Adelaide

The trip from Adelaide to Perth has been quite interesting. We had entered the Indian Ocean and were paralleling the Great Australian Bight. This is where the Great Sandy Desert comes right to the Sea with little vegetation even around the coastal areas. It’s also home to another of Australia’s great reef systems and undersea life. The Captain had notified us that the ship was using techniques for Whale evasion since this was also an area of migration for several species. We were able to see whales from a distance although the crew said that they had seen some of them only 40 or 50 yards from the ship. The ocean at this point can be very rough. The Southern Ocean (from Antarctica) and the Indian Ocean meet at this juncture and create the greatest Ocean currents in the world. Apparently the Indian Ocean pushes the currents south so that the cold water from the Southern Ocean does not come as far North as Australia. On these 3 days of our transit the Ocean was a force 6 with 9 foot waves. Apparently this is not bad for this area even though we had quite a bit of ship motion.
We arrived in Adelaide early on Feb 14 and were serenaded by a guy that looked like Crocodile Dundee. As the group played “Waltzing Matilda” from the pier, it put us in the mood for our trip ashore. We were again lucky with the weather which was Sunny and mid 70’s.
Adelaide, is an isolated but delightful city of 1 Million and is the capital of the state of South Australia. Its location, close to the River Torrens, and its compact city center is surrounded by gardens and parkland. Adelaide was not founded by convicts but instead was settled by free settlers (mostly British) in 1836. Silver was found soon after and mines sprung up all over the state.
We found the city a delight and were lucky enough to be there on a Sunday when the traffic was light and the street markets were open. The river is one of the centerpieces of the city with tour boats, café’s and ball fields lining its banks. Unfortunately last week there was a malfunction of the valve system that manages the water levels through the city and all of the water drained out into the Ocean. We’re talking Millions of gallons of water. So, the river on this day was dry. Picture this, “Uh, Mr Mayor, we left the Valves open in Vero last night and all the water in the Indian River drained out into the Ocean.” The city had plans to use water from a reservoir in the hills above the city to replenish the water supply. Never park your car under a gum tree!
We spent a good part of the day searching the markets and visiting some of its many museums. Among the museums we were able to visit were:
· South Australia Museum has the most extensive collection of Aboriginal artifacts. It was phenomenal. To realize the different cultures of aboriginal people with 500 different languages within this complex community.
· Art Gallery of South Australia
· Migration Museum which depicts the immigration of the various groups to Adelaide before and after WWII when most of the city grew. It reminded us a bit of the Ellis Island Museum in N.Y.

The ethnic population today consists of Italian, Asian, Jewish and naturally British. The local beer is Cooper and it’s a good un! Looked in local phone book and found 50 Mullens’ and 4 Langans, no Julianos.
After our final museum in the late afternoon we took a train back to the Outer Harbor where the Rotterdam was moored and were treated to a pool deck Aussie Barbecue and more of the Croc’s music. The ship was on its way to Perth by 11 PM.