I was up at 4am to catch my first Uber to the Perth airport. We only ran one red light, which gave me and the driver a big fright. Luckily, there was no other traffic at that intersection. Note to self: Don’t talk to Uber drivers as they can get distracted by my interesting conversation at 4 in the morning.
I flew on the budget airline,Virgin, so there was no in-flight entertainment screen and no food. However, the coffee and water were sufficient, as it was only a 2.5-hour flight. So I slept and detoxed from screen life, making up for my early rise.
I caught a bus into the city alighting with a young woman from England, who was going to the same hostel as me. I immediately put her in charge of directions and we walked and talked the 3 blocks to the Tequila Sunrise Hostel.
I know some of my followers have never stayed in a hostel, and some definitely have no ambition to ever do so. But if you are curious here are some details, FYI
For $49 AUD a night, and I have my own sleeping pod in a 12 pod room. My pod is a nice cosy space with a fan, light, plenty of shelves, high enough to comfortably sit up, and plenty long enough for tall people. In the room, there are shoe lockers and an underbed storage box that is as long as the bed, so it easily fits my pack.
I hardly saw any of my roommates, and the only snorer had a lovely rhythm that reminded me of Garry’s snoring, so I was lulled to sleep, remembering that today is 21 years since he died. I wonder if I would have been doing these long walks with him.
Included in the $49 is dinner and breakfast. So at 6.45pm, there is 160 hungry backpackers lined up for dinner. There is plenty of good basic food and enough for seconds and to pack for lunch the next day. The food arrives fresh each day and is prepared in the communal kitchen by the staff who are backpackers who were staying here.
Breakfast was a choice of 6 different cereals a variety of yoghurts milks , fresh fruit toast and spreads. Ham cheese, toastues, pancakes,orange juice, many flavours of tea, coffee. It’s fantastic.
The place was alive and buzzing because of the shared meals, in contrast with some hostels i’ve stayed at over the last few years where the people are all sitting around on their phones not interacting with each other. This was really great to see young people interacting and enjoying a company of eachother.
I needed to buy some Easiyo yoghurt powder to mix with my muesli on the trail. It proved quite a difficult job being a city supermarket, and not selling such things. I went out to suburban shopping center on the bus 3.8k’s. I didn’t have any even thoughi had rung up and was told they stocked it. On arrival, I hear yes they do stock it, however, it is out of stock today… then it’s 3.8k, walk back into town as the next bus is not for an hour and I am not good at waiting.
So the next day, I walk 5.5km out to another shopping center where I was lucky enough to get what I needed. The bus back at an 18 minute wait, I thought, well walk, get some training in I can’t walk 4 or 5K around town how am I going to walk eight hundred kilometres on the trail.
Walking through a city is the best way to see it and get a feel for the people who live there. The locals are either all very healthy and happy people or the exact opposite. I walked past places to get your feet fixed, your back fixed, your teeth, eyes and hands sorted. Every one of your bits would feel wonderful after visiting every business along this road. There was even a couple of Adult Shops for those other bits!
Along with those, I came across numerous places to fix your mental health and well-being. Yoga retreats, massage parlors, hypnotherapy, couples therapy, youth counseling, and everything you could need to fix any number of problems a person could have.
Adelaide ciyy centre is typical of any major city in the world. There is a mixture of old and new buildings with buses and trams to get around, and the main part of the city is grided, so it’s easy relatively easy not to get lost.
I went to the museum which was interesting full of big stuffed animals and lots of Aboriginal history and artifacts.
I had a quick run around the Art Gallery (I am not very art) and the library. The library was really lovely.
I also went and got my tramping haircut, which cost me $75, but I won’t need another one of those for 6 or 8 weeks. The hairdresser was a chatty lady who arrived from Vietnam as an 11 year old just after the war. She bemoaned her entitled kids who couldn’t understand what the difference between wants and needs were.
I had a couple of purchases to make, gas bottle, lighter and I found a new bumper bag that will work better than my Dad’s one that i have been using. The guy in the shop commented that mine looked like something straight out of the ’80s, which is probably quite accurate. We cringed at the photos of Dad on his travels from back at that time with his bum bag. But it has lasted the test of time.
I, sadly, put it in the “Free stuff” box at the hostel, and it was gone the next morning. I wonder if it was a collector of vintage artifacts or a backpacker who would actually use it and jeep it traveling.
