Adelaide Summer Dispatch - Sunday, 3rd December 2017

We spent most of the early part of this week preparing to leave – it’s amazing how much there is to do – the garden was mowed, the roses were picked or head-headed, the tomatoes were staked & tied, everything we owned it seemed was washed, dried & ironed, to give us the maximum choices when we finally packed on Wednesday morning. Bilbo was bathed & taken to Eureka Kennels with his running away bag, which contains a pair of my thongs, a soft toy friend, his lead & collar & a treat!

I suddenly realised that I needed to get cracking on Christmas gifts for people like hard-working Sandra, our cleaner; the girls at EKO & the Cutting Studio; as well as for the Paper Deliverer, Steve, and our wonderful Garbos & Recyclers, all of whom do their jobs rain, hail or shine.

Wes made meals that used up everything in the fridge that wouldn’t last until our return & the birds were the beneficiaries of anything Bilbo hadn’t eaten before he went away.

We decided to start our trip with breakfast in Daylesford at Larder, which offers lots of interesting, healthy meals as well as the usual suspects, but with a twist. It was a lovely way to set off for Casterton, where we were spending two nights before driving to Adelaide, where we were booked for 6 nights at a self-contained apartment on North Terrace, about 10 minutes’ walk from the ground.

On our way we diverted to look at Cavendish, where a friend is thinking of moving. It is very pretty & has the Wannon River running through it. Casterton is the area that Major Mitchell described as Australia Felix back in 1836. We stayed at the Clarke Street Cottage B&B, run by Bruce & Janet, who are a very pleasant, obliging couple. The B&B is a large house & we had booked the only room with an ensuite. Most of the other guests were in town for a funeral on Friday of a well-loved local.

We visited the two cemeteries looking for Warren’s aunt, Norma’s parents. She, like Warren’s mum, Doris, was adopted, as her mother was only young when she was born & her father was killed at Gallipoli. Wes found him on the Honour Board in the Casterton Town Hall, which is a beautiful art-deco building. We couldn’t find Norma’s mother’s grave, but did find some McGintys, which Wes should be able to trace back to her.

Meals in Casterton are nothing to rave about – our breakfasts were lovely – fresh fruit, followed by poached eggs on toast, but dinner at night was really only available at the two pubs & although the service was friendly & welcoming, the meals were standard blokey pub fare.

We spent Thursday exploring Sandford, which is a train station away from Casterton & Harrow, which has a wonderful Bradman Museum, as well as interpretative centre commemorating the first Australian team that played cricket in England – it was an Aboriginal team & we enjoyed learning about how that team came to be formed & later tour in 1867.

800-year old redwood & decorative Premiership celebration in Sandford

On Friday morning we set off in pouring rain for the 5-hour drive to Adelaide. We were very fortunate that we drove out of the rain as it headed to Victoria & arrived safely here around 2.30pm. Our apartment is small, but clean & comfortable. The biggest drama that has occurred is the clothes dryer, which we discovered wasn’t working after we washed a load & tried to dry them.

That night we drove to our favourite Chinese restaurant, Lotus, in North Adelaide, where Wendy greeted us with a smile, gave us our usual table & remembered how much we love chillies. The meal lived up to expectations & we hope to get back there again before we leave.

Yesterday morning, we started our day with a long walk to Luigi’s Delicatessen in Flinders Street, where we had a very yummy breakfast of mushrooms on polenta with Napoli sauce & tons of trimmings.

Wes with Luigi, who took us under his wing.

We walked around Rundle Mall on the way back, buying a few bits & pieces to keep us going – orange juice, shampoo & conditioner, cheese & bikkies & fruit etc.

I have found a newsagent that gets the Melbourne Age each day, so am in seventh heaven, as I do like to read the newspaper & do the puzzles each day.

We headed to the Adelaide Oval around 1pm along with thousands of others – the first day of an Ashes Test match is very exciting & it was quite a buzz to be part of the throng. Our seats are up high, but not in the new nosebleed area! We are undercover for all 4 days that we have tickets & that is a very good thing if yesterday’s weather is any indication.

The cricket was absorbing especially after Joe Root won the toss & elected to bowl. Honours are even at present – let’s see what today brings!