We're back from the land 'Down Under'

Had a brilliant holiday with the family in and around Adelaide but for the first time ever, we were not glad to be back home. Several reasons for that -
1. the house was like an icebox and took 3 days to get cosy again (won't put the thermostat down so low next time!)
2. The batteries had gone on the TV remote so couldn't even watch the TV programmes we wanted - no shops open as we were still on Singapore time.
3. The PC blew up when I switched it on and I couldn't get the forgotten password to enable me to log on to the webpage to pick up 400+ emails at work for several days.

Things have now improved and I have a beautiful new PC and they managed to retrieve 95% of my hard disc contents. Its a bit scary with lots of updates and so fast I can hardly keep up with it. I'm so glad I went to a local shop and not one of the big 'chains'. They even came to the house and set it all up for me, making sure all the correct drivers were loaded and everything worked!

Anyway..........back to Australia

Week 1 was spent mainly with the girl's as they were still on their summer hols. We saw the pandas at the zoo, visited the seahorse farm and spent lots of time at the beach, eating out or in the pool. The temperatures were in the 30s for the whole month so most meals were eaten outside (until it got too hot - 43C).

Week 2 began with Australia Day celebrations and a sausage sizzle at the local beach - Brighton! Once the girl's were back at school there was more time to visit the city and shops. My torn cartilage slowed me down a bit but I managed better than I expected.

Week 3 We stayed at a lovely 'cabin' at Mount Compass on the Fleurieu Peninsular
1. to give the family a break and
2. to give us a much needed chance to rest and just chill out.
Highlights included wine tasting in McLaren Vale and Langhorn Creek, an all boat trip up the Coorong (National Park at the mouth of the River Murray)with BBQ on the beach and closeup views of emus, dolphins, black swans, pelicans and seals. We paid several visits to Victor Harbor, Goolwa and the many stunning unspoilt beaches. The countryside was brown and dry and mainly used for grazing cattle. We saw more alpacca than sheep!

Week 4, now back with the family and checking out the houses for sale in local suburbs with a view to retiring out here if we can get visas. We were sad to leave and the farewells were a bit tearful but we had fun for 3 days in Singapore to break up the homeward journey. It was Chinese New Year - the Year of the Tiger and we managed to fit in visits to the Night Safari Zoo, Bird Park and Orchid gardens.