35. Adelaide - part one

The flight from Perth to Adelaide took just over two hours, but with an additional 2.5 hour time zone change it meant that we didn't get into the city centre until mid afternoon. So, with the time spent left in the day we took a walk along that banks of the River Torrens as far as Adelaide zoo. We got a reduced entry fee as it was late in the day and as well as getting a close look at some Australian marsupials (albeit in captivity), the zoos highlight was a pair of giant pandas....I don't ever recall seeing one in real life before.

Dinner followed at a small bistro type place just off the main shopping area, Rundle Mall. Goodness me, it is expensive eating out in Australia...even strait forward things like a beefburger or a pizza are around GBP15, a fairly plain main course like chicken is GBP25...so, including a starter or dessert and a drink, it's easily GBP30-35 a head.

The forecast for today, Thursday, was for hot weather with a chance of thunderstorms. The forecasters were not wrong either as the mercury soon reached 35C and the locals reckoned it was the hottest spring day so far but without the humidity we had experienced on the ship on the voyage out, it didn't seem totally unbearable. However we thought it best not to wander around in the heat too much and after breakfast headed for the South Australia Museum on North Terrace. Along the way we passed the war memorial where crowds were beginning to gather for the Remembrance service at 11am and we stopped briefly to purchase our poppies (they make proper silk ones here, not paper and plastic).

The museum was small but well worth a look round. As well as the usual stuffed animals and geological specimens, it had many exhibits and features relating to Polynesia and the Aboriginals...things which are rarely, if ever, seen back in the UK. It also had a lot of information and original artefacts from Sir Douglas Mawson's polar expeditions. No lightweight gear or super insulated sleeping bags in those days!

In the afternoon we decided to brave the heat and caught a tram down to the seaside resort of Glenelg, just a thirty minute ride away. Again, we had a good look around, walked down to the end of the pier and with many people on the beach and in the sea, we wondered if we really should have brought our swimming things along. Too late!

As the afternoon passed, it became clear that the forecasters had done an excellent job as we could see the dark storm clouds gathering and the bolts of lightning hitting the sea just a few miles off the coast. Luckily we just about got our timing right and got back to the tram stop just as the heavens opened. The wind picked up strongly, beach umbrellas went flying, and as the tram set off, large hailstones were hammering on the roof. 

As with such storms, by the time we were back in the centre of Adelaide the rain had stopped and a rainbow was arcing across the sky so things were turning a lot more favourable, meteorologicaly speaking, for our walk through the streets to find a place for dinner. But before eating we took a lovely evening stroll along the riverbank, over the glass bridge, past the Convention Centre and for a peek inside the famed Adelaide Oval.