Working in Adelaide, Oct-Dec Part 2

 

 

Time always passes quite quickly when you're in a routine and working full time. There is some variety in the form of walks in the hills to the east of the city- beautiful areas of forest with trails running through. Lovely in the evening at the end of a hot day with the slanting warm hues skimming the branches. On one walk I spot 39 koalas, 3 kangaroos and a fox. A personal best for the Australian I was walking with too!

Adelaide does very well for wine, there's the Barossa which I'd visited before- where they make the Shiraz, the Mclaren vale and the cooler Adelaide Hills where they make my favourite: sauvignon blanc. I love the scenery of the vines, visiting the cellar doors and tasting, sometimes buying. My favourite wineries are small ones with a view of vineyards undulating over the hills, shady gum trees, rose bushes. A winery dog greeting the visitors and begging for leftovers from a winery lunch in the garden and then a wonderful cool interior where wine is treated tenderly and enthusiasts discuss the different flavours and tones in subtle or pretentious detail!

Travelling through the countryside when I first arrived back here it was nearly as green as England. But that was at the end of Winter. Soon the fields are straw-coloured, only the gums and the irrigated vines provide the green.

In mid-November they put the Christmas decorations up. This is very strange under a clear blue sky on a hot and sunny day but mostly I realise, after quite some time, because their backdrop is green leaves- there's less emphasis on lights too which given that on Christmas it'll be light until about 9pm makes sense.

But when I'm not working and not escaping into the hills or along the river I'm trying to plan the next bit of travel. As always it's the options that stall me, too many good ones! There's also a few things that need to be done whilst in one place for a while- tax docs, royal college registrations, travel insurance, Christmas shopping.

Now it's the start of December and with less that a week to go I'm nearly organised, ticking off the chores and looking forward to the next adventure- from Adelaide I go North, winding my way to Alice Springs over 10 days via Flinders ranges, Coober Pedy, Lake Ayre and Uluru. 10 days in the desert, next stop The Red Centre!