On the evening of the 14th we celebrated Valentine’s day, a beautifully decorated Dining Room, followed by a ball.  

Karen and I had the privilege of opening and again, I had to show my 2 ‘left feet’  🙄  however it was short-lived, thankfully and the dance floor was soon full of guests ‘tripping the light fantastic’.

We didn’t stay too long as I had another early call looming, for our arrival at Adelaide.

A beautiful sunrise greeted us, as we made our approach towards the pilot station.  Our pilot was due to transfer from an outward-bound cargo ship, a car-carrier in this case and once he had done so, we made our way inwards.

Being of relatively light draft. (8.1m), we didn’t have to use the main channel, instead staying just slightly south of it and then coming into the deeper section before we reached the breakwaters.  Our berth was a short distance inside and involved swing through 180° in the turning basin opposite and then docking port-side alongside.  Accomplished and on time, Adelaide beckoned.

The port is quite a distance from the city itself and if one wanted to get there, involved a 40-minute train ride.  A station is opposite the Passenger terminal, a short walk. The trains run every 30-minutes and take you to the main station, Adelaide Central; here one can either walk, or take one of the trams, for here is another wonderful transit system.

Being a Sunday, the city centre shops were closed, however it was very busy with Indian and Pakistan cricket fans, for today there was a World Cup Cricket match, this one being one that was eagerly awaited and, it was estimated, would be watched by 1.5 billion people around the world, (sort of beats Superbowl, doesn’t it?  🙂 )

With the city closed, a passing Australian asked ‘if he could help’ as I perused a map.  This is the 2nd occurrence we have experienced such generous hospitality; the 1st was on the train into Melbourne, when a young lady took our map and inked-in a suggested sight-seeing walk.  This time the gentleman suggested we take a tram to Glenelg, a seaside town which would be ‘open’ and had shops and restaurants.  As it was 39°C, 102°F  😯  the thought of a cool sea breeze seemed particularly attractive and off we set on a tram.

30 minutes later, we arrived in an idyllic beach town, families with their children playing in the fountains, enjoying the beaches and restaurants galore.

Interestingly enough, it was also the site of the pioneer landing in South Australia, a large structure erected to memorialise the occasion.  

A wonderful meal, a beer and some people watching, we stayed until 3 p.m. and then made our way ‘homewards’. As we had a few minutes to ‘kill’ before our train, we wandered out of the station entrance to the ‘Riverbank’; an area of restaurants, parks and, close nearby, the Oval, the cricket ground and the roar of the crowd could be heard quite clearly.

 

We sail this afternoon, (our 16th), for Albany, straight due west, across the Australian Bight.