Off to Adelaide

Yesterday was a blast my coach picked me up at about 8:15 and we headed to the mountains. The first stop was a lake surrounded by rain forrest where we first had tea and scones with real cream and home made jam. Yummy, I could eat these all day. The bus driver whose name I can't remember had me sit by him in the front and he introduced me as Kelly from Texas who rides horses. I told him that yes I had a horse... After I stopped laughing at the question... It was white and it's name was trigger. I am beginning to really get used to the Australian sense of humor. Along our tip we pulled over and spoke to almost a dozen people, making fun of everyone in our path... That is just what they do here. We stopped at an organic dairy farm where I bought some quark, very similar to chevre but made from cows milk and some havarti. Last night I bought some nine grain bread and a tomato and made a sandwich... It was delicious. We also stopped at a banana farm that also grew passion fruit and papaws a cousin to the papaya. We visited a Spanish castle but I left the tour and walked around on my own, we saw a traditional aboriginal dance and I took the cheesy tourist photo holding the digery-doo. I decided it was worth it. The castle was covered in mold and smelled really bad but I took some beautiful shots. It wasn't really a castle and was built during the depression by a Spanish family but it was beautiful and I can only imagine what it looked like once upon a time. Most of the tour was filled with old people and newlyweds but I liked that they were all in good spirits, we stopped along the way for a plowmans lunch and wine but from what I have noticed the wines they serve are terrible and the red wine is served cold. Hopefully when I head down to the Barossa Valley the wine will be better. On the road we passed an artist painting on the side of the road, I took a wonderful photo of him holding his pallet and painting. Everything was quite picturesque with Holstein cows dotting the country side, rolling hills, mountains, clouds tucked in the valleys, and a sprinkling of palm trees. We stopped at 5 waterfalls along the way, beautiful. We were not allowed to get into the pools because they have had so much rain lately that the currents were too strong and the liability too great. So I wore my bathing suit all day and didn't get one drop of water. Today I am going to wander the streets until my flight takes off. There is a casino here that has a biodome on top of it with butterflies and other animals. I have heard it is a nice diversion, other than that I might just sit by the pool at my hostel. There is not much to do here if you are not heading out on a day trip or diving the reef and since I did not have an entire day I am sticking around until my flight. I still have not found another place to upload some more photos but hopefully I will find one when I make it back down south where I hear it is much colder. I also heard it is 38 degrees in Austin so I have probably missed the last cold blast of the season. Thank goodness I got some sun here I did not know New Zealand was cold as well, 15 degrees Celsius. Can anyone tell me exactly what that is????