Lovely story I know. And I didn't have a present yet for Age's birthday, I thought I had more than enough time to get something! My last chance was on Friday, so off I went on my scooter on Friday morning to find something for the man, but I just managed to get into the village and off my scooter, and that was it. It didn't help that it was 35 degrees or something. I went home again, and straight to bed!
Saturday promised to be another scorcher, Age's first 38 degrees here! I've had it before, but Age was in Sydney. Hot weather seems to come with lots of wind, which makes it feel even hotter - the shade doesn't get the chance to cool down or something like that. And then the humidity on those days is only 12%, which makes it hard-going too - you're thirsty all the time, and your eyes and nose dry out, but you probably feel that particularly well when you're having a cold :-)
Anyway, it feels like dangerous weather for the body.
The best thing on Saturday? We drove to the Barossa, which is only 1.5hours away from us, a beautiful scenic drive, went to our hotel, and plonked straight into the swimming pool. Pure bliss! The pool bar was open too, and with our drinks, wedges and views of the valley the holiday had started.
Watching an electrical storm go past on Sunday afternoon |
Anyway, I forgot about it, until the night before Christmas, lying in bed, I suddenly figured that Age must have bought the cockatoo for me (as you can see, it kept nagging me), as I couldn't think of anyone else in the whole golfclub (not that I know anybody there yet) who would buy something like that for his missus. And then I got the giggles! And told Age that I knew what was in his present for me!
Funnily enough I was right! And Age kept pushing me towards the golf club on Sunday, and I kept trying to avoid playing golf, as my bowels and stomach didn't really what they were supposed to do, but in the end we ended up on the golf course for 9 holes. I was going to play - I brought my own clubs, and Age was going to caddy for me as he wanted the walk he said (which was strange as Age is never the one to propose a walk). Okay then. So when I turned around to rummage through my golf bag, there was MY cockatoo sitting on A NEW GOLF CLUB!
Santa bought me a brand new driver (yes, he knew the specs exactly), and a new 3 Wood was under way. Which they rang about on Saturday morning, while we were still in bed, Age said. At the time I asked him who that was on the phone, and he said that it was someone from tennis, he didn't have to play tennis that day, he wasn't needed. Which I found somewhat strange, that there would be a competition on on the 24th, as everybody would be busy with Christmas and so. And Age in turn thought that that 'lie' wouldn't go down very well, because we would leave for the Barossa, but I'm probably not every ordinary house wife who keeps her man on the leash on those days, so I didn't think much of it. If he was going to play tennis, I could secretly go out again and try one more time to get a birthday present.
Well, I had the best Christmas ever! And Age didn't get anything. That was not very fair, but he didn't seem to be too hurt actually. Even on his birthday there was no present in sight - all the shops closed, but we did have quite a nice day. We drove back from the Barossa, and later on did a lovely walk along the coast in South Adelaide, see the pictures below. It was the Hallett Cove Walk. Halfway down the walk we saw signs 'Snakes regularly seen in this area'. Just what we thought, we slowly get to know snake country. We haven't seen one yet, but I'm sure we must have walked past some here and there now that it's getting hotter.
The other day we had a blue tongue lizard in the garden, it made lots of noise when cruising through old leaves, and at first I thought it was a snake as I only saw its tail, so I got a little bit of an heart attack :-) They apparently are a gardener's best friend as they feed on snails!
Blue Tongue Lizard |
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Rock formations formed by glaciers 380 million years ago |
Age will get his present, as soon as we've got the courage to dive into the after-Christmas sales. He wants garden furniture! Well, that can be arranged :-)
Looks pretty there on the coast, doesn't it? All those strange structurese have been formed by glaciers and melting ice about 380 million years ago. Insane, isn't it?
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Amphitheatre - limestone |
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More limestone structures |