Adelaide Sept. 29

First, the weather report. Cool, sunny and windy, but we have electricity. High of 15, but a cold wind.
We started out by visiting an Opal store. Opal is the national gem stone of Australia, and there are mines in South Australia. We listened to quite a lecture about opal and the different types and qualities.
Next we visited the Museum of South Australia. It has the largest collection of Aboriginal items. Ancestors of the Aboriginal people landed in Australia 50 000 years ago, and, to be honest, little seems to have changed. It was a stone age society, hunters and gatherers. There were no animals to herd, no agriculture. Food consisted ofnuts anf fruit, and anything they could hunt. The only large animals were kangaroos and Emus. They lived in small family groups and had  no permanent settlements. Australia doesn't have a lot of fertile land, so life was tough. Fires were started by rubbing sticks together, and they hadn't developed the art of making pots. Meat was cooked over an open fire. It is amazing to see how they did cope, but they didn't progress much in  their time here.
The museum also has a fantastic Pacific Cultures section. Genetically these people, from places like New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands, are the same as the Australian aboriginals, but their development was much further advanced, in terms of tools, art, boats, canoes and housing. Some beautiful crafts and art.
It is the first time I have seen stuffed Birds of Paradise. They are very special. Check them out.
I did learn why the kangaroo and the Emu are on the national insignia of Australia. They are the only two animals that can't walk backwards. Learning important facts like that makes the whole trip worthwhile.
In the afternoon we went to the Adelaide Art Gallery. The paintings were not very impressive, not compared to many European galleries, but they do have some smaller galleries that were very interesting. Topics such as Indonesian art, Japanese works, and some modern items.
Before we left the city we went back to the market and bought some more of a delicious cheddar. Can't forget the stomach!
Our final night in Adelaide was spent at the pub that overlooked Adelaide. It was too cold to eat outside, but we did have window seats. The view was great, and the goof excellent.
Adelaide was a great side trip.
Have fun
Ralf

Adelaide Sept 28

It rained quite hard during the night. By the morning the rain had stopped, but the temperature had dropped about 10 degrees from yesterday morning.
Our host, Phil, told us that there were kangaroos that frequently visited his 15 acres, so I went for a short walk. No luck with the kangaroos, but I heard some lovely birds and saw some beautiful flowers. Calla Lilies grow wild along here; very beautiful.
We spent most of the day at the Adelaide Zoo. It's been around for over 150 years and has some interesting exhibits. The highlight features a pair of Giant Pandas. The economics are interesting. The pair is on loan from China. The cost is 10 million dollars for 10 years!!! If they breed successfully the babies belong to China. Breeding pandas is not easy. The female is in heat only 2 days a year, so there aren't a lot of romantic evenings where Wang Wang is going to get lucky.
The zoo isn't very large, but what they do have is very well presented.
The feature I liked best is that they divide the zoo into six regions, and there are guides for each region that take you around, point out the various animals, and provide a lot of information. You learn a lot from their expertise. Great idea.
The weather was kind to us. There were only a couple of brief showers, but it was cool and windy.
Our evening had a bit of excitement when the power went out at about 5. We cooked over a Coleman type stove, ate by candle light and kept warm sitting in front of a real wood burning fireplace.
Very charming.
Another lovely experience in Australia.
Ralf

Adelaide Sept. 27

Another gorgeous day in Adelaide.
The high is 26, nothing but sunshine, and no humidity.
I drove right into the center of the city. Hurrah for me! It wasn't bad, and Adelaide is much smaller than Melbourne. Just like Melbourne the only high rise buildings are right in the centre; no high rise apartments anywhere else.
Adelaide, seems to me, more laid back than Melbourne. Lovely pace, and lots of green space. The Botanical Gardens are right downtown.
We started out by visiting the Central Market. It is similar to the St. Lawrence market in Toronto, in setup and quality of food. Great selection of different foods. It is an indoor market, where the stalls are permanently set up, and very stylish. There are lots of veggie stalls, butchers and  delis, but I don't think they are the farmers growing the stuff. A lot less hectic than Victoria Market in Melbourne.
There are a lot of original buildings left in Adelaide. A common style is one where there are beautiful iron rail balconies. It reminds me a lot of New Orleans. Very attractive.
We also spent a few hours in the Botanical Gardens. The flowers are amazing. There was one plant, that Sandy has in a pot, which comes in in the winter. Well here it is a 20 foot tree.
The gardens are well laid out, and it was nice to see so many locals wandering through the gardens and having picnics. Entrance is free.
There was also a special exhibit of aboriginal art, and an interesting display of how they used plants for everything from eating to making clothes, baskets, their homes and canoes; and all with stone tools.
Adelaide has another nice feature. There is a Central Loop Bus, that is free, and circles the downtown area. We greatly appreciated it, because it saved us a 40 minute walk back to the car.
We had dinner with our hosts . Jill is a part time caterer and teaches cooking classes. The meal was excellent; lamb roast with home nade mint sauce, with a lovely wine.
They also have six Boer goats, the "girls", who roam the property. All six are very pregnant and are due to give birth in the next couple of weeks. They are quite popular as pets and none will end up on the dinner table. They are attractive animals with white bodies and a black head.
One of the joys of this B&B is to just sit outside and enjoy the sounds of nature, lots of birds, cicadas,  and frogs in the pond. All that's missing are the loons.

