We’re now camped alongside the beach at Brighton Caravan Park in Adelaide. It’s very, very pleasant.

It’s been a long time since we were last able to walk along a beach and swim in the sea, not since Broome, in June. We had a very short stay near the coast at Nelson Bay, and a couple of day trips to the coast at both Yamba and Coffs Harbour. It was winter though, and therefore didn’t really count. I don’t think I’ve been away from the coastline for this long before in my whole life, and I don’t think I’m likely to be away from it again for this long a second time. I really missed it!

We’ve now been in Adelaide a week. The heavy duty clutch has been fitted to the car. A made to measure mattress has been ordered for the van. A replacement awning has been organised after our current one was damaged in a hail storm at Pinnaroo. Our Christmas shopping is done, and we’ve both treated ourselves to a bit a of wardrobe update for the coming summer. So that’s all the business taken care of.

Now we can get down to the business we signed up to do when we took on the ‘Grey Nomad’ lifestyle – walking on the beach, swimming, more walking on the beach, a bit of sight seeing, more walking on the beach, reading books, playing cards, meeting people, and of cause, more walking on the beach….

We went into the Botanic Gardens yesterday, a lovely place to walk. Then we met up with Chris (Paul’s 2nd cousin), Clare, Luka and Emma for a light dinner at the surf club next door to the caravan park. Chris and Clare had just completed a ‘tough mudder’, fund raiser (I think that’s what it was called). They both looked normal before the event, and still normal after it. However, I’m sure their looks must be deceiving as from what they told us is involved in the event, you’d have to have rocks in your head to even contemplate it – running through mud, and up steep, slippery, mud and water soaked high walls, diving into and swimming under submerged beams in an ice filled water pond, and scrabbling under live, electric currents where getting shocked was inevitable….. I think it was a couple of hours of what sounds like nightmarish hell to me.

Anyway, they both completed it and didn’t look any worse for it afterwards, and I believe it was all for a very good cause. Kudos to them both and to everyone else who took part in the event. I would never have been capable of completing any such thing at any stage of my life to date, and if there’s lives to follow this one, I’m sure it won’t be on my list of, ‘must do’ things then either, LOL!!

We’ll start having a good look around Adelaide, and this part of South Australia soon, hopefully getting to one of the nearby wine regions sometime later this week. Then, before we know it, Christmas will be here.

We’ll be spending our first Christmas on the road with Chris, Clare, Luka and Emma. They’re coming here for the afternoon, and we’re hoping the weather will be obliging for swimming and perhaps a game of bouchee on the beach before dinner. Of course, if the weather isn’t up to it, we can always suggest a card game of infamous, ‘spoons’. I’ll make sure my finger nails are short….