Lovely Adelaide!

By far the nicest of the few big cities in Australia, and I think I've seen them all now.... Lots of parkland, long gorgeous beaches, the trailer park being besides one stretch of unspoiled beach. Arrived in very squally weather, with violent wind gusts and sudden sharp rain showers coming sideways (does it sound familiar?), but it's now calming as I get ready for Ros to arrive from Sydney today (hopefully with all her bags - they didn't make the Zurich-Bangkok flight)...

An uneventful trip, apart from the weather, 270 km of largely flat to rolling pastoral and agricultural land (past Keith, proclaming itself the lucerne capital of Australia!), then over the Murray River at Murray Bridge - I couldn't help including this photo, quite boring, with the somewhat self-evident text "The Murray Bridge bridge over the Murray".... (I would never imagined it.....). The Murray River is actually flowing now, thanks to all the storms of last and this year - it seems its the first time it's flowed properly for over 10 years! There are advantages to the La nina years, but it's the 10 to 15 year droughts between them that cause the problems for the Australian agrobusiness... As a colleague in Melbourne pointed out, Australian farmers just won't accept the natural cycles in the Australian climate, mismanage the little water they normally have at their dispoisal and then complain about "climate change"...

Ah well, then on to the lovely Adelaide Hills before the freeway rollercoasted suddenly down a 1200 metre dramatic plunge, ending almost in the city itself; spectacular geology in the high cuttings on the way, but no way I could take it all in as I hung on to the wheel of the camper. I'm told it was an even more hairy ride in the old days when the road was called The Devil's Elbow"! Adelaide itself much easier to navigate and more laid back than Melbourne and Sydney, thank heavens!

Now hoping Ros arrives with bags and all, then sightseeing tomorrow (hopefully including the Botanical Gardens, see pic) before heading off for Kangaroo Island on Thursday....