Sunday, March 19, 2006
On to Adelaide: March 19, 2006
At last we're in an Australian hotel with semi-decent internet service. However, the "broad-band" connection is not very fast and the price is steep, so - once again - i probably won't be posting any pictures. Sorry, folks. I know the pictures are far more interesting than my overly detailed narratives.
This morning we walked down two blocks from our hotel and watched the Commonwealth Games women's marathoners as they raced past (there were only 15 runners.) Then we caught our shuttle bus to the Melbourne airport and flew Qantas to Adelaide. Upon picking up our rental car, we found to our delight that Adelaide is an extremely easy city for foreign drivers. The central city is laid out in a grid and has relatively few high rise towers. It’s a charming “small town” of about one million people with a rustic feel and an air of fiftiesh innocence. An arts festival was in full swing, and near our hotel a “fringe” festival was nearing completion. We walked through the local botanical garden and along the banks of the river. Upon walking back to our hotel through a quiet pedestrian mall we were accosted by several drunk aboriginals, the only unpleasant social encounter we’ve had so far in Australia. They were too intoxicated to cause much trouble, but it reminded us that behind the impressive civility and progressive spirit of this country there remains one one major unresolved issue.
Tomorrow morning we’ll drive an hour southwest to Cape Jervis to catch a ferry for Kangaroo Island, where we’ll stay for three nights at Cape de Couedic. We’ll be in Flinders-Chase National Park, a locale with very rich wildlife and, I suspect, little internet or telephone access.
This morning we walked down two blocks from our hotel and watched the Commonwealth Games women's marathoners as they raced past (there were only 15 runners.) Then we caught our shuttle bus to the Melbourne airport and flew Qantas to Adelaide. Upon picking up our rental car, we found to our delight that Adelaide is an extremely easy city for foreign drivers. The central city is laid out in a grid and has relatively few high rise towers. It’s a charming “small town” of about one million people with a rustic feel and an air of fiftiesh innocence. An arts festival was in full swing, and near our hotel a “fringe” festival was nearing completion. We walked through the local botanical garden and along the banks of the river. Upon walking back to our hotel through a quiet pedestrian mall we were accosted by several drunk aboriginals, the only unpleasant social encounter we’ve had so far in Australia. They were too intoxicated to cause much trouble, but it reminded us that behind the impressive civility and progressive spirit of this country there remains one one major unresolved issue.
Tomorrow morning we’ll drive an hour southwest to Cape Jervis to catch a ferry for Kangaroo Island, where we’ll stay for three nights at Cape de Couedic. We’ll be in Flinders-Chase National Park, a locale with very rich wildlife and, I suspect, little internet or telephone access.
# posted by Ken @ 4:48 AM 
