Adelaide & the three day train ride to Perth

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I have a fairly good idea now, of how expansive and desolate Australia actually is. If anyone ever says something like "Well it's a big country" again, I will agree and say that yes, I know from experience. From hour after hour of orange dirt and pale shrubbery rolling past my window. From being able to see the flattest earth go all the way to the horizon in all directions, with nothing to break up the scenic monotony except a 2-foot tree every now and then; 2 feet being tall by Nullarbor Plain standards. That being said, life on the Indian Pacific is not bad. There's a lot of reading and chatting and snacking and napping. It's all very relaxed. Taking a train is a very different venture from taking a plane ride. It's a much more liesurely way to travel, with everyone having somewhere to go but no real deadline to get there.

Adelaide was a quiet, pretty town. It was smaller than I expected but there were a lot of free museums and gardens. I was staying at the YHA, where they served free pancakes every morning, and man do I miss pancakes now that I'm not there. There was a sign on the bathroom doors, trying to convince us to take 4-minute showers by pointing out that we were in the driest state of the driest continent in the world, but it certainly didn't feel like it with all the flowers blooming! Apparently there was a massive drought for the last few years (I'm not sure how many exactly) but it was broken this winter, which happened to be the wettest on record. So my timing was perfect, missing the rain but just in time to see everything all lush and beautiful.

The place that I am staying currently is Fremantle (Freo) which is a little beach town South of Perth. It's very cute, and I didn't realize how much I missed the beach! My hostel is amazing. Last night was my first night in town and I was feeling a little bit homesick. I noticed though, as the night wore on, that there was a massive gathering in the backyard, probably about 40 people (that's the majority of the hostel) all sitting around in hammocks and benches, drinking and chatting away. I didn't know anyone, but bought a beer and went to sit down anyways. Everyone was so friendly!! Okay, this probably had a little bit to do with the amount of alcohol consumption, but still, I was amazed. I went and wandered around town a bit with them (not willing to pay any $20 covers though, tyvm) and it was so busy! You could barely walk along the sidewalk, there were so many people out! I am secretly a grandmother stuck in a 22-year-olds body though, and went to bed around 11 while everyone else stayed up to drink. Today I am spending the day doing laundry, going to the weekend market, and wandering around the many used bookshops, just to further prove that I am, in fact, a grandmother.

Jetpack out.

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