NOW IN ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

AS YOU MIGHT RECALL, I was last heard from in San Francisco airport, awaiting boarding for my flight to Sydney, somewhat dreading the coming ordeal. It turned out to be not so bad, as is the case with most things dreaded, and perhaps one of the better experiences I have had crossing the Pacific. Since I have now done this 30 or so times, this may be worth noting.
Apropos of how to avoid jet lag, this time I decided to sleep according to departure zone and eat according to arrival zone time. I had an aisle seat in the Exit row with plenty of leg room and that helped a lot too. Whatever the reason or reasons, not a trace of jet lag.

After a very long night (some 13 hours) we arrived in Sydney on time, about 7 AM local time. A short wait in the Transit Lounge and I boarded the United flight on to Melbourne. There I met up with my dear friend of some 30 years, Kim. We ate Thai and I say again that it is hard to beat Melbourne for excellent food. Then aboard the bus for the overnight trip to Adelaide. To complete the diversity of travel (plane, bus, BART, and walking), I ambled in the early morning hour to the central square of Adelaide to catch the light rail to my daughter's home (just across the parklands from Adelaide downtown), presenting myself at just on 7AM. How very nice to have arrived, at last!

Since then, I have gotten in lots of walking and have even purchased a cycle to ride when I am here each year (alas, Bike Friday remains in Corning; I hope not too upset at being left behind). This is a great season to be here, the weather very like that in San Francisco. Many natives bloom during the Winter and the wattle is still quite beautiful, though somewhat muted. This cannot be said of the birds, all as colorful and noisy as ever. With the warming of the weather, the lizards and skinks are eager to soak up the sun. Walking with the family yesterday, I spied a Blue Tongued lizard hogging his share who then quickly scuttled off into the safety of a nearby bush as we approached.

The Spring flowers are making their entrance and I am including a picture of one such along the bike path I use for my morning walk (commonly called, I think, the Bottle Brush). You will see why as you view this photo. Of course, you may never use a bottle brush but we oldies once did to clean out bottles. Very useful indeed!

So it is very pleasant to be back here for some six weeks. My little house awaits my return. Daniel, my contractor, will be finishing out the external trim on the sun/potting room, fixing up some leaks and removing the framework of the wall between the living room and the kitchen/breakfast room. With the temperatures falling during the Fall (what else can the temperature do in the Fall?), the house will be mainly closed up and the heating system set to run close to 60 deg. F. I will be very interested to see what the gas use will be during this period I am away. I expect to see six inches of snow when I return after Christmas.

Those cyclists among you will be interested to see what my cycle looks like. It is exactly the sort of bike I wanted for riding around hereabouts and cost about half of what I thought I might have to pay. The mechanic in the pic is Graham, formerly of Winnipeg, Canada. He does not miss the Winter there. It is a modest bike, with more gears/speeds than I expect to use and 'flat' handlebars. It is very comfortable, being quite well suited to my peculiar build.

Until next time. I probably will not say more about Adelaide. In the unlikely event that you might one day visit 'Down Under', I recommend to you my home city. A very relaxing place to be and well endowed with good food, wine, and places to go.