Okay, I'm actually not IN Adelaide right now but I WAS and I was thinking about saying "hi" to you from there. But I am in Sydney at the moment and will probably be offline for the next two weeks, and it's been a while since I mass-emailed everyone, so here's the latest update:

Last Sunday I was still in Sydney. The highlight of my day was moving from the youth hostel into a proper hotel (with a TV and my own bathroom!). That night, Patrice and I went back to the Australian Hotel (my favorite pub in Sydney) where I attempted to have at least one beer from each of the seven Australian states. Unfortunately, the only beer available from the Northern Territory was the Darwin Stubby, which is a 2 litre beer. They wouldn't serve it to me. =)

Monday morning was the Super Bowl. We watched the game at Patrice's hotel. I don't think I need to tell you guys how excited I was, though I was SURE the Patriots would find a way to blow it (and they tried very hard!). I am still a little giddy. That afternoon we made plans for the rest of the week and celebrated the Patriots' victory with a very yummy dinner at a nice Italian restaurant.

Tuesday Patrice and I "did our own thing": she went to the Opera House for a tour and I went to the IMAX theater to see the "Cyberworld 3D" film. You get to wear a really cool 3D headset and the experience was pretty awesome. I hadn't been to a 3D show at an IMAX before but I highly recommend it.

Wednesday we went on a wine tour of the Hunter Valley (just north of Sydney). There were about 10 other people on the tour with us and I think we hit five or six wineries. I am starting to realize that I don't love Australian wines as much as I thought I did (read on and you'll see why) but we got drunk so, hey, how bad could it be?

Thursday we flew to Adelaide. One reason that we went there is that it was supposed to be sunny there, whereas it had been pouring rain in Sydney for almost a week. It is also a smaller city and we wanted to get out of Sydney for a bit. Most importantly, it is situated near three of Australia's major wine-growing regions. We toyed with the idea of going north to Brisbane (near the beaches) or all the way up to Cairns (near the Great Barrier Reef) but rain was forecast for those places and we wanted someplace a little nicer.

Unfortunately it never was all that hot or sunny in Adelaide, but at least it wasn't raining!! Our first day there, we just sat outside of wine bars and drank wine and watched the world go by. Or rather, watched the "boy racers" go by. For some reason no one was able to explain, the particular street we were sitting on was inundated with 20-something guys driving souped up cars with big mufflers and loud engines. Not really sports cars per se, just regular cars with big engines. The same cars would go by over and over. Very strange. Maybe there's nothing better to do in Adelaide on a Thursday night?

Friday we did a wine tour of the McLaren Vale. It is probably the least well-known of the three South Australian wine regions, but they produce some very popular stuff (e.g. Rosemount Estates). Unlike the other wine tours I did, in which I went in a minivan with 10-12 other people, Patrice and I were alone with the driver this time. It was a bit weird because we couldn't just be "anonymous" and sit back and zone out; we had to entertain the woman most of the time. After about 6 wineries, we were way past our limit and asked to be taken back to the hotel! It was exhausting.

Saturday... another wine tour. See why I'm tired of Aussie wines?? This one was in the Barossa Valley, which is the best-known of the regions and a very popular tourist destination. We had the standard minivan with 10-12 other people, but in this case, the driver/guide would NOT SHUT UP. It was so irritating. We were all tired of hearing him ramble in a monotonous voice, and he started every sentence with "You'll find..." I think we were all going to kill him. The vineyards were good but the experience was soured a bit by this guy's rambling.

That night we wandered the streets of Adelaide searching for a decent pint of Guinness and a quick dinner. What we found were dozens, maybe hundreds, of teens and young-20's standing outside the Hilton in tuxedoes and evening gowns. What the hell was going on? It was strange because some people seemed too old for a prom, and some people were too young to seem like they were in college. We later found out that it was the "Desperate and Dateless Ball", a reason for single people to get all dressed up, get fixed up with a blind date, and party the night away. If only we'd known!!!

Sunday was a rough day. We got up at about 5am to catch a 6:00 bus to another bus, which took us to a ferry, which took us to Kangaroo Island. This is an island off the coast of South Australia, renown for its wildlife and virtual lack of human intrusion. We got to walk along a beach where we were only a few feet away from sea lions, see some incredible rock formations, and hang out with some New Zealand fur seals. Notice... no kangaroos. Apparently they hide because they don't like the people being there. We did see one 'roo, who actually came right up to us and went after Patrice's ice cream. We got back to Adelaide at about 10:30 that night, completely wiped out.

Monday was just as bad. We got up early and took a 4WD tour into the Flinders Mountain Ranges, which separate suburban Adelaide from the Outback. It was our first and probably only foray into the Outback, but overall it was quite disappointing. Apparently the two-day and three-day versions of this trip are better and more popular, and to try to do it in one day only gives you a glimpse. We didn't really see much in the way of wildlife or interesting landscape, just lots of vineyards and small towns.

Which brings us up to today. We flew from Adelaide to Sydney and have been running errands and such all day. Tomorrow we are off to New Zealand. We are going to be in Christchurch for two days and then on Friday we are departing on a two-week guided tour of the South Island. The tour is mostly hiking and sightseeing, but there is plenty of opportunity for crazy adventure stuff (bungee jumping, sky diving, jet boating, kayaking, etc) and I promise not to disappoint!!

We will be returning to Sydney right after that NZ trip, which is February 28. So I will probably be offline until then.

I am flying back to America on Monday March 4, getting in late that night. After that, a trip to London and then a trip to Montreal, but I should be back in Milford (and finally rested) around March 19, so hopefully I'll catch up with everyone soon after then!! Take care!!!

Chris