Adelaide - Friday 18

Drove 400km to Adelaide, luckily with a few picturesque spots on the way and a pink lake (caused by minerals released by algae) to break up an otherwise very straight road.Suz's cousin Kim came to meet us and then we arrived at Cliff and Sandra's where we were also greeted by Cousin Shane's two adorable kids Cassidy and Hunter.We had a BBQ in the evening and Uncle Cliff showed us his 1941 Jeep that he has recently completed renovated and collection of knives that he is making.As Uncle Cliff came over to Australia in 1964, we have only met on a couple of occasions and we met cousin Shane and the kids for the first time.We had a great evening getting to know each other better and felt really at home.

Saturday 19

We are staying at Kim's house, which is beautifully decorated and far too neat and tidy for a couple of messy backpackers.Went off to the mall in the morning to pick up some groceries and stopped off at a stand where they were giving a free spinal check.Suz had hers checked over to see if there was any connection with the aching leg. The chiropractor could see a positive slope on Suz's wonky shoulders, so made an appointment for Monday morning for a check-over and x-rays.Cliff and Sandra drove us out to ClelandPark in Adelaide Hills, stopping off at MountLofty to get a great view down to the city.At Cleland there are lots of indigenous birds, mean-looking reptiles, ugly solid-looking wombats, Koala's sleeping in the trees (similar to teenagers they eat for two hours and sleep for 22 hours a day!)We also fed the wallabies out of our hands and saw some frisky male kangaroo's chasing a female around.Never mind the joey in the pouch either - it became XXX rated and not entirely suitable for public viewing. Suz's Aunty June visited in the evening with cousin Des and his shy, but adorable children Thomas and Chelsea and we enjoyed another evening of non-stop chat and funny stories.

Sunday 20

Off to the BarossaValley to do what we do best!On the drive through we stopped off at the Whispering Wall, which is a dam wall about 300 metres across.It's famous for its acoustic properties. Cliff and us were at one end and we could clearly hear Sandra and Kim at the other end as if they were standing right next to us.Walking back along the wall, Suz remarked that the Japanese tourist clapping to himself at the other end was an idiot. Of course, he could hear her as if we were standing right next to him too! (Who's the sirry irryott now Suzanne?) Kellermeister was the first vineyard stop and we sampled some really great wines and ports.After a few purchases we went on to the Grant Burge cellars for some fantastic tasting whites and some good desert wines. After a few more purchases we stopped off at Penfolds and despite it's popularity world-wide we were unable to taste one that we really enjoyed.As all this wine-tasting was making us hungry we had some lunch at Saltrams vineyard, which was delicious.More wine tasting there!!!Then we picked up a variety of chocolates from Angaston, where they have a chocolate factory.Being Sunday, the factory was not up actually working, but who cares how it's made.Final stop was at Seppeltsfield, which is one of the oldest vineyards in the area.There are some fantastic historical buildings and an even more fantastic case of ports, with the earliest dating back to 1873.Off to Shane's for a BBQ and Suz was grinning like a Cheshire cat as she sped off on the back of Shane's Harley Davidson.Fantastic!Cassidy and Hunter were there too and Hunter really took to Stephen, as they played football together and then talked non-stop to him about dinosaurs, followed by a dinosaur quiz!It was such a great evening and we laughed non-stop for hours giggling over just about anything and everything.Brilliant!

Monday 21

Uncle Cliff picked us up to take us to the chiropractor in the morning where Suz had x-rays taken of her spine.They showed up areas where it was quite twisted. After Suz being contorted in to odd positions and a few sickening crunching sounds later we picked-up Sandra and headed out to Port Adelaide and the MaritimeMuseum.Really interesting museum once you blanked out the racket from the 100 or so school kids.Dodging the rain we ran for lunch in a nearby pub and then climbed to the top of the old steel lighthouse by the dockside.We drove along the beach road and on to Glenelg, which is a charming coastal town, but as the rain continued lashing down we didn't stop off, particularly as the road was slowly turning in to a river.

Tuesday 22

Sandra took Suz for her next appointment with the chiropractor and after the bone crunching repeat from the day before everything was starting to feel a lot looser and a lot better.We went to the Old Adelaide Gaol, which operated from 1878 to 1988.Parts of the gaol have been restored to their original condition and there's plenty of information around on all those who have been locked up or hung, including a woman (around the end of the 19 century) who, even without any real evidence, was hung for poisoning her husband. (Apparently, she was a bit dim, but that was sufficient for hanging in those days) During our visit a film company were filming in the prison and Sandra got told off by the Speilberg-wannbe director for screeching as Stephen jumped out on her from behind a darkened cell door. As Tuesday night is family night, we all had dinner together.Suz helped Cassidy with her homework and Stephen was given yet more information on Dinosaurs by Hunter.They are such lovely kids and we really enjoyed their company and were sorry to say goodbye, having no idea how old they will be next time we see them.Another great night looking at old family photo's of Suz grand-parents, uncles and aunts.The stories came pouring out again about life on the farm, days in national service and all the scrapes and scraps that 'duffer' Cliff Randall got himself in to.Yet again we had a great night of non-stop laughter.

Wednesday 23

Kim had offered us her car for the day so we drove in to the city, which has a small CBD.We went in to the Art Museum, which had a range of Aboriginal art as well as renaissance and contemporary art.We walked through the shopping areas and Adelaide Arcade, which houses some more boutique style shops.In the evening we all met up in a pub at Gawler, which is in the countryside and had a great meal.All back to Kim's, where we continued laughing even though there were underlying feelings of sadness in our final day.We said a sad farewell to Shane and hope that it's not too long until we next meet.