Snap and Scribble

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The flight from Darwin to Adelaide last Monday left at ten to seven in the morning, which meant i had to get up at half past four. Fortunately i’d managed to catch up on a bit of sleep while i was in Darwin, so getting up at that time wasn’t too painful. The Darwin airport shuttle bus will drop you off anywhere on its route if you get on at the airport, but it only picks up at hotels, motels, backpackers, etc. Luckily, there’s a motel just a few doors away from the house where i was staying.

Before dawn at that time of year in Darwin is a pleasant time of day. It’s warm, but still cool enough to make a nice contrast to the heat of the day. The bus picked me up at about half past five and the sun rose not long after.

The flight to Adelaide was ok. It’s only about three and a half hours, which was long enough to get a bit of sleep, but not long enough to get sick of being on the plane. My old friend Gretchen met me at Adelaide airport.

When i flew from Europe to Australia the first time, at the end of November, 1985, the plane landed in Adelaide on the way from Athens to Sydney. So the first place i touched ground in Australia was Adelaide. We passed through customs there, as far as i remember, before getting back on the plane and flying on to Sydney. Then, a week or so later, me and Alex, the woman i went there with, hired a car to drive to Adelaide, where we intended to live. Luckily for me, when we got there, she changed her mind and we ended up driving back to Sydney. I don’t think i would have lasted long in Australia, living in Adelaide in those days, as it was just an overgrown country town and i’d been living in London for the previous seven years.

I was back in Adelaide again for about a week in late May 1986, too, when i went for a visit with a friend of Alex’s. I also spent a few hours in Adelaide in early 1995, between getting off the train from Sydney and getting onto a bus to Alice Springs. And that was the total of the time i’d spent in that city. I’d never liked it much and wasn’t particularly excited about going there – although i’d been really looking forward to catching up with the friends who are living there these days.

But all my friends there live near the beach in Largs Bay and Largs North and i really enjoyed the few days i spent there this time. I’m not keen on the climate in southern Australia – particularly the dryness – and i’ve got no reason to consider living there, but if i did have a reason, i reckon i could handle living in that part of Adelaide for a while.

Me and Gretchen tried to work out when we’d last seen each other and came to the conclusion that it may well have been about 2000, although the last time i’ve got a clear memory of seeing her was in about 1996. Before that, i’d visited her in May 1995, in Taxco, Mexico, where she was living at the time. You can read about that trip in Travelling By The Moon - my 1995 travel blog.

Another friend who i caught up with in Adelaide was Clancy, who i hadn’t seen since about 1996. She’s a tattooist and lived in the United States for many years. I believe the first tattoo she did with a tattoo gun was the one of a snake on my left arm – in late 1990 or early 1991.

And i stayed with Cameron and Erin and Erin’s son Daydn. I’ve known Cam for about fifteen years and Erin for about five.

I went for a walk on the beach a few times, which was nice as it was the first time i’ve walked on an Australian beach for nearly a year. I wanted to go for a swim, but it was very windy and not quite warm enough. The water temperature was alright, but the air was a bit cold, and the beach slopes so slowly that i’d have had to walk a long way out to get a decent depth of water – and then freeze in the wind while i was walking back to shore!

There were amazing piles of seagrass washed up onto the beach at the northern end. Apparently the whole beach is like that in winter! Here’s a photo of it…

I enjoyed my stay in Adelaide, but it was soon over and on Thursday it was time to go back to the airport and fly to Melbourne. I caught the train from Largs North station to the city and the bus from the city to the airport. I was aiming to get to the airport by about half past one, for the three o’clock flight, but the train broke down and was stuck at Cheltenham station for about half an hour. Then i had ages to wait for the bus to the airport. So, in the end, i got there at about two, which was still early enough, but i’d used up all of my safety margin. However, the plane was delayed, too, and we ended up taking off at half past three.

Adelaide is probably the best airport i’ve been to in Australia – except for Lismore, perhaps. It’s got lots of space, loads of natural light, and it’s small enough to be easy to navigate. Public transport to Adelaide airport is the best of all the Australian airports i’ve been to in recent years – it’s on normal public transport routes and you can get there for $2.60 during the off-peak period, which is much better than Darwin, Melbourne, Sydney, or Brisbane.

The flight to Melbourne’s only about an hour. I wasn’t expecting to be met at the airport, so i bought a ticket for the bus. Then i phoned Donna, to see what she was up to and she said she’d come and pick me up. I should have phoned her before i bought the ticket! It was non-refundable, of course, and it cost me $16 but i sold it for $10 to a rather surprised woman who was queing up to buy one.

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