Picked up at our hotel at 7:25 and on the 8:30 ferry from Kangaroo Island to the mainland. For about 10 minutes while on board and waiting to leave plus the entire 45 minute trip, we lived the scene from Annie Hall, the one where Annie and Alvy are waiting in line at the movies and someone trying hard to sound smart and impress a girl is just spouting off like a fool. In our case, it was a fellow from Canada, talking at a German woman on matters from automobiles to nationalism to the Holocaust (lots of lies and exaggerations, he said) to the Jewish cabal controlling so much of the world to plots by Big Oil and Big Pharma to control our health care. I couldn’t take a reading, but I’m pretty sure Roslyn’s blood pressure went up to about 240 over 160 at one point.
Because this was really happening and not part of a movie, there was no expert I could pull from the wings to shut this guy up. We decided not to give any additional fuel to his fire by engaging with him. I feared we’d have to endure another two hours of his ranting, when he boarded the bus we were on heading back into Adelaide. Mercifully, no one sat next to him, and he was quiet the entire ride back.
We were picked up from the bus by a driver, who took our bags and asked me what I thought of Donald Trump.
“I wish I could leave him here with you,” I said.
“I ask all the Americans I drive what they think of him,” he said matter-of-factly. “None of them like him.”
Quickly settled back at our hotel, we walked the 15 minutes to the Central Market for lunch and to buy muffins for tomorrow’s breakfast. We’ll be up and on our way to the airport before dawn tomorrow. Final destination: Queenstown, New Zealand, and the second half of our trip.
I can tell you most sincerely that I’ve been looking forward to visiting Australia for many years, and it exceeded by expectations.
The friendliest people I’ve found. I thought everyone would greet me with a “G’day!” But I only heard that once or twice. The standard greeting from people of all ages and in all situations is, “How ya goin’?” Depending on how thick the accent, it can sound like “Hah ya goin’? or “High ya goin’?” or “Hay ya goin’?” I heard them all.
The standard replies to a “Thank you” are “No worries,” or “That’s all right.”
Food in restaurants is more expensive here than in the U.S. But tipping isn’t expected. At many casual restaurants, you sit down, look over the menu, then go up to the bar to order your meal.
The biodiversity here amazes me. So many colorful birds as common as pigeons. Kangaroos and wallabies all over the place. Adelaide is capital of the state of South Australia. Almost nothing is built out of wood here, because the termites are so ferocious. We saw termite nest shaped like domes, three feet high. Utility poles are made out of concrete and steel.
We figured this would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, because it’s 19 hours of flying and expensive. And it may well be. But it’s worth the time and the expense, and I’d gladly come back here again some day. Good on ya, Australia.