Leaving Coober Pedy was interesting; I remembered I had cleverly hung my towel out to dry just before leaving right next to where we were waiting for our shuttle and of course I had left without it even though it was right in front of me. So I ran back. I got the hostel sweaty and panicky not wanting to miss the bus, naturally even after I got back to the bus stop I still had to wait another 10 minutes before it arrived. The journey was not pleasant, it just happens to be one of those journeys where everything is slightly more crowded, so you are confined to one seat for the whole night, get approximately no sleep and arrive thoroughly tired and stressed.
So Adelaide it was and I had an energy drink to help me stay awake through the morning so I could meet Di at the YHA and chat about more free stuff she had arranged for me. By this time I was knackered from all my camping and heatstroke so all I really wanted was to lie down and sleep for a month, however I was offered a Surf Day and a Wine Tour so I couldn’t very well say no thanks I don’t like Wine or Surfing could I, not much point in me being in Oz if that was the case.
So I went on a Groovy Grape tour of the Barossa Valley, stopping at bizarre things such as a giant rocking horse and a whispering wall that allows conversations at great distances. We were half way to a winery when the bus screeched to a halt and our tour guide jumped out, ran across the road and leapt a fence all the while leaving us to scratch our heads in confusion. He returned proudly holding an echidna and proceeded to tell us everything about echidnas completing my experience of monotremes. Then we went and got drunk as you do, enjoying one good wine after another and some lovely scenic views. Some wineries were just about the wine and others were more about the way it was made and a tour of the actual winery rather than as many bottles as you can try. As the day progressed everyone became more and more silly and then we found an empty barrel, Dan our tour guide looked rather like a little gremlin hiding in it. Lunch was after the 3rd winery, an odd way around in my point of view, mainly because I had forgotten breakfast, it consisted of kangaroo steaks and other stuff, which I forget as it wasn’t steak, however I did get more steak as someone couldn’t eat theirs.
Surf and Sun picked me up early the next morning and dragged me down to Middleton beach, newly decorated with seaweed, so much there was almost no beach left. Tom our instructor got us going and then switched my board for a shorter one and got me turning, finally I can surf for real! The waves were great in the morning and really good for practicing, nice and orderly, unfortunately they became a bit scrambled later on and we ended up with messy waves all crashing into each other and only a few waves were caught in the later part of the day, but I was happy, I had learned to turn! Eventually tom took a little film and I naturally chose that moment to fall over painfully winding myself on my board and looking like a total plonker. What made it more embarrassing was the size of the wave, which would be less than a foot high, however I did manage to get it right after so it was ok in the end.
My last day in Adelaide before heading off on the Indian Pacific was spent with Sven, a shy guy who I met on the wine tour and a couple of nutters I had seen the night before playing a crazy game of ping pong whilst running in circles round the table. The Ping Pongers were; Bob, a guy with a hunch and Franzi, a pretty redhead, direction being provided by Bob who seemed to know everything; we visited the aboriginal art centre, I had just bought some edibles and didn't want them to go 'wrong' in the heat so i ran back to the hostel and said i would meet them at the Art centre, typically I arrived seconds after they went in to watch a show and had to sit outside for ages and wait for them! Then we went to the botanical gardens before getting some shopping and preparing a fast, speedy but large dinner as Sven and myself had to be off fairly soon.
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