KL

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We arrived in KL in very good time - too early, in fact, for our transport in to the city, so we had to wait a while. The flight was great - just 7 hours and only a handful of others in Business Class meant we virtually each had a steward/stewardess to ourselves. The food was great again too - lots of Satay.

Of course, late afternoon not far from the equator (KL's just 3 degrees N, compared with Adelaide's 35 S, Grant's Pass 42 N and Banchory 57 N) inevitably means thunderstorms of some kind and we certainly had a downpour and some lightning, but it wasn't all that much really and it was dry by the time we went out in the evening.

Our hotel (Shangri-La) is big and beautiful, with terrific service. Here's our room:

Ross' room is identical - it's 2 nights of luxury for him after sleeping on a mattress on the floor in Adelaide, accompanied by the occasional cockroach and armies of ants!

We had a drink in Arthur's Bar at the hotel first:

We then had a very frustrating time trying to find our way to Taps Bar. Ross gave up eventually, but Jo and I got there in the end - via taxi. We walked back to the hotel where we could just see one of the Petronas Twin Towers lit up:

We also spotted some fairly large snails:

After a good sleep, breakfast was welcome - and what a spread it was. The choices were amazing, including honey direct from the comb:

There were also 2 chocolate towers - one white, one dark:

Then we posed outside the breakfast room:

Bye for now.

On our way

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So this morning's breakfast blog comes from the Qantas lounge at Adelaide airport. We've checked in, gone through security and said our farewells to Kelly and Chris, who drove us to the airport.

Yesterday we got our packing and washing organised then walked down to the Parade for a coffee at Buongiorno, with the additional treat of mini-marshmallows from Nic & Rocco (http://www.nicandrocco.com.au/), conveniently located next door to the cafe:

We had lunch - chicken salad - back at Donegal St, where we were joined by Lorene and David, who were in the city for another check-up on David's eye. He's much better now and all seems to be well thankfully.

After David and Lorene left to go home, 4 of us (all bar Chris) went to the movies again to see Hitch. It's pretty well done and Anthony Hopkins' impersonation of the Master of Suspense is very good, but I hadn't realised that it's based on a book about the making of Psycho, so there's no more than passing mention of Hitchcock's other great films.

Our "last supper" with Kelly and Chris was some beautiful - and huge - salmon steaks, smothered in pesto sauce - delicious. We'll miss them - but they get to have their home - and their lives - back again after being invaded by us over the last 3 weeks - it's never easy and we appreciate the upheaval it can cause. Looking forward to seeing them again - in Scotland - at Christmas.

Next stop Kuala Lumpur. There's a cyclone to the west of Australia that we'll have to bypass, but we should be in KL about 3 pm local time today (Friday).

Penultimate day

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So today (Thursday) is our last full day in Adelaide and, as usual, I'm sitting here having my breakfast, updating my blog diary.

We did do the long walk from Norwood in the East up to the Old Lion in the North of the city yesterday, to revisit where we stayed last year. Kelly stayed at home, of course, but the rest of us traversed over, through the Botanical Gardens, where we had a quick coffee stop, then past the zoo, over the River Torrens and across the parks to Jerningham Street.

It was really nice to revisit the Old Lion - good place - nice lunch and good choice of beers. Afterwards, Chris and Ross marched home whilst Jo and I strolled our way through the various parklands, stopping regularly for a quick chapter or two of our books. We popped in to the (indoors) Lily Centre at the Botanical Gardens:

and posed for a photo in front of another (outdoor) lily pond:

I really struggled with my knee on the latter part of our walk. I think this holiday has convinced me that I need to get a new knee this year - I don't think I can put it off any longer as it's causing too much pain and discomfort. I think I'll start to make enquiries and appointments when I return - and, of course, talk to Dawn about her experiences.

I think Jo will also be visiting the specialist when she gets back - her shoulder has been causing her a lot of problems over the last month or so and I'm not sure the physiotherapy she was getting before we left has helped all that much. She's been dosing herself with Arnica all the time to relieve the discomfort and pain.

So a good start to the day - Kelly got up and managed to go to the early morning gym session today. Chris is going this afternoon whilst the rest of us head to the movies again to see Hitch - then back home to pack, as we leave first thing in the morning - sad!

Tuesday night/Wednesday morning

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We had a lovely meal in the restaurant at Grace last night - mostly steaks. Here's Ross, Chris and one of the steaks, with potatoes and sauce:

Kelly finished her meal but went home fairly sharply afterwards to get her head down again, with Jo following behind her, unable to catch her on the walk home!

This morning, the 5:30 am alarm went as usual and Kelly and Chris headed for their gym session, but Kelly had to return after 10 minutes, feeling a bit sick. She's back in bed, trying to sleep it off just now.

