Adelaide & points East

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So we'd arrived In Adelaide and had found Jill & Grahame in good spirits apart from the fact that Grahame, who is a very good runner, had an injury and was in the process of having tests to see if he needed an opeartion on it. (he did and would have it in a couple of weeks time). Anyway, we went out for a bite to eat in Brighton, about ten minutes away from their house by car. Brighton's a nice place with a great beach and was quite busy. We went to Seacliffe beach the next day, which is a continuation of Brighton beach and had a lazy day. Ate in that night & tried to kep cool. It was red hot more or less all the time we were in Adelaide, of the ten days we spent there, the temperature didn't drop below 40 degrees C on at least seven of them & never went below thirty at all. Beach day again on Friday but at night we went out with Jill & Grahame to Henley Beach another busy place with bars & restaurants. After the meal, we went to some friends of theirs and had a dip in their pool. (the water was red hot as it'd been another boiling day. Good night this. Saturday we awoke to another scorcher, probably the hottest yet and visited some wineries in the McLaren Vale region, just outside Adelaide. Lovely area this and the wineries were very good, our favourite, Wirra Wirra was lovely. did a bit of tasting and bought a few bottles. Called in at Moana Beach for a dip on the way back. The sea was really flat all the time we were in this part of Oz and had none of the waves we seen on the rest of our travels. Saturday night, we went to the cinema in the park. Watched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang sat on a bean bag with some wine and a couple of beers and had a really great night. (Really worth doing if you're out that way). Sunday, we went to see the last stages of the "tour down under" bike race. Red hot again & god knows how the cyclists went on as we were nearly passing out just watching them. On the way out of the city, the air filled with smoke from some bush fires whichhad been raging on Kangaroo Island about 100 k's to the south and also we were told from some which were causing major problems in South Gippsland in Victoria, quite a distance away. (We'd passed through this region on our way up). Had a barby that night with some more friends of Jill & Grahames, who couldn't believe they'd took us out that weekend, with the temperatures so high. (It sounds like all the Australians want to do when its hot, is stay in by the Air conditioner). Jill managed to get the day off work on Monday and took us around the Barossa Valley, another lovely wine region, where we visited some more wineries, Penfolds, Whistler, Doriens and Yalandra among them but the one that really stood out to us was Rockfords. All their wine was gorgeous especially the rose' and the cellar door was really quaint. Tuesday we stayed close to home and I met Grahame at the Adelaide oval after he'd finished work, to watch the day night match between Sri Lanka and South Africa. Bumped in to Rob from the Barby on Sunday & had a good chat. Not too exciting a game but the experience was good. During the rest of the week, we had a look around the surrounding districts of Adelaide and went to places like Victor Harbour, Second Valley, Sellicks beach and Hahndorf. The latter is a lovely old German town and well worth a look as is most of Adelaide, really good place. We went into the centre of Adelaide also, which is very nice but only quite small. (The rest of the place seems to go on for ever). We visited Glenelg, one of the oldest suburbs which again is lovely, as was most of Adelaide. Thursday was Australia day, a public holiday, (why don't we have one for England day? They even get the day off for the queens birthday). Anyway there was a free concert in the centre of the city, starring an old Australian rocker called Jimmy Barnes. It was very good but people were dropping like flies in the heat again and the red cross folks were working overtime. The "spray tent" was full up all the time. Had dinner on Seacliffe beach and returned home. We went to the Cleland Wildlife park on Friday and saw wallabies, Koala's, Dingo's etc. We also saw Wombats which are not cuddly at all and would probably tear you apart if you got too close. (Really big solid things these). Lovely day which we finished off by going out for a meal at Windy Point, which overlooks the whole of Adelaide. Good food, great views and smashing company. Thanks Jill & Grahame and we'll see you when you come over to England later this year. Left Adelaide, with some regret on Sturday morning and set off through the centre of the bottom right hand corner of Australia. Stopped off for a rest & drink in Pinaroo, a small town, just inside Victoria. Another one horse town which seems to be just like most places in rural Oz. Pressed on to Hay, passing herds or flocks of Emus on the way, a town which is right in the centre of things and a major crossroads between Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney & Canberra. Got out of the car to find that Hay was even hotter than Adelaide. It had been 45 degrees C that day as it had been for several days before according to the Motel Manager. Didn't cool down much below 40 that night so thank god for air con, which we had on full and was only just coping. Hay seems ok but we didn't hang around the next day and moved on towards Canberra. Stopped off for refreshments in Wagga Wagga, (the locals call it Wogga). Quite a large town by Australian standards & really quite modern also. Arrived in Canbera and got a room, (the briday suite) at a nice motel just on the outskirts. Went to the English pub, close by for a meal that night and set off to have a look around Canbera the next day. Called in at the tourist information centre, where we found them very helpful and they pointed us in the direction of a few must see's while in Canbera. Went to the war memorial which also contains the war museum & joined one of the guided tours around it. Very good this place & don't miss it if you're ever there. We drove around the city (which, for a Capital City is very easy and quite stress free, surprisingly enough). Lovely place which surrounds quite a large lake complex in its centre. Telstra tower, right on the top of the hill is also a place to get great