Day Seven

Tuesday, June 15th, Cairns 9:46pm
Sorry it has been forever since I have had access to a computer. Let me see if I can do a quick review of our travels

Friday, June 11th arrive Adelaide 6:30 pm
Dropped off at the bus station, call of a taxi which will hold all of our luggage and quickly travel through Adelaide to our 3 bedroom townhouse. The lights were on, waiting for our arrival. It is a very nice place, with an outside patio and full kitchen. My friend Christine stopped over and we headed for the grocery & liquor store. Decided to hang out at the townhouse for the evening.

Saturday, June 12th, Hahndorf tour. Cloudy/cool Temp 15C
Christine picked us up in the morning and gave us a quick walking tour of downtown Adelaide. Sights included the river Torrens, black swans, and gorgeous architecture. The we drove into the hills up to Hahndorf, small German settlement. Lots of little shops, similar to Carmel in CA. We first stopped at a strawberry farm, next did cheese tasting, and then to the pub for German beer and sausage/kraut. It was a perfect day. The ladies were a little chilled, I was okay:)

Sunday, June 13th Sea & Vines Wine Festival, McLarne Vale Sunny, temp 17C
There were 12 of us with a lovely sober driver all piled into a Hertz van. Christine & her sister Reg made some great snacks along with champagne to start the day off. We had 4 winerys on our itinerary, the first stop Middlebrook was for breakfast. The line was so long for food, we decided to share a couple bottles of wine and have breakfast at our next stop. The second winery Paxton we had salmon & fresh oysters (yumalicious). They had some lovely Shiraz and Merlot. The third stop was Shingleback which we did not enjoy the wine but had a fabulous time dancing to the great band playing 80's music. We decided to head to the pub and played some pool & the jukebox. Fourth winery Coriole, again had some nice whites & reds. My Aunt Carole, Judy & Christine ordered $20 magarita pizzas that took 1/2 hr to make. Let's just say the sun was shining, music was playing, and there was wine-a-flowing. The event was over around 4:30 so we heading back to Adelaide for a wonderful Chinese dinner. Got home around 7:30 and off to bed by 8:30.

Monday, June 14 - sunny day, 17C
It was a later start to the day for me. Aunt Carole & Judy went for a walk, I laid in the sunroom and Julie read her book. Chistine called about 11:00 and arranged to pick us up around 12:00. We packed a lunch and headed to the beach for a picnic. Judy & I walked the beach, I was the only one to put my foot in the water. It was the Gulf which flows into the Oceanic (or Southern) Ocean. We walked along the shops and then headed up to lookout point. Great view of the city. It was the last night in Adelaide and we had to have Kangaroo for dinner. Christine took us to a nice resturant where we shared a porterhouse steak, lamb shanks & Kangaroo. It was all so decious. For dessert we had homemade chocolate pudding with carmel sauce. Seriously good. WE said good-bye to Christine and packed for our morning flight.

Tuesday, June 15th - sunny day
We fly from Adelaide to Sydney and Sydney to Cairns, leaving at 9:30 and arriving at 4:30. Our hotel, The Sebel is very nice and right along the water. We went out for seafood dinner of Oysters and "Bugs" which is small lobsters in tempera, SO GOOD.

Tomorrow we are renting a car and driving up to Daintree Rainforest for two nights. Thursday is the day we will snorkle/scubba dive the Great Barrier Reef.

The trip has been amazing so far, the scenery undescribable, wish I could upload photos to share. That will have to wait until I get back to the US. The Aussie people are so friendly and welcoming, it has been a pleasure traveling their country. Gotta sign off, take care.