Exploration

Adelaide travel works a lot like anywhere else:
* Car/scooter/motorcycle - limited parking but free roam wherever you go
* Tram - runs through the center of the city and goes as far South as Glenelg
* Train - like BART, shifty characters, more seats, goes much further
* Bus - same deal, takes you anywhere you want to go

For any of the public transportation, you will need this:


$4.40 will take you anywhere you want to go (and another ride back within 2 hours). If you don't have change on the train (which has no ticket person, only a machine) they can fine you up to $1,250. Ridiculous? Yea. We caught the bus out to Henley again for some more pix.







I have a feeling the majority of the photos on this blog will be of beaches, so here are some of cool places by where we live:


^ This is part of the University of Adelaide where you go to study wine and brandy.


^ Greenhouse at the Botanic Gardens, or crashed UFO?




^ Rymill Park, right across East Terrace.

So I've noticed not only do people have funny accents, but they use a lot of slang and odd phrases in everyday speech that I thought would be good to mention for anyone who's never been here (like myself):

how you going - nobody says "how are you doing" and they rarely use complete sentences
ta - thank you and goodbye, usually said by a cashier
goodonya - same annoying Canadian saying to thank or congratulate someone
no worries - popular phrase in Australia
youse guys - some people from the country say this
take away - they have no idea what "to go" means
chips - french fries, like the British
g'day mate - when someone actually said this to me I just about died from sheer amazing-ness

Also, when you use a card to pay for something, they'll ask you first what kind of card it is (credit or savings) and then "pin or sign?" which caught us off guard the first few times. Their card systems are called EFTPOS, which I thought meant something entirely different, and usually have a $10 minimum. Plastic bags are being banned (I think in a lot of countries) which is awesome, but that means they just won't give you one unless you ask, and most places charge 20 cents for one.

This place is pretty awesome, so I must go and explore some more. Peace!

Settling In

A few days ago we moved into our new apartment! It's in a great little neighborhood between Rundle and Grenfell, two major streets, and about a hundred meters (I said meters!) from East Terrace. Adelaide CBD (Central Business District) is just a grid surrounded by parks that separate it from the other parts of the city, so we live right on the East end near a park. Here's what it looks like outside:




^ That's not stopping anyone. I want to do a video walkthrough of the apartment, so for now I'll just post 2 pix of the living room:



Australia posts rentals by weekly rent, which can throw you off because there are more than 4 weeks in a month. This place is more expensive than it should be, but it's in a nice area so we're making it work. Back to money:


Everything is colored, like in Canada and I think most of the world, so it makes things a lot easier. For some reason, though, the five dollar bill is shorter than the others. Depending on which side of the bill you look at, there could be a governor, an aboriginal figure, or the Queen. As I posted before, the $2 and $1 are in coins. The $2 has an aboriginal guy on it, and is smaller than the $1 coin, which has several variations. I've collected over 5 now that all have different designs, such as kangaroos, the 5 stars of Australia (I'm still trying to find out what they are), or other interesting artwork related to the country. It's only been 3 weeks and it's already feeling like a home away from home.


^ The quintessential Australian sandwich: 1 slice of ham, 1 slice of cheese, and 5 lbs of bread.. $7.


^ Across the street are the botanical gardens, which I'll take a picture of and post soon. The greenhouse looks like a UFO that crashed into the ground! Just before you get there, Adelaide is having a carnival in the park called The Gardens of Unearthly Delight. We went last night but are going again tomorrow night, so I'll save the pix for another post. We're going back to Henley Beach tonight so more soon!

Air Conditioning = On

Today is substantially hotter than any other day we've been here, even though it doesn't look like it. The heat is thick, but not humid like the East coast. That didn't stop us from going out and exploring though!




^ We took the tram down to Glenelg again to check out an apartment. It had awesome character, but the 50min+ commute was too much for me and we decided against it.


^ If we had moved here, this would be me everyday. Hard at work!




The next day (yesterday).. yea this post isn't making much sense chronologically.. we took a walk up to North Adelaide.


^ On Pirie St. along the way.


^ Big convention center place by the Torrens River with some parkour dudes jumping around.




^ There was actually a cricket match going on at the Adelaide Oval when we got there.


^ Skunk crows?


^ St. Peter's Cathedral


^ Brougham Place Uniting Church.. and even more religious statues and monuments:

Henley Beach

Having already taken the train down to Glenelg, we were told Henley was a better beach (less people, nicer water) and it was also closer. About a 20min bus ride from the city and you're in paradise!


The sand was incredibly fine, and the water was clear and warm. We didn't want to get out because it was colder on the sand. Only problem is that no one goes in the water at night due to jellyfish and sharks. Here's a bunch of pix!