SA: A hot week in Adelaide16 Jan 2006
|
|
| We've managed to hit Adelaide Sunday evening in the midst of a heatwave. We find a mercifully airconditioned hotel in the middle of town and head out for a goodbye dinner to Mum. Monday morning it's about 30 at 8am when we take Mum to the airport. Sad to see our now seasoned camping partner leave - we've had a ball travelling together. The day plans on getting hotter, so we head to West Beach for a swim. The water is lovely, but the damn sharks ensure that the few swimmers there don't go out past waist height. After Tassie and the Great Ocean Road we're just not prepared for this weather and it hits us for six (been listening to too much cricket) so we wimp out and set up camp in the hotel room for the afternoon and officially call a recovery day. The Tuesday isn't much better with the heat turning it up, so it's just unforgiving. Adelaide could be the most beautiful place in the world but I wouldn't know as we stumble from one air conditioned place to the next. Thank God we're in the state that brews Coopers Pale Ale. Lifesaver. The car is booked in for a wheel alignment to fix the juddering problem with the braking, but as usual the problem turns out to be much more serious - the wheels need to be re-machined (whatever that means) and of course it's going to cost a bomb, and of course it can't be done by anyone in Adelaide anytime soon, so it's booked in to be done on Friday in Whyalla, which is to buggery from where we are and apparently not the most exciting place on the tourist agenda. Wednesday it unbelievably gets hotter. SA is in the grips of a heat wave and we're lucky enough to be experiencing it. We catch up with Richard Weekes for dinner - it's great to see a lovely face from home and have a chat, but the restaurant we go to has to have the worst service I've ever encountered. Trying not to be a Sydney snob, but is it too much to expect wine to be delivered with the mains rather than dessert? The only bright spot is the advice received from the waitress that we should under no circumstances go to Whyalla. Thursday Stu finds someone in Adelaide to do the car so we're without a car in 39 heat - we're getting a little pissed off with the whole Adelaide experience by now, which isn't really fair because it is a lovely place, but being stuck without a car is no fun. We can walk to Rundle Street easily in the heat, but I think we've been to every café by now and it's just too hot to go anywhere else. We need to get out. The car is done by 5 and we go down to Glenelg for a swim. Glenelg reminds me a bit of Bondi - same kind of vibe. A swim kind of restores good humour but neither of us are, pardon the pun, happy campers. We go down to Gouger Street for some Thai (in aircon place of course) and head home. Stu then works on finally getting the photos up on Flickr till early hours while I pass out. Bloody heat. Feel like we've missed out on a proper Adelaide experience -- will have to come back and visit properly sometime. |
Advertisement 
|
