It's 9:30 am and Ruth has stepped out for something...

So, I thought I'd update very quickly. Australia is beautiful, and I'm doing tons of new things I didn't know I'd be doing. I love being surprised that way. The people are generally very friendly and outgoing and I'v been made very welcome here. Today it looks like rain, which is unusual for this time here, and it is slightly chilly; it will be in the low 20's Celcius. I think we are going to have a morning of Milo, mud masks, and dying Ruth's hair.

Normally, the sky is so blue, more than I've seen before. It's gorgeous. Adelaide is a lovely small city surrounded by the Adelaide Hills and water. When it does rain, you can see the clouds and the sheets of rain coming over the hills. But apparently any rain usually just stays in the hills, so that you can see rain on one side and the bright sky on the other. The sun bites here, as my poor sunburned arms can attest to. So really, the lapse in warmth and sun is good for them to heal in time for the birthday party on Saturday.

There are also tons of wild animals to be seen. So far I've seen kangaroos on a ridge at twilight, a koala sleeping in a gum tree, emus crossing a countryside road, and loads of parrots and lizards. I even held a wild blue-tongued lizard out in the Port Lincoln farmlands. I held a captive koala, which was very touristy and cuddly and fun.

There is tons to do just around Adelaide, and I'm so glad I've been able to spend this time with Ruth and Dean. They have a lovely life here, with beautiful surroundings, a cute house with a great backyard, and Dean's mates to welcome Ruth to life in AU.

Yesterday Ruth and I took to a bit of gardening in the morning, and then headed out to Adelaide in the chilly weather. We wandered through the Botanical Gardens and Rainforest Conservatory. It reminded us of french gardens with the trellises and statues and heaps of roses. But then it also had very old native gum trees and other plants, with a lot of room for just wandering around. From there, we wandered down Rundle Street, checking out a local artists' shop and stopping for lunch. We dined on seafood at a little cafe where we got to sit outside, enjoying the sun while it was out. We then went over to the Tandanya, which is a gallery of aboriginal art and history. The exhibits and art in there were amazing...each painting (often on bark or other natural resources) is a story to be read through the dots and colors.

I prefer to not think about going home yet...and I think Ruth is here...