Hello again blog buddies….

I had a great flight on SAA to Perth and then had a lengthy but pleasant 4 hour layover in Perth. I finally arrived, in the pouring rain at Adelaide just after 10.30pm local time on Thursday night. We were in a tiny plane, so the gangway door could Not reach the plane door, and we then had to disembark down the stairs and across the runway in the pouring rain (yep…not only in Africa). The guy who had sat next to me in the middle seat of a seriously cramped plan came up behind me and grabbed me round the waist and shared his umbrella with me…so I did not arrive too bedraggled. His act of kindness was definitely due to the fact that I had offered him my dinner roll on the plane!

I was walking up the ramp into the building and I heard the people next to me chuckling so I looked up the ramp and saw these two dweebs holding signs up over their faces….and then I burst out laughing. Good ol’ Mabel and Daisy(aka Heidi and Gail)….had made the funniest laminated signs to welcome me (aka Clara). Much hilariousness in the passages. So a quick suitcase collect and we were on our way. Gail’s sister has kindly given us the use of her car- A Mitsubishi Aspen (suv size), for a couple of day. Good thing as Gail has a two seater! The heffalumps would look a sight squished in there.

Needless to say the chins wagged until just after 2am….then I had a serious case of insomnia. I finally fell asleep just after 4.30am and slept restlessly until about 8.45am. Gail had gone to work…so Heids and I sat in our PJs and yakked until close to midday. Finally washed and dressed we took a walk to the shops and spent a lazy day at home. I hit the jetlag wall at about 2pm and so had a nap from around 2.30 to 4pm.

And then….my friend Mabel….she of the have never cooked before fame….whipped up the most delish penne bolognaise dinner with a salad and ciabatta. Who is this person and what has she done with my friend??? Talk about transformation into a domestic goddess….all meals now catered by Heidi. That Jamie Oliver book has ignited a flame.

I am battling with the night-time sleeps….awake until 2am most nights….so hope that settles soon. The weather has been raining on and off and fairly chilly most of the times. Flooding in Melbourne and surrounds…so quite unusual. But it has not really affected us…excpet I have been unable to start my Midmar training….gufffaw! I did bring my costume and had every intention of swimming. Heid and Gail live on a man made sea water lake….so we had planned to swim…but it has been too cold.

Yesterday we did a daytrip out into the Adelaide hills. The first stop was Cleland Conservation park, where we got up close and personal with koala’s kangaroos, wallabies, tasmanian  devils, bandikoot, potoroo, monitor lizard and dingos. The weather was actually kind to us…it was chilly and drizzled intermittently, but mostly it was dry and we were able to see all. Then a photo stop at the botanical gardens for a view over the hills. From there we drove to the old German settlement of Hahndorf. A very quaint 19th century german Lutheran settlement, beautifully restored and maintained, like a Cullinan or Dullstroom style attraction

We had lunch at the German Arms restaurant…I had a monster BLT chicken schnitzel burger and the most superb chips. We followed this up with a walk through town sampling the local fudge, checking out the local produce and just enjoying the scenery. We headed home just after 4pm and took a scenic drive along the various beach fronts….Henley beach, Grange Beach and Semaphore beach areas. How,ing winds made the sea look really rough. We just chilled at home last night and chatted and tv’d.

Today’s agenda is family lunch in Glenelg with Gail’s family. Pics to follow….

Pouring rain

My welcome party

View from the garden

Heidi and I going shopping

Gail’s house

Grapes-R170 per kg

View feom the couch

The domestic goddess

Dinner prep

Gourmet penne bolognaise

Lets eat

Clland Park

Self and statue

The real thing

A potaroo

Gail, Heidi, Willow and I

Feeding Mabel and Willow

With Willow

A Wallaby

The Wallaby

Dingo

Dingo lunch

Faraway friends

Pretty pic

Kissing Koala’s

They are cute

Kangaroo head on

His butt is itchy

Eat feom my hand

Daisy and Roo

Eating from my hand still

Tasmanian devil

Hideous Tasmanina devil

Roadside flowers

The hills in the background

Pretty

About to bloom

Bandikoot

German arms for lunch

Chicken schnitzel blt burger

In Hahndorf

Pretty buildings

Quaint little town

Settler influence

This guy faceplanted badly….

Food truck

So well restores

I think its a big slice

Me feeding a joey

Me hugging a tree

Gail and I