Hello all - well this is it finally the moment(s) of truth - we arrived 21st February 2008, a date that's sure to be imprinted in our minds for years to come to Adelaide. We had heard a lot about it on the way down, the words 'interesting' and 'backwater' spring to mind but we had decided to form our own opinion.

We arrived at the airport (me very excited) and as we came through arrivals were met by our meet and greet volunteers, Dennis and Rene, two fabulous people, holding a board with our name! We introduced ourselves and went to get our luggage before heading to our B&B in Glenelg. There at 'I do like to be besides the seaside' we met another Dennis our host and then Dennis and rene gave us lots of useful info and invited us to a bbq on the sunday before heading off and us out to explore Glenelg. Our initial impressions I think it's safe to say we were quite shell shocked and despite saying that we didn't have any expectations I think it became apparent we did! Glenelg's main street is called Jetty Road and has lots of shops and services, a real mix of shops i.e designer, home, clothes, pharmacy, Starbucks and a reject shop (that's the name - I'm not being rude) and this is the main road that the tram runs down, into the city (Adelaide). At the end of the road there is a pedestranised area with bars and restaurants and a water fountain and most importantly a gorgeous beach with clear acqu marine waters. We also found a marina which again is surrounded by restaurants and bars. Reading this it probably sounds gorgeous which on reflections we have come to like ourselves, I think we were a little hard on it to begin with probably arriving from places like Sydney and Melbourne. The place is actually really good with everything you need and are happy that we're spending the first few months in Glenelg. It didn't help that the first day we ventured into Adeliade city centre at the start of the festival season and a major motorbike race and there were lots of big bearded men in leather jackets, it didn't really set the impression that Berkeley and Tweedly were expecting!

On the Saturday we hired a car to have a drive up and down the coast to see some of the different towns. It was amazing how quickly you arrive in one town one minute after you have left another, it was lovely driving along the roads and seeing the sea, reminded us why we came.

That night we went down to the Stamford Grand, one of the main hotels on Glenelgs Beach front and had a glass of vino as we watched the sunset, another must do on the list and then round to the marina for tea.

The next day we were kindly picked up by Dennis and off to the bbq at his house which was great fun and our first aussie bbq since arrival! We also met another English family from London and it was great to hear how it had been for them. They brought us back to Glenelg later that night.

Post bike festival, we have ventured back into Adeliade and have visited the Botanic Gardens and found some really nice streets with good bars, shops etc with a nice feel to them. We've also been to the beach in Glenelg a good few times and discovered a place called Norwood which reminds us a bit of Chapel Allerton but with more clothes shops and out here is something of a shopping mecca!

We were also really lucky that the hosts at the b&b we were staying at were fantastic and really made us feel welcome. They took us the races on Saturday which was a great day out although my normal winning streak that I enjoyed when assisting Grandad had chosen the inopportune day to abandon me whereas Iain had a fantastic case of beginners luck! I have to say that my chances were not helped my Iain who kindly went to put my bets on for one particular race only to back a horse I hadn't picked whereas the one I picked romped home! - We're thinking about going on Monday as it's Adelaide Cup Day, quite a big day out here, it's even a public holiday.

There's still plenty more to see what with the wineries and Kangaroo Island but we're going to explore these on a weekend and now turn our attention back to the world of work. I had been hoping to take a leaf out of my brothers book as I have become accustomed to being a lady of leisure however surprisingly Iain was a little panic stricken at this!

Work is now necessary and brings me onto my final tale for now, renting. As we had only one weeks b&b booked on arrival in Adelaide, week 1's mission was to find somewhere to rent, you can imagine our shock to be told that there is only a 1 - 2% vacancy rate and that some people are so desperate they will gazump you. In addition, they have open inspections out here, where there can be hoards of people looking at a flat and submitting applications and then the landlords pick la creme de la creme which you can imagine was a bit worrying for two Brits, with no auz credit history and no jobs! However after much nailbiting and tooing and froing we found a place, by the beach with marina views and moved in on Friday. It's being so nice taking everyting out of the suitcase, with Iain cooking up a storm in the kitchen (for any of youthinking that's unfair, if you had witnessed my culinary abilities you would realise that this is for the best for both of us!).

So that's it for now, a whistlestop tour (2 hours in an internet cafe) round Adelaide, will make sure I don't leave it so long next time.

Thanks again to all of you who have left messages!

We should be up and running at home on the internet and now have a webcam so for all of you enjoying the wonderful world of skype, we can almost have face to face conversations!

Missing you all, lots and lots of love.

Sara and Iain

xxxxx