Adelaide

I arrived in Adelaide last night after another train ride that took more than an entire day! It was a really nice train, the famous Indian Pacific, and the seats were nice and spacious but they weren't comfortable for sleeping and the train ride was soooo long. We were supposed to have a two+ hour stop in Broken Hill yesterday morning during which time we'd be able to walk around the city and even take a bus tour if we wanted to sign up for one, but since the train was over an hour late leaving Sydney and then got delayed somewhere along the way in the middle of the night, the 2-hour stop was shortened to a 15-minute stop. We were allowed to get off the train but had to stay close by so it wouldn't leave without us. Such a bummer! I was so looking forward to walking around and stretching my legs in the middle of that long journey. Oh well. And I did not end up with a seat to myself but fortunately my train neighbor was a nice young Dutch boy. We had fun sharing travel stories and listening to music; we traded ipods for a bit and I got to listen to the new Adele album on his, which was very exciting for me because I haven't been able to add any new music to my ipod since before I left in November. Thankfully I was able to charge my ipod at Chris's before I left Sydney; I was also able to take "his" copy of Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (left in his bookshelf by another couchsurfer) so I had plenty to read. I didn't get much sleep but at least I was able to catch an amazing sunrise out the window of the train. :) 

When we finally arrived in Adelaide at around 5:00 yesterday evening, it was raining and I was starving! I had eaten some food on the train (a somewhat burned and crunchy meat pie for $3.50, muesli bars, and cereal for $3.80) but I was looking forward to eating something more substantial. I took a bus into the city centre (which was free because I only had a $20 and the bus driver didn't have change. woo hoo! Side note: I also got to ride the tram for FREE from Chris's house in Pyrmont to Sydney Central station because the money collector on the tram never took my money. yay!) and quickly found a Subway. The girl packed it full of veggies so it was overflowing ... it was probably the most delicious Subway sandwich ever. From there I walked to the Adelaide Central train station. The town is so cute and the train station is really easy to navigate. I got on the train to meet my couchsurfing host, Tony, who picked me up at the Ethelton train station. He lives in Semaphore, right next to the beach! We had a couple glasses of wine and watched Big Bang Theory and the beginning of Austin Powers 2 and then went to sleep. His couch is super comfortable, especially compared to the train seat where I had spent the last 24 hours hardly sleeping at all. I woke up refreshed this morning and went for a walk along Semaphore Beach. 

It's foggy out today but it was still so pretty! Now I'm at the Adelaide Library and as soon as I finish here, I'm going to go out and explore Semaphore and the rest of Adelaide. I want to check out the botanic gardens and see some more beaches. Apparently there's a chocolate factory (Haigh's Chocolates ... best chocolate in Australia, according to the person doing the entertaining PA announcements on the train) but I'm going to skip that since I just took the Cadbury World tour a few weeks ago in Dunedin. I would like to find the Haigh's store though so I can get some chocolate samples :) Of course there's also the Barossa Valley, which is about an hour from Adelaide. I think on Wednesday or Thursday I'm going to take the train out to Gawler and then I'll be close to several wineries. Whether I'll walk, take a bus, or hitchhike to the wineries once I get there, I'm not sure, but I'm super excited about tasting some of the famous Barossa Valley wines! :)