Day 7, Adelaide

On Friday, I got up vewy vewy early and went to the airport, only to find out that 3 years in Scotland had done me no good - my flight was actually at 8.30 PM, instead of AM. Oh well, I put the suitcase in a luggage hold and went back into Sydney and Darling Harbour to visit Sydney Wildlife World, which was very nice indeed. I got to see the biggest type of cockroach and the most poisonous snake in the world, along with butterflies, goannas, possums, koalas and wallabies.

Sydney Wildlife World

After that, I took the ferry to Manly, Sydney's seaside resort, filled with surfers and with its very own Bavarian "beer cafe". The coastline from Sydney to Manly is beautiful cliffs (sandstone, I think) and pine forest, but the ocean beach is pure white sand. I could see why it would be nice to spend your year abroad there! On the ferry back to Circular Quay, we encountered some heavy rain. Watching the dark clouds draw nearer, the Americans on board did not fail to point out that they'd never been in a real storm before...I sat and enjoyed the shower together with some Australian guys for a while, until it got silly wet, and then joined the more sensible crowd indoors.
An eventless 90-minute bus ride took me back to the airport, where I hung around awaiting my flight, which was an Airbus 320, the most uncomfortable airplane I've ever sat in. My seat neighbours were very nice: the woman on my left offered me her tabloid which she claimed would make for more interesting reading than the inflight magazine. Very thoughtful of her, but I beg to differ...I could almost feel my mind rotting away while reading about Tom Cruise gaining weight. I managed to sleep through the drinks service somehow, which was probably expensive anyway, and woke up in time to "enjoy" the half hour of steep descent into Adelaide. The guy on my left very kindly gave me a brief guided tour of the city as we came in, also pointing out the spanking new IKEA store next to the airport. I tell you, in a clever stealth operation staged by this furniture producer, we Swedes will take over the world, making rotted herring and flatpacked shelves with one screw missing the new global culture some day soon!
In the airport, I was met by lovely Christina and her two friends, Duncan and James who were sitting in the bar with a G&T ready for me - now there's what I call a welcome! A taxi ride and a shower later, we walked down Jetty road in Glenelg to inspect the local nightlife. We ended up at the Grand, but did not stay too long.
Yesterday had an early start with grapefruit and vegemite toast. We were then picked up at 9.10 by Anna, a girl from Lulea in Sweden, and went to prepare for the "Viking party" of the Southern Australia Swedish Club. Venue: the German Shepherd Club. Expected number of people: 85. Having peeled potatoes, sliced lettuce and watched Bosse install pig and lamb on a spit, Christina and I were dropped off in Glenelg again, where we went to her work (Oyster bar)to have lunch, which consisted of deep-fried oysters in batter, chips and sweet chili sauce, and thai fish cakes - yumm!
The party was a great success, however without the excesses normally associated with vikings...I learned that many Swedes arrived in Adelaide working for Kockums, and a lot of them are now members of the Swedish club. There were many different family constellations: one Canadian hat met a Swedish girl on their years abroad, and they have now started a family in Adelaide. It was funny with all the bilingual children running around asking for hot dogs and juice.
We managed to finish tidying the place up for around midnight, went home and got changed, and then Christina and I joined some of the younger Swedish club members at one of the pubs on the Jetty. Unfortunately the pubs close between 12 and 2, so then the choice was between getting a taxi to the city centre, or go home. Absolutely exhausted, we decided to go home.
Today I met Christina's "mum and dad" from when she was an exchange student in high school. The two of us had a late lunch in cafe Illy down by the sea, I bought some postcards and flip flops (tongs), and Christina is now having a nap on the porch (well, as I'm typing this, she got woken up by the phone). Tonight I'm being taken to a nice restaurant in downtown Adelaide, and then we're going out for one last night of limitless debauchery (well...) before I catch the plane back to Sydney tomorrow afternoon.
Today I also spoke to Gillian, my penpal of 16 years, on the phone for the first time, and we agreed that she should pick me up from the airport tomorrow. She suggested that we go up to the Blue Mountains, which I look forward to!

Adelaide