Leaving Melbourne

The weather in Melbourne was 26C but there was a chilly wind which made it feels much colder in the shade. I saw a wonderful exhibition of 60s Brit Pop Art at the Victoria National Gallery which I hadn't even realized had been on at the Tate in London earlier this year. Melbourne is full of Chinese people, even the Mayor is Chinese and you can get a wonderful Chinese meal really cheaply (8 Aussie dollars). I left Melbourne on Saturday night and traveled 10 hours on the overnight train to Adelaide to arrive at 8am Sunday morning. It was 36C and bright sunshine.

In Adelaide I am staying in a female dorm ie 8 bunk beds in one room. There is only me and a lovely Swiss girl called Anita in the room right now so its not as mad as it sounds which is good because most of the other backpackers are about 22 and I am old enough to be their mother. They are all really friendly but they walk around in tiny little skirts and tops and I am so envious of their young adolescent bodies, they have NO cellulite, no saggy bits, no wrinkles... There is no mistaking my size 14 knickers on the laundry line, I don't think there is any danger of my stuff being nicked. Most of the stuff they wear takes up less space in than a kleenex. The other thing that blows me away is the number of young women traveling on their own and for many of them English is not their first language, for example Anita spent two months in Perth learning English and now she is traveling around Aus on her own. (Her English is perfect by the way).

Adelaide has a population of approx 1m people but it was deserted on Sunday and when I took the 15 min tram ride down to the beach I saw why. The Southern Ocean was not really cold but the contrast between it and the hot sand was a shock to the system. Even at 4pm the sun was hot and people were sitting inside little nylon tents on the beach. I've almost finished a small tube of factor 30, they don't seem to sell anything less than factor 30 here. The beach is in an area called Gelnelg and just further down the coast there is an area called Brighton. Someone told me that the names of places here are either English, Aboriginal or Obvious like Grassy Creek or Big Hill. The first governor of Australia was the Marquis of Linlithgow and when I saw his statue in Melbourne I wondered if he had ever seen Linlithgow or if he was an English aristocrat sent out to do his bit for the Empire. Most of the European history ie statues and building and things dates back to about 1830ish when the English first began the big emigration program. Its a bit strange coming from London where history stretches back seemingly endlessly to visit places where they have this sort of defined starting point in time.

Its also strange to see xmas decorations and children queuing up to see Santa when its is so hot and sunny, I find it hard to believe that xmas is just around the corner. I haven't seen any of the pine xmas trees that we have in the UK, the ones I've seen have been artificial and also they don't go in for the American tradition where the Christmas ornaments and garlands take over the whole house. When I was in California, the local paper published places in the area where you could see the best outdoor display and these where just on peoples' front lawns.

Tomorrow I am going on a winetasting tour of the Barossa valley, that is the place where Jacobs Creek comes from. A local person here told me that the actual Jacobs Creek is a tiny stream about a foot wide. On Wednesday I am doing a 8 day 4wd trip to Alice Springs, we will be camping in the outback and they say it is really hot during the day and really cold at night. After Alice, I go to Sydney for xmas and new year and then travel up the east cost as far as Cairns.