I am now sat in the YHA in Adelaide – the seventh and last of the Australian states which I needed to visit to have seen “all” of Australia. By my reckoning I’ve now seen 6 more states than most Aussies do in their lifetime.

The trip here was “plane” sailing (ho-ho). Thank you to Albert for getting up so early to drive me to the airport. The flight was trouble-free apart from two Americans sat behind me who managed to talk for the entire 3 1/2 hours we were airborne. Impressive, but nonetheless grounds for excuseable homocide had I not been too tired to kill them.

I hopped on the shuttle bus which, for a reasonable $5, dropped me off round the corner from the YHA Central. I semi-checked-in (confirmed I’d arrived, but couldn’t take a room that early) and met up with Delphine for breakfast and a walk around the town.

Adelaide’s a “pretty” city. It also lives up to its common title of “city of churches”. If someone ever says they’ll meet you “by the church” make very sure they tell you exactly which one as there are about 40 going spare in this burg. Some are still in use for churchy purposes, others decomissioned and housing offices and the likes.

We took a walk along the river for a mile or two, then doubled back. I got some nice snaps of the local wildfowl and a lizard or two. A very pleasant stroll.

Then McD’s for lunch, after which we watched a fairly entertaining street magician crack some awful jokes and perform some decent close-up tricks.

I also managed to pick up a couple of the sew-on patches I’d not been able to get in countries I’ve visited, as well as my last Australia patch (South Australia) and a handful of postcards for the regulars back home. With any luck, the package I sent from Perth with all my other patches will turn up sometime.

Also, joy of joys, AFL isn’t as huge a sport here as it is in Perth. Also their stadium is apparently bigger. And Adelaide (home to two teams – Adelaide and Port Adelaide) are playing at home on Sunday. So I managed to score a ticket for £28 and change including the booking fee. Whoop! More than 2 1/2 times cheaper than going to a Premiership game back home, as well. I was talking to a member of staff in the AFL shop and he couldn’t believe how much we pay to watch “proper” football in the UK. And they wonder why there are so many armchair fans back home. It’s because we can afford an armchair…

Back at the hostel I checked into my dorm for one night (tomorrow I go on a 2-day trip to Kangaroo Island) and tried to switch on my laptop… no joy.

Argh.

Eventually it decided it would power up. I think there’s a problem with the power switch, nothing more serious, but it could get worse. My international warranty isn’t as helpful as it could be, either. The joys of being mis-sold a warranty. Mind you, I’ve already had a successful go at Acer in the past and managed to get a brand new TFT screen out of them (after 4 months) when they lost the one I sent in for repair. Fingers crossed, folks – I need this thing until I get back to Blighty!

More on Saturday, most likely, when I get back from the trip.