Well, Monday evening came round and I was planning what I still had left that I wanted to do. Not a huge amount to be honest. I was sat in my hotel room on the internet and got chatting to Kerynn. Who she? Well, Kerynn is someone that I first met on the internet, on a forum, about 18 months ago. She lives in Australia and in about July last year, she visited the UK for about three weeks and stayed with us for a weekend of that time. Her birthday is on the same days as mine albeit 2 years earlier (which I take great pleasure in reminding her).
Anyway, like I said we got chatting (mainly because she's online at at the same time as me, being in the same country). We were both saying that it was a shame that we didn't organise a visit what with me being in Australia.
Well, whilst chatting, I dived onto the Quantas website. Even at this sort notice, it was still do-able. 30 mins later, I had tickets booked. I've got to admit that my geographical knowledge of Australia isn't the best and I wasn't totally sure where Adelaide was in relation to Perth. The answer is rather a long way!
I got up at 4am yesterday morning (Wednesday) and got a taxi to the airport. I expected it to be fairly quiet, but it was pretty busy. Sill, 6.10 and I was on the plane. A spot of breakfast, a jump of 1.5 hours across the time zones and I set down in Adelaide at about 11am.
Kerynn lives in a place called Bordertown. I'd offer a link, but being on the coach, I don't have internet access. It's quite a small town, but most importantly, it's still 3 hours from Adelaide. Good old Kerynn had got up early and driven all the way to pick me up. So, we hit the road (Australian term) and set off back to her place. After 30 mins or so, we had totally cleared the city. The roads are all good, quite straight and very quiet! After a short while, I offered to give Kerynn a break from driving. This is the sort of thing that cruise control is made for. I only had to let up on the rare occasion that we caught a lorry up. Other than that it was 110 km/h all the way (68 mph). Taking it above that is a bit risky, as although the roads are so quiet, the police are pretty hot and speeding. My guess is that they get bored and so relish the opportunity to stop someone.
Okay, I chose against typing whilst riding, so two hours have past since I started this and we've just stopped for a 10min break en route.
Erm, yeah, back to Adelaide. We got to Kerynn's place at Bordertown at about 2.30pm local time. Like I said, it's a fairly simple town. Quite small and very much depends on the main freeway passing through it. All the places there are single storey and Kerynn lives in a nice house with her three boys, Jake (17), Dillon (10 I think), Jamie (6) and finally Ryan (can't remember). Ryan wasn't there though as he was poorly and was still at his dad's from the weekend, about 50km away.
So we had a quick look round the town and I then spend the next couple of hours thinking up all my best jokes, riddles and tricks to keep the younger boys entertained.
Kerynn was the perfect host and we headed out to the local bar for dinner. I need only say that the food is as good in the South as it is in the West. The steak was magnificent. We also had a dozen oysters. I admitted to never having had them before, so we had some Kilpatrick style - topped with chopped bacon, worcester sauce and grilled. I shall certainly be having them in the future, they were very tasty.
Ooops time to go again. See you in a while - I've got to get back to the in-coach movie now!
[Quick Edit - it's now just gone 11pm, but gonna add a couple of pics from Bordertown]
Firstly, Kerynn and Dillon
Now, the cheeky monkey, Jamie
I'm back and I'm now in Adelaide airport, it's 15:20. The coach got into the City at about 14:15. My flight is not until 19:55, but I caught a taxi to the airport in the hope that I could get an earlier flight. Unfortunately, I have now found out that although there is a flight at 16:45, AND there are free seats on it, I cannot bump onto it due to me buying a cheap ticket for the later flight. If I want to do so, I get no refund on my later ticket and the new fare is over $300. Hell, I've got a good back and my laptop (with wireless). It ain't worth that money to save three hours, is it?
Again, this looks to have turned into a bit of an epic. Who knows though, maybe you like reading my ramblings!
What are my plans from here on in?
Well, I'm going to finish this off, check a few websites and maybe have another beer. There looks to be a good chinese place across the way, so maybe some food is in order. Then I'll try and find a power outlet to charge this up and sit down for a few hours and have a good read.
I get into Perth at about 21:50, so with a cab I should be back at the hotel for 22:30. Grab some supper and bed.
Tomorrow, grab a bus or a taxi back to the airport (terminal 1 this time, not 2). My flight to Hong Kong is at 12:20, arriving at 20:15. four hours there and then the final flight homewards at 23:55, arriving at 05:45 Friday morning. THEN, I'm saving H the hassle of driving down and back, so I'll be making my way on the tube to King's Cross and then getting the best train I can back up to Downham. Phew!
Everyone I talk to can't believe that I've only come to Australia for 10 days, let alone popped across to Adelaide for just over 24 hours (apparently that makes me insane) , but you know, it ain't all that bad. I don't mind traveling so much. I've also got totally used to hanging around in airports. There are worse places for people watching! Not especially looking forward to the long flights back, but I'm resigned to the fact that I wont be able to sleep, so anything else is a bonus!
One thing for sure though - H is coming with me next time!
See later, or tomorrow!
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