From Dunsborough to Adelaide!

G’day, All!

We are now in the sunny and warm suburb of Adelaide, called West Lakes. But as my last posting came from Dunsborough, I think I’d best start there to avoid confusion and keep everyone up to date!

Yesterday morning (Saturday) was our departure day from Dunsborough Beach Cottages … which we REALLY hated to leave! Had a leisurely wake-up, followed by a walk along the beach to get in some daily steps; out via the paved walkway fronting the beach, and then back along the shore itself. The tide was really in, and it makes such a difference to the view! (Editor’s note: The moving low pressure center struck again this morning, when we woke up to clouds and rain in Freo …all the way to the airport. And now, after weeks of sunshine and record heat here in Adelaide, looks like Tuesday they’re predicting RAIN! How ‘bout that?! I seem to be able to end droughts just by visiting!) We then packed everything up and cleaned up all dishes, etc. before one last trip to the office to do our daily round of email and blog posting. I’m sure those wonderful folks are REALLY glad to get rid of us and get their office back! At any rate, the second test match, OZ vs. Sri Lanka, was in its’ second day, and we stayed and watched until almost 10 a.m., when we had to leave.

Nice drive up the coast route through Bunbury, towards Fremantle (nicknamed “Freo” by the locals.) Not nearly as lovely (or deserted) as the Perth-Albany road, but nice nonetheless. For some reason, there are very few roads right along the coast, such as Highway 1 along California; mostly the roads are a few miles inland, with side roads off it to beaches and communities; makes the drive not nearly as pretty, but probably makes more sense from a construction point of view.

Got to Freo around 1:30 and found our place, Quest Harbour View apartments, right on the tip of the peninsula, facing the harbour (quelle surprise!). Our unit, #6, had a nice location; two floors, with front door opening into a large kitchen/utility (washer/dryer) area and then stepping down into the dining room and living room. High speed internet access – YES!! Then upstairs, there were two bedrooms and the bathroom, split with toilet and small sink in one room, and large sink/shower/tub in the other. Lovely balcony off the master bedroom with chairs and table … perfect to sit and enjoy a glass of wine!

After settling in, we drove into town (not really necessary, but we wanted to look around first) and found the shopping and eating areas.

Also found the Maritime Shipwreck Museum, which was our first stop. Great place! There have been so many ships wrecked along the coast from Cape Leeuwin to Perth, and the museum works with teams of divers and technicians to discover and then salvage what is left. Their principal find has been the remains of the Batavia, one of the first Dutch ships through the area (sunk sometime in the mid 1600’s), with an incredible story. An entire portion of the ship was salvaged and preserved, along with 37 HUGE stone blocks that were to form the portico of the Dutch East Indies Trading Company’s headquarters in Batavia (Jakarta). Really amazing!

After the museum, we walked around town, including the HUGE covered central market area. Didn’t buy anything, but lots of stuff to look at! Wanted to sit and have a glass of wine, but found an interesting fact: In WA (Western Australia), most restaurants are only able to serve alcohol if they’re also serving food! Only pubs have licenses to serve without eating! Wow! May be all of Australia is like this; don’t know; but after checking several places and being told the same thing, we decided to head back to our apartment and drink on our balcony, as the view was GREAT! Walked out for dinner around 6 p.m. as we hadn’t made any reservations and wanted to be able to find some place nice. Checked out various places on the harbour, but most were of the fish-and-chips variety. Finally found a place called Mussel Bay that could seat us immediately, provided we could be finished by 8 – NO problem! Lovely corner table, right on the harbour; wonderful French waitress from the Loire Valley, living in OZ for a year and enjoying it very much; GREAT fun to speak French again! R ordered mussels in garlic and cream for his starter. I had the beet root salad with feta cheese and roasted tomatoes on greens. Both were excellent! R then had King Snapper as fish-of-the-day served on a bed of veggies (asparagus; yams; potatoes) sprinkled with dill seed; he loved it! I had beef fillet with garlic butter served on a bed of scalloped potatoes with snow peas; also ordered a side of garlic mashed potatoes, which I did NOT share; ate the entire serving, and LOVED it! Waddled back to the apartment in the twilight. To bed for me around 10; R worked several hours on Caltech business.

Up around 5:30 and it was RAINING! How nice! Got organized (always have to repack when we’re going on a flight, as things tend to get transferred around … you know, those liquids!) and headed to the airport around 6. Checked in and had almost two hours before our 9 a.m. flight. Had some breakfast in the terminal, then on to the plane. Again, really enjoyed being able to watch cable TV on the airplane! [Comment from R: Must be a VERY long cable!] The flight from Perth to Adelaide was 2 ½ hours; very pleasant; lovely view flying in over the ocean. Luggage came IMMEDIATELY … when was the last time you could say that by the time you arrived in baggage claim, that your suitcases were already going around the carousel?? Avis rental car right there as well, and we found our way out of the airport very easily. (Manual transmission this time, which is nice! Had been driving automatics previously, even though I’d requested manuals! Apparently automatics are more common in OZ!)

Our home for the next three days is a condo in West Lakes, a northern suburb about 5 miles out of town. Easy drive; lovely place! Beautiful location on one of the lakes; private garage area, leading to front of condo. Immaculate place. Large living room (no cable TV though…or broadband…oh well, still have dialup!) and dining room, compact kitchen with all of the essentials, including dishwasher! Downstairs half-bath and big laundry room. Nice walled-in patio area with table and chairs and BBQ off of living room, including gate leading out to common area fronting the lake! Two bedrooms upstairs, both with walk-in closets and one bath, again divided into toilet room and separate shower/tub/vanity area. Also, about 2 minutes from a major shopping plaza, containing both Coles AND Woolies! Got organized, then headed there to get things for dinner…back for a nap (yes, again … these early flights and troop-movements of luggage are exhausting, and after all, we are on holiday!)

So, that about catches up with what we’ve been up to! Tomorrow we’re heading into Adelaide to do the sights/museums, etc. and thinking the Barrossa Valley wine country on Tuesday – may depend on the weather!

So, more later!

Much love,
m