time for our pre-booked Adelaide oval tour at 2pm. The 90 minute tour took almost 2 hours and the non-cricket tragics found it dragged on (and on and on). The tour guide was not the best which did not help.

Back at the hotel everyone needed a rest before happy hour at 6pm followed by dinner at the hotel restaurant so we could use our F&B daily credit all rolled into one. The food and service were excellent.

Time to return to Sydney, after breakfast at 6:30am I headed to the airport for my Virgin (economy) flight back to Sydney - I was quite early so a idled away my time in the Virgin lounge (compliments of the my AmEx card). The flight was packed - fortunately I was in seat 6C so managed to hand on by the skin of my teeth (Why or Y I kept asking myself). On arrival in Sydney the airport was a total zoo - school holidays were starting this weekend. 

I was home in time for lunch and spent the rest of the day unpacking etc.

The rest of the gang arrived home later that afternoon.

All in all - it was a lot of laughs - lots of bonding over various war stories with Alison and Jo's MIL taking first prize.