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On Friday of Week 1, students from the Year 10 VET Academy of Hospitality class travelled with Jenny Vanikiotis and Jen McCourt via minibus to Adelaide for the inaugural Hospitality Immersion Trip. The weekend allowed students who have undertaken two years of study towards a Certificate II in the Hospitality qualification offered at Tenison Woods College to experience multiple industry contexts across a range of scenarios and settings which may not be readily available in a regional area.

Students enjoyed a tour of the Mahalia Coffee Roastery at Robe en route for an informative session learning about the sourcing, roasting and marketing of Mahalia’s superior products. After checking in to Majestic Minima Hotel in North Adelaide, our group walked through the parklands to join the OzAsia Festival along the banks of the Torrens river. We enjoyed beautiful moon lanterns and lights, Asian street foods and entertainment in the shadow of the Festival Centre and as the sun set and the lights of the Festival shone, the evening finished with a walk through the city to San Churro for shared Churros platters and a stroll through North Adelaide before retiring for the night.

On Saturday an early start for breakfast and tour of the Central Markets allowed students to experience a world-class market atmosphere, and after brioche and baguettes, coffee and fruit, we wandered the Asian Grocers and made our way into Haigh’s Chocolate Factory in Parkside. Haigh’s did not fail to disappoint – we were greeted by some amazing aromas and loved hearing the story of this Adelaide institution, while we sampled all different types of chocolate and saw the iconic ‘speckles’ produced and packed. After a spot of shopping, we enjoyed a beautiful High Tea at Mirrabar on East Terrace – floral teas, champagne mocktails and tiered cake stands made for some great photo settings as we experienced a non-traditional version of afternoon tea. The Stamford Grand for early evening lemon sour mocktails saw a spot of dancing in a luxury hotel setting, followed by dinner at Betty’s Burgers, a trend-based burger chain in Rundle Street.

Our final planned stop was Sunday morning at the 24-hour Bakery on O’Connell Street in North Adelaide for breakfast. We walked 25 kilometres around the city over the weekend, everybody slept well on the bus trip home and plans are afoot for the 2023 trip!

Jen McCourt | VET Academy of Hospitality Teacher