Adelaide in summary...

Well, we're back at the airport now, waiting to board our flight back to Perth. We gained two and a half hours on the way here, so even though we leave at 7:45pm, we land in Perth at 8:35pm. That's the beauty about travelling West...you feel like you're gaining time.

So what did we think of Adelaide? Well, for one thing, its very different to Perth. It has a much older feel about - the people as well as the buildings. I think that we've seen more pensioners in Adelaide than anywhere else. Having said that, there are parts that feel very young - the student town kind of vibe. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground though.

This is what we saw and did:
- Monday: after landing, we checked into our hotel, the Mercure Grosvenor on North Terrace. We then took a stroll down Rundle St Mall, and ended up at "The Stag", an old hotel at the bottom end of Rundle St where we had a couple of drinks, and listened to a couple of students playing in a live band. After that, it was off to "Daniel's" for dinner. Food was ok - nothing great.

- Tuesday: set off mid Tuesday morning on the Glenelg Tram, to the town of...yup, Glenelg. Glenelg is a small coastal town, with lots of history. It has been a port town for about 200 years, and is filled with old buildings, galleries and museums. We spent most of the day on Jetty Road, which is lined with shops, restaurants, cafes, coffee shops and bars. Stopped at "Good Food" and had a fantastic organic vegetable pizza, before heading back into the city. Whilst back in the city, we went to the Museum of South Australia, and took a walk through "The Bradman Collection" - definitely worthwhile. Next, we took a stroll through the botanical gardens, and finally made our way back to the hotel. We then freshened up, and went in search of some Indian food. We found a great spot, again on Rundle St, just opposite The Stag called "Taj Tandoori". Ordered a lamb dish, chicken tandoori dish, vegetable jalfrezi and some garlic naan bread. What a great meal!

- Wednesday: after packing our bags, we headed off to the tourism centre around the corner from the hotel, and booked ourselves on a half day tour. The tour took us up to Mount Lofty, which gave quite a good view of Adelaide. We then spent the afternoon in the German town of Hahndorf. We were a little late to sample the "Wurst", so ended up having tea and cake at the Hahndorf Inn. On our way back, we got to see some Koala bears in the wild, as the tour driver stopped in the side of the road after spotting them in the local gum trees. From there, we headed back to hotel and caught a taxi to the airport.

So, the verdict on Adelaide...well, like I said, its very different in feel and character to Perth. Much slower, and older - which can be a good thing I guess, but not my cup of tea at this stage in life. It would have been great to catch U2 at the Adelaide Oval, but that was not meant to be. Definitely worthwhile doing the trip though.

I picked up some local CD's - The Whitlams, and Pete Murray and transferred them onto my MP3 player last night, so looking forward to listening to them on the way back to Perth.