So Adelaide - the end of our mad gallavanting, and the start of ten days or so of (relative) rest and relaxation. Arrive at the domestic terminal, and head for the escalator. At the bottom of that is an emotional reunion between Lorna and cousin Ally, Uncle Tony and Auntie Tessa, who have all turned out to meet us.

I shake hands with the random bloke hanging around with them, his name is Tony too apparently. That's nice. Hello Tony.

Collect the bags off the carousel, and turn around to find this Tony chap grabbing them, putting them on a trolley and clearing off outside with them. Ally mentions something about him being our driver - clearly the term for someone who carries your bags to the taxi rank, or something. Nice of them to lay on this service for us.

Tony re-appears about two minutes later with an 8-seater stretch limousine, and our bags safely in the boot. Wooden panelling inside, along with plush leather interior. This is our transport back to Uncle Tony's, which Uncle Tony has kindly supplied! Didn't get this kind of treatment ... well, anywhere else, ever, actually. So to all those back home who are perhaps reading this on public transport, or have their Ford Ka parked up in the driveway... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Okay, we only had it for an hour or so, but we felt like kings and queens! Especially when Tony the Driver (not the Frosties chap) stopped, opened the door, and dropped a bottle of chilled champagne and glasses through the door. Very much different to staggering out to the cab rank or working out the train network which two suitcases and potentially-grumpy daughter with us.

Anyway, we've been having a super time in Adelaide. Nice and relaxed, gone out for a few day trips here and there. One cruise up the river, catching sight of river dolphins; couple of drives up to the beautiful Adelaide Hills that surround the city, with panoramic vistas across the area and some gorgeous rolling countryside. One such trip took in the worlds largest rocking horse (you haven't been this jealous since you read about the limo, have you?), which can be climbed up via a series of ladders, as well as some nuns in the cafe. There was also a small animal park where you're allowed to wander around and feed whatever animal meanders nearby. Couple of goats, a sheep, a wallaby (getting better) and then a large brown alpaca strolls up for a feed (looks a bit like a fluffy pantomime horse). Few kangaroos, emus and ponies too, as well as a galah that amused us with it's vocabulary. "Hello", "Alright" and "I'm a cockie" were said back and forth, and Tony did try and teach it to say "f*ck off", with sadly no success.

Had a Hayes-family meal on Saturday night. Excellent night out, with us, Tony, Ally, and Kevin (Tony's son and Ally's brother) and Vanessa (Kevin's wife) and Rowan and Amber, the two gorgeous kids of Kevin and Vanessa. Fine dinner, excellent chat, and plenty of booze. Whilst we've been here, the odd glass of port has been known to flow too, on occasions.

We've got a vineyard trip booked in for Wednesday (limo hired again, so we can all drink heartily! However, we've got to slum it in a smaller 6-seater vehicle, we'll try to cope with the decrease in living circumstances). Also lined up Cleland National Park and German-style villages to visit at some point. We're here until Friday morning, then a brief sojourn back in Sydney before commencing the journey home on Saturday. Not looking forward to that, but plenty to do here in Adelaide first.

Fact of the day - to make premium port, add the cheap stuff to a wooden 5-litre barrel, and let it mature for around 12 months. That turns it into really good stuff. Trust us, we had a few. Quite a few. Tasty stuff. An under-rated drink.

Fact of the day 2 - 5-litre barrels, useful for the maturation of port, make really good christmas presents. Inexpensive too. Just sayin', like.