Adelaide

Ahh, Adelaide. The city of churches. The closest one to our hostel was actually hosting a Star Trek convention last weekend, making us wonder if trekkies are maybe starting a new religion here! Adelaide is a lovely place with a very 'European' feel, with the city being completely surrounded by some very nice parkland.

On our first day there, we had a bit of a mooch about the city, taking in the art gallery (get me for being cultured!), botanic gardens, a few museums and the local jail (spelt gaol here). No, Clare hadn't been finally thrown in the slammer, but she did have a kind of morbid fascination in seeing the notorious hanging tower there, where local ne'er-do-wells were hung in the 1800's for such heinous crimes as drunkenness and jumbuck rustling (that's nicking sheep to you and me).

Here is Clare our hostel room (no, its actually cell in the gaol, but they are generally very similar - only joking!):

On our second day in the city, we met up with our mate Amanda, who we met in Melbourne a few months ago. She kindly offered to show us a few sights of the surrounding area on the weekend, which was especially good of her since she works, like, a million hour week (no exaggeration there at all!). So, on Saturday, we all piled into Amanda's car and visited Mount Lofty (the appropriately named big hill that provides you with a spectacular view over Adelaide), Hahndorf (the oldest German settlement in Australia, complete with bratwursts, sourkraut and lots of German flags), the Whistling Wall (a dam wall, 150m long, where due to the 'unique acoustics', normal conversation at on side of the dam can be heard clearly on the other side) and the fantastic Barossa Valley. Now, for any of you wine buffs out there, you may of heard of the Barossa Valley, as it's one of the most important wine growing regions in Australia, and home to the Jacob's Creek winery, which I'm sure you will all of heard of, especially those of you who have visited a Wetherspoons (or two). Here we are outside the visitors centre, and there's a pic of the Barossa Valley too:

After returning to Adelaide that evening, we went for a few drinks in Amanda's local in Henley Beach, a lovely suburb of Adelaide by the sea. On Sunday, Amanda took us for a stroll around Henley Beach and Glenelg, another lovely seaside suburb of the fair city she now calls home. Here we all are in Henley Beach:

Amanda, we would just like to say from the both of us how grateful we are for your kindness towards us and for showing us round some of the sights of Adelaide. Stay in touch!

-Si