Packed up and headed to Sydney Domestic Airport, a quick and easy train ride from Central station. We've done this before! At the airport almost 2 hours ahead of time (keen bean Alex).

A glance out of the plane window on the descent shows large expanses of unappealing brown. I'm not sure if this is unfair on Adelaide; there have been forest fires raging for the last few weeks, and it's hard to tell from up high whether the brown is permanently dry or recently burnt. It's also very hilly - this must be the vine/wine bit! Over Adelaide proper, there are low houses in a dense sprawl right up to the edge of the mountain. Finally a cluster of highrises surrounded by green parkland denotes what we assume is Adelaide's CBD.

Our neighbour on the plane (a Soith African chap who has lived in Adelaide for 15 years) tells us proudly what Bill Bryson has already informed me; that Adelaide is the only town which wasn't settled by convicts. He and Foxy also have some cricket banter about the South Africa v England test, to which I smile and nod, and tune out... :)

We use Google maps to get the correct buses from the airport to our Airbnb in North Adelaide (this was so much harder before phones/internet/data etc). Our host, Brad (or B-raddle, according to his Airbnb page), isn't home but has left us instructions to get in. After searching the apartment and common areas for a washing machine or laundry room, we ask B-rad's friend Jo. It seems that despite both a washing machine and a dryer being explicitly noted as present in this Airbnb, there is neither. Jo suggests a laundrette a short bus ride away. This is rather frustrating - what a waste of time!

Anyway, we head out to forage for dinner. There's a huge Italian presence in Adelaide, so we have a pizza and wine date night at a nearby pizzeria, which is excellent.

AB