Adelaide Sept. 26

The drive from Port Fairy to Adelaide was pleasant. The highways are good two lane, but there is little traffic, and Australian drivers are courteous. I haven't come across one that goes more than 10 km/ h over the limit. There are also fewer trucks, and lots of passing lanes.
The country side is quite flat, lots of  beef and sheep farms. We also passed through wine country. The state of South Australia is the center of Australia's wine regions. The vineyards are huge; they dwarf our Niagara farms.
We stopped in a small town, Keith, and had the worst cup of coffe I have had in a long time, and it was 4.50. Where is a Tim Horton when you need one?  We also bought a couple of bananas, at 1.50 a pound.
Sandy spotted our first kangaroo. A group of 4 were hopping among a herd of sheep.
Australia has a human population of 23 million.
There are 50 million kangaroos.
A female kangaroo is always pregnant. She carries fertilized eggs, which are "frozen".
 A kangaroo baby is the size of a lima bean when it is born.it has to crawl, on its own, from the birth canal, up the belly of the mother, and attaches itself to the teat, in the pouch. It spends 9 months there. As soon as it leaves the pouch the next fertilized egg is "unfrozen" and the process is repeated. Very efficient.
There are 110 million sheep.
There are also 9 million feral camels. These were brought in as work animals, in the 19 th century. Once machines took over the camels were left on their own, and adapted very well. They are competing with cattle for food, and are now considered a threat. They also reproduce at a good rate. The population doubles every 9 years.
And then there are the rabbits. An English gentleman brought over 24 from England I the 1800's, for the purpose of hunting. By 1920 there were 10 BILLION of the little creatures hoppping around. A major extermination, using a virus, reduced the population by over 90%, but some rabbits were immune, and at this time all we know is that the population increased by a few thousand, while I am writing this blog.
The native species are declining, mainly because of the competition for living space and food.
So much for the science lesson of the day.
Within a half hour , or so, of Adelaide the country side became quite hilly, and very lush. The B&B, where we are staying is on one of the hills, callerd Adelaide Hills. It is a few km outside of Adelaide. The setting is beautiful. The road in is tricky. 2 km of one lane dirt lane, just like a lane into a cottage up north. I really don't know what would happen if you met someone. The house is a 150 year old building. The owners have a modern addition, we have the entire old cottage. Beautiful!
There is pond on the property, and the gardens are lovely.
For dinner we drove out to a local pub. We ate on the balcony, which has a gorgeous view over Adelaide below. It also faces west, so we had a great view of the setting sun. On top of that the food was gourmet.
A great introduction to Adelaide.
Ralf

Port Fairy Sept 25

Monday was a day of rest. I still haven't got used to the time change. I stil wake up at 4 every morning. Sometimes I can get back too sleep, but not usually.
Today was a great experience. We drove the Great Ocean Drive. This is a, approximately, 200 km drive which follows the southern shore of Australia. Spectacular scenery! There are small towns along the way, which are touristy; very tidy and attractive.
This part of the coast is known as shipwreck alley, very dangerous currents and lots of rocks. It makes for pretty viewing, huge waves breaking continuously.
Nowadays it is mainly surfers that take advantage of the waves.
The shoreline is made up of soft rock, so the waves have carved interesting shapes into the shoreline.
The most well known are a group known as The Twelve Apostles. They were originally known as "Sow and her piglets", but the new name is more dignified, although it takes a lot of imagination to see 12, and any resemblance to human figures. But you could say the same about the piglets.
On a religious note, I did see a bumper sticker "If he could walk on water, why did he need a boat?"
On the one side of the road is the ocean, usually, on the inland side there are farms, but also National Forests. We stopped at one that was a rain forest. Beautiful setting, no one else there. The highlight though was Sandy spotting a koala up in a tree. They apparently sleep 19 hours a day, so it was nice to see it raise its head. There also lots of beautiful birds, brilliant reds and green, and very tame.
The drive was gorgeous, but tense. Left hand drive, narrow roads. Luckily the traffic was light. Also there were no trucks, not even large tour buses. There were a few tour buses, but there were all mini buses, mostly Oriental tourists on a day trip. The driving was slow. It took 7 hours to drive the GOR.
We spent the night in Port Fairy,  a lovely small town, one main street, 2 blocks long. Very quiet, very charming.
We looked for a place to eat, and even some of the restaurants were closed. I asked a couple of elderly ladies where to eat, and they suggested the old hotel. From the outside it didn't look open, but once inside it was a hive of activity. It was almost like speak- easy; and it was busy. There were more people inside than on the streets. Very homey, lots of families, good food. The steak was huge!
One thing to get used to is that the price includes everything, tax and tips. A 25 dollar steak seems high, until you realize that in Canada that would be 18 dollars, before tax and tips.
Hoping for a good nights rest,
Ralf

Melbourne Sept. 23

I think jet lag has caught up to me. I feel as if I did a 5 km portage.
I appreciate the train even more today. They did some rail work, and we had to take a bus halfway to the city. What the train covered in 20 minutes, took the bus an hour. We did see the city in a more leisure way.
The only high rise buildings are in central Melbourne. It's as if you drive from Oakville to Toronto, and all you see are one or two story homes, until you get to the Lakeshore. Amazing.
Another neat thing is the language. Auto Body Shops are called "Smash Shops". Very appropriate!
We took a tram to St. Kilda, a beach area near the city. On Sundays there is a market where local artists display their works. There were some lovely jewelry on display.
St. Kilda also has a very old amusement park, circa 1960's. A wooden rollercoaster, where the attendant stands between the cars is the highlight. I can't see that in one of the modern a rollercoasters. They would go through a lot of attendants every day.
Traveling by tram does allow you to see the city at a more leisurely way. Melbourne has a lot of parkland, and everything looks well cared for.
The weather continues to be great. The morning was cloudy, but nothing but blue skies by noon.
There was one bit of a shock today..the price of gas went from 1.35 to 1.49 a liter; and I complain, at home, when it jumps 4 cents.
Well, maybe tomorrow it will drop; the eternal optimist.
Till then
Ralf