Half packed - almost ready to go

It's 3 pm Friday. Jo and I have done the shopping and had lunch. Now it's tea preparation, change and zip up the bags.

I managed a short cycle early this morning, but that's my last in Aussie-land this year. My golf clubs have been put down in Chris' wine cellar basement as well for another year. Why did I only play one game in 6 weeks? Same last year too. You would think I would take more advantage of the time, the weather and the courses.

Jo and I had a light snack at the Ballroom Bistro at the Palais, overlooking the front:

Nice spot. Note the fake grass.

We also had time for a quick beer back at Sweet Amber Beer Cafe, which also gave me time to finish off my book. We had originally planned to use our Metro Cards and take the train in to Croydon and visit the one new brewery we hadn't been to yet - http://www.brewboys.com.au/ - but the logistics were against us and we didn't want any hassle or to have to rush around on our last day, so we went local instead. Brewboys is on our tick list for next year however.

OK - that's it for Oz this year.

Penultimate days

Just over a day left down here now - our flight leaves at 10:35 pm on Friday night and we get picked up from Kelly's house at 7:35 pm.

Jo wasn't feeling too bright on Tuesday so we just stayed at the house. I walked along to get some shopping but that was the only time either of us left the premises. It was hot again - I was bathed in sweat when I got back from the shops.

Wednesday, of course, is Kelly's day off and, after she'd been to gym and I'd been for a cycle, she took us for a run down to the lovely McLaren Vale area. Wineries everywhere but we chose just one for a sampling - D'Arenberg (http://www.darenberg.com.au/) - after which we had a lovely lunch at the old Salopian Inn (http://salopian.com.au/) where the bread, in particular - baked on the premises - was terrific and reminded Jo of our holidays in France back in the 70's.

We managed a quick pit stop at Goodieson Brewery (https://www.goodiesonbrewery.com.au/) where we did the usual samples and had a chat with the owner. Miller was getting a little antsy by this time and so we sped back home and got his playpool out. Once he was finished with that, I wrapped one of his many dressing gowns round him:

Today (Thursday), I decided it was about time I actually had a (full) round of golf. Chris was good enough to give up his car for the day so I drove down to West Lakes and managed to squeeze in about 9 am. It was slow and there was a lot of waiting around but I had a good time and enjoyed it:

This afternoon, Jo and I took the advantage of having the car and drove down to Glenelg for a return nostalgia trip - it's where we stayed when we first came to Oz a few years ago. We had a quick wander round then stopped for coffee at the marina:

That's it for now. It's 5 pm now - and you know what that means. I'm off for a beer.

Monday evening - 4 full days left

The clock is ticking - we leave on Friday night. It's been a lovely stay and, thankfully, we haven't experienced the extreme temperatures we've had in previous years. In fact, today (Monday) is the only day we've got near 40 C - the peak was 39.5 C - pretty damn hot though.

Yesterday (Sunday), after our dawn hike up Lofty, Jo and I took Miller out for the afternoon. Our principal aim was to take him on the model steam train:

After the return ride, Miller chased the seagulls for a bit, then we walked along the prom and on to the beach. Miller had to be carried - the sand was too hot and it was quite a strain to get him to the sea, where he wanted to take his half-peg trousers off. I said no as he hadn't been creamed on the upper part of his legs. On hearing this, Miller just sat down in the warm sea, trousers and all. Of course, when he got up, he was soaking and he didn't like that. We had to carry him home. We stopped for a breather in the shade of some trees, where we were approached by two God warriors. Of course, Jo engaged them as I tried to find a way out. Thankfully, Miller provided this and off I headed with Jo following several minutes later.

By the time we got back, Kelly and Chris had done all the house-keeping - whew, good timing.

Today (Monday), Jo and I went in to the city on the rail again, with the intention of seeing a Fringe show, but, it was Monday which is a quiet day, so we couldn't find anything suitable during the afternoon - neither of us fancied staying out for an 8 pm or 9 pm show - that's way past bedtime in the Steele/Stewart household. We had a nice day, however - coffee, book shop then the Belgian Beer Cafe for lunch. It wasn't Brussels, but we still had to have mussels of course:

Last weekend in Oz

Saturday morning is Miller's swimming lesson so we all trooped round. Miller had had a meltdown last week when he came out of the water and Chris tried to get him dressed, so this week, Miller was whisked straight back home, wrapped in a towel - result!

After the usual lunchtime naps - Miller and Kelly, that is - we headed in to Adelaide to take in a bit of the Fringe. We were too late for the children's show that we'd planned to view but we got in to another one easily enough. Miller was a little uncertain but took it all in for about 30 minutes before his concentration span elapsed:

We had a couple of beers and wandered round the Garden of Unearthly Delights. Miller was smitten by some of the rides - none of which he would actually have gone on, even if he'd been allowed:

We ate there and Miller got to make his own ice pole/slushy:

The plan was to rise early this morning and leave the house by about 6 am and head to the hills so that I could hike up Mount Lofty. Kelly offered to chum me and, at the last minute, Chris, who had originally planned to go to the gym, opted to join us as well.

The car park was packed - even at that time of the morning, as everyone tried to get up and down before the heat of the day kicked in. I'm happy to say I made it all the way up, although the stops got a bit more frequent as we got nearer the top:

Off to FaceTime Lucy now.