OMG – Adelaide is a beautiful city but right now we are in need of someone to turn down the temperature!  We are staying in the centre of the city on North Tce just across the road from the Adelaide Convention Centre.  This is a great position to get almost anywhere so the plan is to get our bearings and see as much as we can.  We start by getting our heads around the free tram which runs around the centre of the city and making our way to the Botanical Gardens which are beautiful.  Sunday morning it was an hour long cruise on the Torrens River which is literally just over the road on the “Popeye” boat including Devonshire Teas which kept the one in charge of the B’s very ‘appy!  The idea for the afternoon was a 30 minute trip on the tram to the lovely Glenelg Beach, which I can report is indeed very beautiful.  However, on a 38 degree day, even in the shade, we melted like a bar of chocolate.  I decided on a swim and Vern decided to play lifeguard and stand on the pier in case one of those things with fins should swim by.  Well, I am not entirely sure what he was looking at (but there was a lot to look at if you get my drift) and I was enjoying my swim very much indeed when suddenly an English couple started waving their arms around and calling to me to let me know a large stingray was heading my way!  Well, let’s just say that saw me in the shallows quick smart and the lifeguard didn’t even see it!  Before returning to the city we found an ice cream shop – of course we did!

Monday saw us take a trip to roll down the river on the Proud Mary so off we went with the lovely coach driver and a mixed assortment of travellers to Mammun on the Murray River which took about an hour.  It was very nice indeed gliding up and down the Murray on Proud Mary (who is in great shape considering her age).  Morning tea was served, then the boat left the pier and later a lovely lunch was served and later we disembarked into 41 degree heat to spend time in Mammun- well we found some shade and sat and drank lots of fluids!  Then it was on to a chocolate and cheese factory where the one in charge of the B’s found more BAGS but they were full of deliciousness – and calories – but who cares!  Tuesday we had a tour of the Adelaide Oval – a very busy stadium and so interesting, especially the manual scoreboard – no electronics involved!  Following that the boss suggested I go look at shops – on my own!  Heaven forbid – this is a big risk!  So I wasted no time – why would you?  Anyway, I visited Rundle Mall – well known here – a street of shops and no traffic and all was well until I took the wrong turn out of the Mall to return to the apartment.  Then Missy Google told me go left, go right, and on she went until all of a sudden it said I had 2 km to walk and had no blimmin clue how all that happened!  I found a tram coming my way – praise Joseph, Mary, the donkeys, camels and all and in no time I was back and even had dinner in the bag!  My travelling companion did not even notice how long I was gone OR read the texts saying I had a fairly long way to walk to get home!  I could have visited twice as many shops – darn it!

We had a hard day in the Barossa Valley but someone’s got to do it.  After leaving Adelaide we traveled past harvested canola and wheat fields, olive and almond trees and large strawberry farms.  We passed a number of new housing areas and cannot believe how the houses are framed in rows – it looks like you could shake your neighbour’s hand from the shower!  First stop was a Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop which did not disappoint.  Then it was on to Tanunda Chateau to have our first tasting – now the boss cannot taste but I can and you cannot let people down can you – especially at around 11 am!!  I really liked the sparkling Shiraz – very nice indeed.  Chardonnay not so nice.  There is more Shiraz produced than other varieties in this area and there are over 100 vineyards.  Then it was on to Kies Family vineyard for a nice lunch and more tastings.  We then travelled for about an hour through a very large area that went on for several miles and was the scene of the Ash Wednesday fires in 1983 which were devastating and, after all this time, you can still see the remnants of dead trees.  These huge eucalyptus trees are everywhere and the oil fuels the fires with terrible consequences.  There are also constant reports of huge limbs falling off these trees in these dry conditions.  We also pass many huge apple orchards – these ones for cider and huge acreages covered in nets.

Our final stop is at the German village of Hahndorf which reminds us of Arrowtown with its beautiful trees and little, very old and gorgeous buildings and, in these very hot conditions, the leaves are already changing into their golden autumn colour.  We found an ice cream shop – boss very ‘appy!

We had been told that the Adelaide Central Market was the place to visit to purchase food more cheaply than the supermarkets but honestly that was not our experience.  Beautiful fruit and vegetables on display, meat, fish and seafood, bulk foods all sold from permanent stalls within the market.  Prices were potatoes $10 kg, tomatoes $11 kg, cauli $7, bananas $6 kg, apples $6-7 kg, lamb $36 kg, sausages $25 kg.  We have found that dairy products and meat seem on a par with home.  There is a great assortment of apples just now but as it is the start of the season they are still quite expensive.  Petrol here in Adelaide $2.80 litre – Melbourne was $1.80.

Adelaide is a simply beautiful city – if you think of it like a poached egg with the city centre being the yolk and the parks around it being the white – this is how the city was designed with four main streets running in very straight lines – North, South, East and West Terraces.  The basis of the planning was to design the safest city in Australia centering on schools, parklands and churches.

We depart Adelaide having spent an enjoyable week here and move onto the last stop for this holiday to Sydney to spend time with Georgia, Matt and Hannah.