Saturday - halfway point

City of Bungalows. City of corrugated roofs. That's Adelaide - or at least our impression of it. The suburbs are full of detached bungalows fairly close to each other - not much point in having big grass gardens unless you have the sprinklers on them 24/7. Our first impression of the corrugated roofs was how cheap and tacky they are, but you soon appreciate the practicality of it, and even the look of it after a while. There's a kind of colour coding system in operation - and there's very few tiled roofs. Apart from the city centre, it's very much a low rise city.

Jo kept some of Miller's shorn locks from his haircut on Wednesday:

On Thursday morning, I went for a short cycle and then my first hit of a golf ball this year at the local par-3 Glanville course - a nice gentle introduction for me:

We walked to the golf course and Jo walked the first 9 holes with me then read her book whilst I played the second 9 holes - after we'd both had a Magnum and Diet Coke break in between.

On Friday we took the train in to the city again and walked from there to the Adelaide Aquatic Centre, crossing the river Torrens on the new footbridge on the way:

The Aquatic Centre is huge - very impressive - and has gardens to sit in between swims. From there, we walked to the Royal Oak in O'Connell Street for a couple of beers before heading "home" again, where Miller was in relaxed mode:

On Saturday morning, Chris and Kelly did their separate shifts at the gym and then we were off for Miller's swimming lesson. Kelly then took him home for a sleep whilst the three of us had some beers and a bite to eat at the new craft beer bar in Semaphore, which has a nice beer garden:

In the afternoon, Kelly had her appointment for the 3D scan of the next Steele baby boy. We were all allowed to watch on the big screen - it was fascinating. Kelly and Chris have a DVD now and some photographs:

Chris is working tomorrow (Sunday) so Kelly is going to drive us up to the Barossa for some more wine and beer tasting.

Midweek week 3

So I did eventually get out for a cycle yesterday (Tuesday) after all - late afternoon, after a day in the city shopping and lunching.

Today (Wednesday) is Kelly's day off and we decided to drive to the Barossa for lunch and some wineries, but first of all, we had to do the shopping at Westfield, where they had a nice play area for Miller - and his Mum:

Then - trauma of all traumas - Miller went for his first haircut:

Grocery shopping then off to the Barossa for lunch at the Artisan winery, a co-operative of 7 small vineyards, with an adjacent restaurant, whose chef featured recently on MasterChef. Miller had a mini-meltdown:

Kelly took him to play with the cricket equipment:

Lunch was lovely and then we were off to do another couple of tastings at nearby wineries. First of all was Bethany, then it was on to Pindarie:

There's some weather around just now so we're going through a slightly cooler spell - like a good summer's day in Scotland - mid 20's - but it's going to get hotter again over the next couple of days.

Weekend in Robe

It's now Tuesday morning in Adelaide. We've been up for a few hours now and I had thought I might get out for a cycle this morning, but, would you believe it, it's raining! In fact, we've had a fairly damp weekend down on the Limestone Coast. It rained virtually all day Friday but it didn't really matter as we were in the car for over 4 hours anyway.

We got to our cottage in Robe to find the heaters on in preparation for our arrival - in the middle of summer! According to the local press it was the coolest January day for 9 years - it only reached 20 C in Adelaide. Anyway, we quickly settled in:

Dinner was at the local Caledonian pub washed down with pints of Little Creatures Pale Ale.

By Saturday morning the clouds were gone and, after brunch at a local cafe we took a stroll down to the beautiful beach:

Walking on to the marina, Lorene, David, Jo and I had a coffee there whilst Kelly and Chris took Miller back for his - and Kelly's - lunchtime snooze. Lorene, Jo and I strolled along the walkway round the harbour to the Yacht Club:

From there, it was just a short hop to the end of the breakwater:

Later on, Jo and I took Miller down to the small beach near our cottage, where Miller explored the little caves:

On Sunday, our plan was to drive to the Coonawara wine region, about an hour or so away, but first there was breakfast/brunch at another local cafe. The sun was a bit reticent to make an appearance and it was cloudy most of the day until early evening - pity we couldn't get the iconic Coonawara photo in sunshine:

We'd attended a Wynn's masterclass at the Wine Gang's Xmas Fair in Edinburgh just a few weeks prior so a visit to the vineyard was essential. The samples were great and we bought some wine - and chocolate.

When we got back to Robe, the evening sun came out and we went for another stroll round the harbour - this time taking a wider circle round a lovely walkway, exploring other beaches and caves:

The setting sun provided some nice views over the rocks and sea:

Soon we arrived at the high viewpoint:

Chris and I stopped at the Caledonian on the way back for a couple of pints and to watch a bit of the tennis final.

Monday morning came and we were heading back to Adelaide, but, first there was breakfast at yet another local cafe:

We took a break at Meningie where Jo demonstrated her skills on the fitness machines:

It was 32 C when we arrived back in Semaphore.