Adelaide

Unlike the convict population of the east coast of Australia, early settlers to South Australia were predominantly religious dissenters and free of what was considered the “convict stain.” These settlers, determined to stand apart from the rest of the country, set out to establish a more sophisticated and cultural environment for their city.  Religious dissenters established their own churches and the city became known as the “City of Churches” with over 100 of them in the vicinity.  Adelaide, founded in 1836 by free settlers, incorporated in 1840, became the first municipality in Australia, and is the capital city of South Australia.

It boasts a strong manufacturing base – chemicals, electrical goods, textiles, motor vehicles and steel tubes.  It has its own refinery , is the state’s administrative and cultural center and is an ideal location for sport, recreation & tourism.  It can still be traversed from north to south and through the main street without having to contend with traffic jams, even at peak hours.  It is Australia’s fourth-largest city and for its population, has more restaurants than any other Australian city. Great, more food!

We got off the ship at about 9:30 and had to be back at 3:00.  Short day here so we took the shuttle to town which is about a 40 minute ride.  We walked around town, had lunch and I bought a “Tilley” for Africa.  It’s an all-weather hat with a lifetime guarantee, waterproof and UV protected.  It was also very expensive. Our dollar is worth nothing in the world and even the Australian dollar is stronger than ours. There was a time when everyone wanted the American dollar, not any more.  Unbelievable!

The waters in the Tasman sea are usually very rough.  The last time we came to Australia the waves were so high that some people actually found fish on their balcony.  This time it was relatively calm with only 1 day being somewhat rocky.  Lucky!  By the way, Mike Farrell (B.J. Honeycutt on M.A.S.H.) and his wife Shelly Fabre joined the ship in Sydney.  He’s quite the activist but only spoke about M.A.S.H.  He’s very tall and looks exactly the same off camera as on and is very grey.  She, on the other hand, looks very strange with blond, pink & purple spiked hair.  Shelly Fabre…whoda thunk it.  It’s a very small ship and we run into them quite often.  Oh, how I did love M.A.S.H.  Our next stop is Bunbury, Australia.