inner space

Got chatting with a real spunk at the sauna last night. Told him all about my trip and what I'm hoping to see and do while in Oz. Talked about where my head's at too, and why. He sat and thought for a minute, then said 'lose the tick list mate'... suggesting I hadn't really yet embraced the idea of getting away from my normal hurly-burly and getting in some 'healing' time.

I DO need to do the 'processing' which is a big part of why I came here, he was right. As ever so far I've been busy being busy without leaving space for much else. So, with nobody but me to please I decided to take today off.

Went for a long walk through the tree covered mountains above Adelaide - and the peak of Mount Lofty. Cold up there, but it was a beautiful day. The walk was strenuous. 8km through the hills with very steep inclines for much of it. Down to some waterfalls, with amazing birdsong and croaking frogs all the way, and nothing else to hear, aside from the ragged breath of the odd jogger on the trail. It was an effort coming back up the hill to collect Russell, but means my shapely legs and arse got a workout at least!

Then went to a nearby wildlife park, as I'd made a promise to Kirsty to send her a picture of a koala. It was amazing to get so close to the kangaroos too. They were a little wary, but the park was very quiet, just me in most of the enclosures, and I was able to sit with them for a while and took some snaps and video there. Brilliant. Australian wildlife at last, and it wasn't running across the road in front of me.

Theatre this evening, at a place a lot like a smaller South Bank complex. Saw an Australian play called 'Holding the Man'... about the formative years for a young couple, but then in the second half they both get Aids. :0( Grim, and yet heart-warming, life-affirming stuff ultimately, rather than depressing. No show tunes though Brandon!

Adelaide is a great city, quite compact, and I've had a good time here with the security of a warm dry bed to come back to. But it's time to push on. Not to follow a harsh timetable, but to make some progress towards what I came here to see, Uluru, and the arid Outback. Tonight I'll be inland, where the temperature is climbing into the mid 30s. It's a long dry road, and I'm headed.... thataway.