The Return Leg
Well, the time is almost upon us when we have to leave Australia before we’re forcibly removed: our visa runs out next month, and we’ve booked some flights away, next Sunday, from Melbourne.
Following the sale of our car to some nice Germans here in Adelaide, we have decided to hire a vehicle to complete the final leg of our circuit around Australia and return to Melbourne, where our jumbo jet will be taking off.
To complete the experience, we are flying with Qantas (we came here with Emirates) so expect a review of the differences – pros / cons – of the two leading airlines operating between the UK and Australia at some point. I can hardly wait, I’m sure you can’t either.
Qantas’ theme tune is “I still call Australia my home” and unfortunately, it will probably be a heart rending experience to board our flight as a result: I’m sure that we will always consider this part of Australia, the Adelaide Hills, in some way, our home.
Since we arrived here two short months ago, we have met some really nice people, lived in a couple of great houses (for not too much money!), had some good food and even better wine (everyone here is vastly more expert than me where wine is concerned, most of them having studied viticulture), and perhaps most of all, enjoyed a warm spring-time climate in one of the most beautiful places you could ever hope to visit.
For those of you who have never been here (or those that have who had their eyes and ears shut) the Adelaide Hills are so fine as to be almost unreal. With just a 15 minute drive into the centre of Adelaide, I’m sure there are few places on Earth that can rival it’s beauty:convenience ratio. The small town of Hahndorf is so twee and Olde German it more resembles a museum than a town, but it gets away with it by providing some of the best food you’ll find anywhere – locally produced cheese, yoghurt, bratwurst, fruit and veg, wine, German beer, I could go on…
We’re now planning our departure in earnest, making hasty international money transfers, and, on Saturday we had our Last Supper at the quite brilliant Maximillian’s Restaurant. We enjoyed the best meal I have eaten in over a year (the Chateau Briand quite leterally melts in the mouth), and some great wine which was made by Paul of Maximillian’s (who coincidentally has also been our landlord while we’ve been here) when he worked on Kangaroo Island (KI), if you ever find a bottle of their Cabernet Franc blend, buy it.
Our timing could have been better too.
We arrived in December, from an English winter and had the pleasure of experiencing 40+ temperatures on the very first day of our arrival. In a couple of weeks, we’ll be doing the reverse which, I’m sure, will be a far less pleasurable experience.
It will be good to see all our friends and family again, and meeting people to whom we don’t have to explain our whole life story within 5 minutes will be a relief after a year of doing just that.
Like the Terminator, I told you I’d be back. See you in a fortnight.
Leave a Reply