Women Over Fifty

Adelaide looked like a nice place to live, but I don’t have a lot of photos from there.  I’m using postcards for pictures today.  We arrived just before the Easter holiday.  We later discovered that Easter lasts a long time in Oz.  (I like that name for Australia because when we were there, it felt like we had traveled to Oz.  Things nearly the same, but different.)

I had a problem with food while we were there.  On Easter Sunday our hotel had a huge, and very expensive buffet at lunch time.  I wasn’t ready to eat when I saw the sign at the restaurant there.  I was on my way for a walk to see Adelaide.

We were just off downtown and it was very quiet that Sunday.  Hardly anyone about.  While I walked I wondered what my friends were doing then.  I’m a religious person and I really missed church that day.  Or should I say I almost missed church that day.  In my wanderings I stumbled upon a Lutheran church (my denomination) and church was nearly ready to start.  I was just in my jeans and T shirt, but I went in and took a seat.  I had a feeling of connection with my friends in the US, even though I knew there was a day’s difference in the time.  That didn’t matter.  I was in Australia celebrating Easter just like my friends would celebrate Easter at home.

When I returned to the hotel, tired and hungry, the buffet was closed and the staff had left the hotel to the guests and gone home.   I already had walked around the general area and not seen restaurants or even small shops.  The diabetic in me screamed HELP!

I walked the three flights up to our room and rummaged in the suitcase for emergency food.  I had food bars and water that day for my Easter dinner.

We were totally unimpressed with a hotel that filled the window with a huge air conditioner (I couldn’t see outside at all), and a staff who abandoned their guests.  We decided to change hotels the next day.  So my hubbie left on foot to find another hotel, and I left on foot looking for an open restaurant.

I now began asking people I met if they knew of a restaurant that was open that day.  People were few and ideas were fewer.  I felt so lonely.  I knew that I’d be hungry in a few hours and need some real food, not just food bars.

I walked so far that day.  Finally I found a Hilton Hotel.  It had a restaurant!  It was opened!  It was expensive and I didn’t care.  I fairly stuffed myself with veggies and fruits and everything else I could find.

I was tired walking back home.  I’d not seen a taxi and I didn’t know where the busses went, so I just kept walking.

Back at the hotel, my husband triumphantly announced we had a room in a downtown hotel for the rest of our visit.  I had planned to tell him about the Hilton, but I was just happy to have a new place to stay. When we told the staff we were leaving, they seemed to be put out that we hadn’t stayed for our full reservation.

Things picked up the next day.  Before leaving for Australia we had purchased matching wheeled suitcases.  These saved us so much effort.  We walked over to the new hotel, settled in, and set out to see Adelaide.  However, keep in mind it was still Easter holiday (on Monday).  Not everything was open.

I was intrigued by the modern O’Bahn bus and the Gleneg-Adelaide tram.  One was very sleek and modern, the other a refurbished old tram.  The bus was interesting because it ran between concrete berms.  It could go very fast and was cost-effective because it held a constant speed.    You can see the bus road in the picture.  We rode it to the end, then got on the tram and rode it out to the beach.  It was fun to poke around the shops.  The beach reminded us of home.

Back to the new hotel, we enjoyed walking around the city.  I enjoyed the easy access to FOOD!  I was still suffering the effects of fear of no food - psychologically, of course.  I had never been in danger of starving.

The following day we went to the Pioneer Bus station to get a reservation for our trip into the outback.  I had heard so many stories of the outback, now I was going to see it in person.  One hitch!  The bus, which drove straight north only went at night.  I thought I wouldn’t see much at all.

Tomorrow, I’ll tell you about the bus ride and what I did see.

Marilynne

Trackback URI | Comments RSS