views of the place and its surroundings. Very hot and dry again and probably a bit of a tinder box really but well worth going out of your way to visit. Set off for the New South Wales coast again mid-afternoon. Decided to head for a place we'd been to on the way down called Narooma. (Big mistake as the tarmac runs out at Captains Flat and the gravel road which we were on for 25 K's which seemed to take a lifetime nearly shook the car to pieces). Stayed in one piece though and passed a massive dead wombat, which must have almost totalled the vehicle that hit it unless it was a tank or something. Anyway, when we got back onto the sealed road, we decided to head for Batemans Bay, rather than take any more chances with the dirt roads and booked in at a motel for the night. Went down to Narooma the next day and I had a game of golf on the beautiful course we'd seen on the way through earlier in our travels. Played crap really but we bumped into a couple from London, Mary & Vince that night & it turns out that Vince had booked to play the course the next morning and asked me if I'd like to join him. Jaet talked me into it and I played a bit better and really enjoyed bothe the course and Vinces company. Had a meal at the golf club with Mary & Vince that night and moved on Northwards the next morning. (It had been overcast since we'd hit the coast this time, and a lot cooler, which was a bit of a relief really). Passed through places like Durrass and went on to Jervis Bay. Now this place is seriously beautiful, as is most of the New South Wales coastline but Jrvis Bay has pure white sand, whereas most of the rest has the golden coloured stuff. (Nothing wrong with that either). Stayed at a place called Vincentia, just outside Huskisson but we didn't see it at its best as the weather wasn't too great. Stopped off at Berry, which is absolutely great, only a small town right on the Prices highway but full of character and quite classy. Got into Sydney about mid adternoon, just in time for the workers to start their dailly commute and endured the big city drive, through some nice and some quite didgy looking areas. Got to Dee Why and Di & Georges place in one piece though and stayed with them for a while. The first day there, Saturday 4th February, we didn't really go far as it was cloudy but it brightened up the next day and we went to Barenjoey lighthouse at Palm beach, the last of Sydneys Northern beaches before you reach the Central Coast. Apparently, Palm beach is where home and away is filmed and is a very exclusive area. Very nice too, as was Barenjoey lighthouse which we toured and got great views for miles around. Went on the beach when we got back as the weather had really picked up and watched a bloke trying to put one of those tents away which just fold up into a small bag. This one didn't want to though and we spent an amusing twenty minutes watching him scrapping with it. (A bit rotten really but quite funny). Took the Magna, which has performed brilliantly, to the car wash on Monday and had it fettled inside & out, while I enjoyed a cup of coffee. (Very civilised). George & I played golf at Warringah Golf Club on the Tuesday and after that, Janet & I went into Sydney. Had a look around the Opera house and had lunch in one of the cafes outside. (A bit ordinary really but the views were good). On Wednesday, Janet & I had decided to do a Thai meal, so we got the ingredients and prepared everything and went to the beach for the afternoon. Cooked the meal that night, which was a bit of a let down and din't turn out the way we expected at all. Edible though but we bviously need a bit more practice. Had a run round on the Thursday and visited a couple of Northern Beaches, Bilgola, Avalon & Newport to name a few. Also had a look around Narabeen lake, which is lovely but then went on the beach at Dee Why for the afternoon. Had fish & chips on the beach. Friday we went for a boat trip up the Hawkesbury River, which was really nice. The good ship Miranda, sets off from Palm Beach jetty at 11:00 and costs around thirty dollars each, if you want to go all the way to Bobbin Head. It stops off at Patonga and Cottage point and then carries on to Bobbin Head, so named because of a rock the shape of a lizards head which looks as if its bobbing at certain times, according to the ships captain. (Not sure if that's a wind up but nice little story though). Met a nice couple from Yarrawonga on the NSW/Victoria border on the way back, after we'd done lunch at Bobbin Head and had a good chat with them. They got off at Patonga at which point this guy stared talking to us. Apparently, he'd won a holiday worth 6000 dollars from a competition on a kit kat wrapper and his cousins grandfather used to be thae head of MI5. Enough said about that then. Arrived back at Palm beach at about 3:45, (if I was doing the trip again, I'd probably get off at Cottage Point, there seems to be more going on and you get longer there. Good trip though and worth doing. (Very peaceful). Went back to Dee Why for the obligatory beer at Deck 23, (which seems to have become our local). Had a lovely meal on the upper deck of our local that evening. Saturday, wasn't feeling too good, so we stayed in. Better Sunday though, so we went to visit a bar we'd heard about at Circular Quay in the city. The place is made entirely of Ice and is called 5 minus. They give you a big thick parka and two pairs of gloves when you go in and the entrance fee of $30 includes a vodka cocktail. (Apparently, most of the other spirits would freeze in there because when we were in it was minus 11 degrees). You're only allowed half an hour in there and to be honest you don't want a lot longer. Got some great pictures of the ice sculptures etc and went out. Couldn't undo my coat, so this lovely young girl who worked there ripped it off me. (Highlight of the day really and worth $30 of anybodys money). We had a lovely meal with Di & George that evening and I can't thank them enough for their hospitality. Dee Why, by the way, is probably the nicest place you'll find, if you want the beach and cafe culture. It really is well worth a visit and I can see why Di & George feel so comfortbnle there. Moved on on Monday morning, Di had gone to work and George saw us off. Bit of a choker really but we'll be back. Thanks again folks.

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