We had absolutely nothing on the itinerary today except to arrive at Lacepede Motel in Kingston, SE on Lacepede Bay. Question: How do you suppose that name is pronounced? Answer: See tomorrow's posting. We took off from Adelaide around 10 am and maneuvered our way out of town through the suburbs, finding more altitude and much larger hills than we've seen before.
Not far out of town we stopped Hahndorf, a very popular visitor destination. This little German town was founded in 1856 so it has a lot of embedded history. And how pleasant it was. Comparable tourist towns we know like Eureka Springs, Arkansas or Helen, Georgia would be envious of its visitor traffic and the lively retail business. The main street was lined with shops of all varieties, bakeries, sweet shops, restaurants, gourmet coffee shops, and on and on. I found many, many photo ops. We bought cute and unusual candies for Tessa, and then we found Otto's Bakery. We decided to splurge and shared a pig's ear. This is a slab of puff pastry loaded with butter and a thin layer of apricot jam folded and rolled and folded and rolled again, then baked and iced with a thick layer of confectioners glaze. We decided that every now and then, you simply must shock the system. This was the shock. It was sooooooooo good! We ate every bite. After leaving Hahndorf, we set the course for Kingston, and just as we experienced on our trip to Kangaroo Island, once you leave the city¸ there is virtually nothing. Just vast farms and ranches (stations in Aussie-speak) as far as the eye can see. In Atlanta, it is almost impossible to view the horizon. Here is a 360-degree horizon. Looking at it, I have a sensation that we are on top of the world's crust. As we topped one particular hill, we saw a sign for the Adelaide Mushroom Company and decided to stop and take the tour. We have never seen edible mushrooms growing in a commercial environment. As we walked into the main office, the receptionist looked at us a little strangely but sweetly and almost apologetically explained they had no tours but were strictly a mushroom production facility. We chatted a moment, thanked her and then headed toward our car. Just as we got outside, a gentleman, probably the CEO, bounded out the door and said, we have no tours, but if you have a moment, I'd like to show how we produce mushrooms - and we got a personal tour!!!! How amazing is that!!! Incredible hospitality!

From this point, buildings of any type grew far more sparse and the area very remote. We drove through salt flats and stopped at the Pink Lake, which is a dried-up, salt-water flat on which grows a form of alga called carotene that makes the salt minerals turn pink. It looked almost lunar. You can break off layers of crystal salt. On our way forward, very now and then we'd see a marker for a historic or scenic site. We stopped off at the Chinaman's Well and took a 45-minute hike along the trail telling the history of Chinese people surviving in South Australia seeking the Australian treasures of gold they had heard was simply laying on the ground for the taking. Turns out it was an extremely harsh environment with little gold and the treasure they found was in constructing stone wells for water and in growing vegetable crops. At this point we were looking for a place for a late lunch; little to be found. However at 2 pm, parched and low on gas, we stopped at a little outpost, Salt Creek. We pulled out our stash of garlic metwurst, cheese and fresh broccoli stems, bought a Bundaberg ginger beer (lovely by the way, and non-alcoholic) and enjoyed an Aussie-Italiano-German antipasto feast in the car as we continued on. I simply cannot close today without reiterating how dry and barren the land is here. The state of South Australia is said to be the most arid state in all of Australia, and Australia is the most arid continent of the world. So when I say it is dry, it is just that. Wild fires are an extreme concern and smoke from a nearby fire is a common sight. Amazingly, however, the air is very humid. And what it does to my hair! It's the worst! Good thing I'm trying to get over all that!! Otherwise I'd be miserable.

Off hand, I also want to advise that the radio here is very, very good. It provides great music to drive along by! Dag, I miss Dave FM. While I am at it, I'd like to note a couple of additional random observations. One, the Aussies are completely fascinated with America. We are a frequent topic of conversation on radio and TV. They talk about our entertainers, our cities, our culture and our government, and most of it is with very high regard. Our country has a real friend here in the Down Under. Second, the Aussies are extremely courteous and friendly. They love to chat and will take the time to be helpful and warm. They truly love their country and want us, their guests to love it too and feel welcome here. Third, there are few stop signs to be found. Drivers here just instinctively know what to do. No big red octagon is required. No one jaw-walks either. Finally, like us, the Aussies appear to be well-fed. No offense intended at all, but they are for the most part a chubby bunch!!! I'm sorry.