November 17, 2015 Adelaide, SA

Greetings from South Australia! Jill and I arrived about 21 hours ago. We had no luck finding couches so I booked a hostel before we left Melbourne.  We spent Monday on a bus. It started out alright. We watched a movie called Railway Man. It is about a man coping with his past experience in WW2. After the movie we still had a lot more hours to go. The rest of the ride was made up of eating at gas stations, podcasts, audio books, and naps. Everyone on the bus was happy to finally get to Adelaide. It was 8:30 PM and when I got off the bus the weather was balmy! Things were already looking up. Jill and I vacillated about eating and ended up walking a couple miles back to where we started. Supper was delicious Dim Sum. Walking around I kept thinking we need to see this city in the daylight. The dark streets hinted at its grandeur on a sunny day. So, in the morning we got out the door at 9 AM sharp after hemming and hawing about a place to eat breakfast. We decided on a place called the Flinders Street Project and it was a winner. I got some perfectly poached eggs with mashed avocado and a piece of toast. Jill had a similar dish with scrambled eggs. Both were sumptuous and we would be happy returning. The city in the light of day is indeed gorgeous. We are in a square of central city and it is surrounded by a parkland all sides. The River Torrens drifts along on the north side. The streets are wide. The buildings, the modern and the colonial, are beautiful. The food is delightful. Finding a place that Jill can’t eat at has yet to happen. We walked through the Adelaide Botanic Gardens on a free tour. There are so many colors of flowers here it’s mind boggling. The trees are enormous. We saw the Wollemia nobilis  nicknamed the green dinosaur because the species has survived for over 200 million years! It was only discovered in 1994, in Queensland. After our little walking tour we headed over to the tourist centre and the shopping district on Rundle Mall. After a stop at the Central Market for some supper and breakfast items we are back at the hostel. The plan tomorrow includes a car rental and heading for the hills!