We had planned to walk from Norwood today over to the North of the City to have lunch at the Old Lion, where we stayed early last year. It's certainly a lovely day for it - the coolest of the holiday so far - a mere 26 C - but I'm not sure if this is still on or not. I feel a little queasy today - a tad too much sun yesterday, I think - and Ross is just up - his longest lie-in of the holiday. We'll see how everyone feels in the next hour or so.

Well, I've checked in for our flight to Kuala Lumpur on Friday now, so the holiday is coming to an end - too soon.

Monday/Tuesday

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

In the end, Kelly, Jo and I did go to see Les Miserables last night - and it was great. Kelly was feeling a little brighter, having slept virtually all day.

While we were doing that, Chris and Ross had a night on the town with a bunch of Chris' pals. They left here before 6 pm and didn't get back until after midnight, so I guess a few beers were sunk - along with some pizza and, when almost home, Adelaide's equivalent of the late-night kebab:

Sounds worse than it tastes, according to Ross.

This morning, only Kelly and I rose early so we decided to walk in to the city centre. Chris roused eventually - just in time to join us. It was a really nice day to be out, with temperatures peaking in the low 30's - ideal.

We then all drove to the beach at Henley and had some lunch. Kelly and Chris then headed back for their 4:30 pm gym session (having missed their usual early morning one) whilst the 3 of us took a walk along the esplanade south from Henley, heading towards Glenelg, which was a bit too far away to walk and still get back in time for dinner. We did manage a quick walk up the pier at Henley first of all, however:

Jo, Ross and I, after a few chapters of our books, then caught the bus back to Norwood - and now we're getting ready to go out for a bite locally tonight.

Back in Adelaide

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I forgot to add a photo from the morning that Kelly, Chris and Ross went off quad biking on KI. It was Wednesday 2nd - the day after Ross stopped smoking. Shall I say that last bit again? Yes, he hasn't smoked for almost a week now. Not a New Year resolution as such, but something he said he would do sometime, so why not now?

Anyway, here's the photo of the three of them - David and Lorene had planned to join them, but David had been suffering with what turned out to be shingles - it was finally diagnosed at a late night visit to the doctor. His eye was virtually closed and it was beginning to look worrying, but thankfully he's on the mend now.

On Friday, we were all due to attend the Cirque du Soleil show Ovo, and we headed off for the giant marquees with the temperature reading in the car rising alarmingly to 45 C. When we got there, we were told that the show had been cancelled on health and safety grounds - hardly surprising really.

What else could we do but go and have a beer at Wright's Hotel - one of the places that had been closed last week when we tried to go there. From there it was just a short hop across to Central Markets and the Asian Food Court there. We'd been on previous occasions and had enjoyed it, and this was no different. Here's Jo and Ross enjoying their meals:

We managed to get re-booked to go back to see Ovo on Saturday when the temperature had dropped back in to the 30's. Here's the stage at the start:

Great show - the theme was the insect world.

Yesterday (Sunday) we drove back up to Lobethal to re-fill my Growler:

On the way back we popped in to stroll around Hahndorf, a pretty little German, touristy town - lots of places to eat and drink. We stopped outside the German Arms and posed in the stocks:

No faces in the son and daughter holes - Ross wasn't feeling too good at this stage - perhaps a little beat of heat exhaustion/sunstroke? - and Kelly had stayed behind to clean the house and prepare tea.

Kelly started to feel a little ill in the evening and went to bed early. She still didn't feel good in the morning - so poorly she never even went to the early morning gym session today.

Chris drove us down to Westfield shopping centre in Marion and we met his Mum and Dad for a quick lunch. David is definitely on the mend now and was a lot chirpier today.

Apart from that, we haven't done much today, although Chris is taking Ross out for a few beers and a pizza with his pals tonight. The rest of us had originally planned to go and see Les Miserables in the cinema but I think we'll put that off now.

We did have a short walk this morning - down the Parade and back up through the side streets. We spotted what I regard as a pretty typical old Adelaide house, complete with grey corrugated tin roof:

So that's me back up to date with my blogging again - bye for now!

KI (3)

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On Wednesday, we booked lunch at the Marron cafe/restaurant, which was 14 kms up a dusty, bumpy track. Marron are crayfish and they farm them here. We shared the special spreads:

Looks wonderful - and it was.

Soon it was time to head back again, with Chris leading the way:

We decided it was time we finally stopped off at Seal Bay, which was very near our resort. They've got nice boardwalks and look-out posts where you can watch the sea lions basking on the beach:

On our final day on the island, we packed up and headed off back to Penneshaw where we stopped for coffee then lunch, with a break in-between when I wandered off along the coastal track:

stopping at the viewing platform at the end, where I watched a school of dolphins at play:

Adjacent were the penguin nests:

The fish and chip lunch at FISH was excellent:

So that was it - back on the ferry and head for the heat of Adelaide city.