Adelaide, City of Parks

While I was on the train across the Outback, I looked at this guy's guide to Australia for possible places to stay in Adelaide. I found a hostel that said you could sleep on the roof if you had your own tent and what not. It said it was the cheapest option in Adelaide and also sounded like the most fun option I had. When we got off of the train the Brit that I had been hanging out with got picked up by his Aunt (or as they say "Aunty") and offered me a ride into the city. She dropped me off right in front of the hostel. The guy, Gordon, who was working the front desk was an absolutely crazy Aussie. He had a way about him that made every situation feel kind of awkward and out of place. When I told him I was from the states he became even more weird. He said most Americans have a look at the place and decide to go to a hotel. He informed me, as well, that not a lot of people come to Adelaide as a destination. Needless to say, I was a bit skeptical about the city and the hostel. I decided to have a look at the rooms before I made my mind up about staying there. I was throughly surprised to see the room. It was not dirty, had a great view, and was all-in-all a very good room. He even put the sheets on the bed for me. Most hostels will just hand you sheets and send you on your way. I was very confused about why he said most Americans don't stay there because I saw nothing wrong with it, plus they had free rice. I decided it was fine and headed out to find some grub. I came upon this place called Sushi Train. It was in the Chinatown section of Adelaide right across from where I was staying. It is a restaurant where they make a bunch of different rolls right in front of you. They cut them up and put them on different colored plates that stand for different price ranges. They then put the plates on this conveyor belt that goes around in front of you and you just grab whatever you want to off of it. It was a very clever idea and certainly caught my attention. I went back to the hostel to lay down after seeing a bit more of the town. When I got back I met these three Irish people who had been traveling around the world for a year and a half. They had been driving around Australia and working for about 4 months. There was a rugby match later that night that they invited me to go to with them. Of course, being that it was in Ireland, it was at 1:30 in the morning. We went to a Irish sports pub which of course, had more Irish people in it for the match. As we sat there exchanging stories, watching the match, and drinking pints of Toohey's, I learned all about rugby, Ireland, and the deal with North Ireland being part of the UK. It was a fantastic time and I really took in a bunch of information about places in Europe, Australia, and Thailand that they had acquired from their travels. The Irish ended up losing to the French in the final seconds, which I really didn't care, but I had a blast watching and learning. The next day I took a tram out to a small suburb by the beach called Glenelg. It was a really cool beach town and had all sorts of things to do. I mainly hung out on the beach, but it was definitely a hopping town (Australian Kangaroo pun intended). I walked away from that day with a sunburn and an experience of what one Aussie called "the best beach in all of Adelaide". I was going to go to Kangaroo Island the next day, but when I got back to the hostel there was a note asking if I wanted to go to a baseball game with the guy I had met on the train. I would not have been able to go to the island and make it back in time for the game, unfortunately. Being that it was a free meal and a free game, I decided to stay in town for that. Besides, there was still some stuff I wanted to see in Adelaide. I went around to all of the parks and checked out the different universities and churches that were spread across the city. There is a river, of which I can't recall the name right now, that runs through the city. It is absolutely stunning and had many birds on it that I had never seen before, for instance the black swan. This bird is a bit bigger than American swans and is all black except for a bright red beak. It has a walk to it that looks very strange with its long neck all twisted and contorted. I headed back in time to meet up with the Brit at 5. I waited and waited until it was past the time the game started. I was real pissed that I got stood up by some bloody bloke from England and had to miss Kangaroo Island as well. I found out later that he had gotten real sick and was bed ridden all day. That still did not ease my anger. I still had a good day, but damn that guy and their horrible excuse for a country. Anyway, the night was spent hanging out with a very nice Swiss girl and another German girl. We all swapped different music and stories while discussing that Adelaide was more of a place to work and not play. It is a beautiful town but just was kind of lacking in the whole "travel here as a destination" kind of place. Gordon, the crazy Australian, was right. Oh well, I still made the most out of it and got to see some beautiful sites. By the way, I fixed the site and you can now post replies on it. I will have some pictures up shortly and more posts coming. Stay tuned America...