Down Under addendum

We finally made it back home to Banchory and the first sound we heard when we were driven in to Arbor Court was the squawking of the gulls - they're back again! It was only 9 in the morning and we had no provisions in the house, so I whipped the cover off the car and we drove over to Tesco to get some essential groceries.

It's now early afternoon and Jo has succumbed to sleep on the couch. I've resisted so far but I have to try and stay awake as we're waiting for our bags to be delivered from Aberdeen airport. We had a fairly tight connection at Heathrow and while we were able to make the flight up to Aberdeen, our cases didn't. They apparently were loaded on to the next flight so I'm hoping they'll be here soon.

That apart, the journey pretty much went as planned. It was a long haul - the elapsed time from Old Noarlunga to Banchory was almost 38 hours. Everything was on time or earlier. The extra domestic flight from Adelaide and the subsequent 5+ hours wait at Sydney for the start proper of our international journey didn't help, and having to pay over $A18 to get from the domestic to the international terminal there rubbed some salt in the wound.

I did get a major shock, however, on the eve of our departure from Kelly's and Chris' home when I checked in on the BA app for our international flights. I got a message that we couldn't check in because the flight had already left! Oh no - did I make a mess of the bookings? I hurriedly opened my laptop to enquire further and there on my BA account were 2 separate bookings - one for Sunday departure and another for Monday - same route and times but I noted they had different booking references. I still have no idea how the first booking got there but it was a great relief to see the second booking - and to know that I hadn't made a mess of things after all!

I never reported our close encounter with a large brown snake on our morning walk on Thursday. It slinked across the path just a few feet in front of us. Ironically I had been joking with Chris' brother Matt a few days before that I had seen more snakes in the wild in Scotland than I had in all the times we'd been to Australia. This was my first ever encounter Down Under with one of these creatures:

Although it was a large adult, Chris told me this was far less dangerous than encountering baby brown snakes. The adults have learned to save their venom for occasions of real danger to them, but the youngsters haven't learned  this yet and attack randomly. Wouldn't you know it, but the day after this, when Jo and I were at the Fringe in Adelaide, a nasty baby brown snake was spotted in Chris' and Kelly's house. Chris eventually managed to shepherd the snake out of the house but it was snapping away at him all the time.

Incidentally, we did eventually make it to the "Wheaty" - on Friday for a pre-Fringe show beer. We also had our first 40 C degree day on Saturday. Just before dusk, Chris went up the hill opposite to get a view from on high of the sunset out to sea. After he'd gone, I thought it might be a good idea too. It was the first time I'd ventured over the river since my nasty fall a few weeks' previously and I must admit I felt a bit nervous, even though I wasn't going anywhere near where I'd fallen:

To close, a shot of Matt and Asher (underwater) in the pool on Sunday when he was child minding, plus one of the 4 of us at our lovely lunch at the Currant Shed (which is now my screen saver):

- and I've just had a phone call from the courier to tell me he's on his way with our bags - hooray!

Down Under (8)

We returned from Carrickalinga last Sunday (3rd). On Monday we decided to go shopping for some clothes replacements. The plan initially was to drive to the big shopping centre at Marion - which we did - but we didn't get everything we needed so popped over to Glenelg to complete the shopping - and we took the opportunity to have an ice cream and a walk along the pier:

In the background are the apartments we stayed at when we first came to Australia 13 years ago.

We took the boys to school on Tuesday. On the previous Friday it had been Values Day. I wondered what the 4 values represented until I saw these explanations on a wall at the school:

Wednesday was my 75th birthday and as we hadn't yet been to the "Wheaty", one of my favourite pubs in Adelaide, we thought this might be a good time to go there. I double checked the opening times on their app - 7 days a week, 11 am to 11 pm - good. So we caught the train in and then the tram out to Thebarton, only to find the place closed with a notice on the door saying that they didn't open until 3 pm! Bah humbug. Back on the tram after a short wait:

Our next target was the Malt Shovel behind the station. Closed on Wednesdays. Strike two. Next target was Lady Burra brewhouse and thankfully it was open, albeit we arrived there via a circuitous loop:

We then headed back to Old Noarlunga. Chris was working late but Kelly took the boys plus Jo and me to the beach, stopping first at a "bottle-o" for beers and Barnacle Bill's for takeaway fish and chips - all of which were consumed on the beach. The boys had a boogie board and I tried to pull Asher on it but he soon get fed up with that - I think I was going too slowly for him - so he decided to make me chase him in the water. It was hard work but Kelly soon came to my rescue. A lovely day in the end - and we had cake too.

On Thursday morning with the temperature rising daily, Jo and I decided to try and beat the heat and head out early for a walk round the local river park and take in the boardwalk over the "wetlands" area there:

A bit of grocery shopping and then the pool - and that was the day over.

On Friday we had another Fringe show to attend - this time in the city centre. Like the Edinburgh Fringe there are venues all over the city but two of the main ones are at Gluttony - where our show was - and across the road at "The Garden":

Loads of shows at both venues but the one we went to see was https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/simply-brill-the-teens-who-stole-60-s-rock-n-roll-af2024. It was excellent but definitely for those of a certain vintage. Once the show was finished and after we'd said hello and cheerio to Holly Mullins, daughter of a friend of mine who was working at the Fringe, we took in a bit of the lively ambience of Rundle St and found a nice Italian restaurant for dinner. Kelly met us at Seaford Meadows train station and drove us back in the still oppressive heat of the evening.

It was another Fringe show on Saturday. This time we took a car up to the Star Theatre on Sir Donald Bradman Drive. It was a musical play this time - https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/the-shoemaker-of-havana-af2024 - all about the Cuban revolution and the world missile crisis of the early '60's. Another good show.

Sunday is our last full day in Australia. In the morning we headed to the beach again:

Chris' brother, Matt, came over at 1 pm to child mind whilst Kelly and Chris took us over to McLaren Flat for lunch at the lovely Currant Shed. Chris' Mum and Dad popped over to their house to say goodbye to us and they gave me a little gift:

So that's it - we're almost fully packed. We leave here at 5:45 am tomorrow (Monday) morning local time, flying domestic initially to Sydney before the big flight - Sydney - Singapore - London and then up to Aberdeen.