Blogs from Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 7

Day 1 (26/8/2016) Got up at 3:45am, departed home at 4:20am. Left early to avoid any potential traffic & get a good head start. Got near Ballarat to rain & heavy fog that reduced visibility to about 200m. Slowed down to suit the conditions until we passed out the other side of Ballarat where the fog vanished. It was like travelling through some sort of strange time warp on a distant planet. No wonder they say Ballarat is another world! Arrived at Ararat at 8:20 am, stopping for breakfast & to have a break to read the paper. Resumed travel, arriving at Horsham at 9:25am. Filled up with diesel @ $1.18.9, having travelled 344km @ 8.9L/100km. Fill up took 46.9L. Back on the road again, taking our time & monitoring the new Diesel Engine Scanner from ... read more

Geo: -34.9258, 138.6Clickety clack, clickety clack, the gentle rhythm of The Ghan had us beat and we missed the sunrise completely this morning and woke to sunshine streaming in the window as lakes and green farm fields whipped by the trainA totally different landscape as we approach Adelaide and we actually saw people and homes, roads and railway crossings. Wouldn't want to be queued up waiting for The Ghan though, so many carriages and sometimes travelling at a snail's pace.Brunch was a leisurely affair and Mac opted for the works again but I settled for a salmon frittata. Another winner....and another one I am going to try in our kitchen.The rest of the morning was enjoyed back in the room marvelling at the views from the window. Watched the ocean roll in at Port Augusta, saw ... read more

Geo: -34.9802, 138.518It's a 5am rise and then off to the new Qantas business lounge for breakfast.Arrived safely at 2.30pm, Adelaide being 2.5 hours ahead of Perth. Checked into the Oaks on Glenelg beach with ocean views. Chloe & Joshua manage to get stuck in the fire stairs and have to go to basement and walk all the way back around hotel to get back in. It's a beautiful sunny 33c. The girls go to the beach, the boys the gym for a quick workout. We then plan to get the tram into the CBD to have a look around.We caught the tram and arrived 45 minutes later, having forgotten it's Sunday and 5pm. Everything and I mean everything is shut! Oh well back to Glenelg after a nice long walk.The evening found us in search ... read more

I got up early this morning to head up to the Laundromat to dry the towels and sheets and timed it so that when I left I would be at the airport about 15 minutes after their arrival, allowing time for baggage and customs. Well low and behold they texted me that they were ready for pick up just as I pulled up to the airport. I got out and was SO happy to see them and Alex. They weren’t hungry so we just headed to my place. We dropped off the luggage, gave them a tour of the place and then decided to go for another drive. I took them through McLaren Vale to the school to show them where I worked, up the Willunga Hill and then on to Aldinga to show them the ... read more

Now, you wouldn't normally think a bus journey would warrant a mention of its own; normally, neither would I, but .... The bus service between Melbourne and Adelaide is operated by Firefly. We booked our tickets through Greyhound and couldn't quite figure out why they didn't do the route themselves as they seemed to go everywhere else in Australia but they reassured us that the Firefly buses were just as good if not, perhaps, slightly better as it would be possible for us to watch films on the Firefly bus. Jolly good. As we arrived to board the bus the driver, Emil, had us form an orderly queue and produce the relevant paperwork (the Greyhound drivers were much more relaxed and welcoming). One by one we were permitted to approach him for his scrutiny and our ... read more