Adelaide

Robe to Adelaide
On the road early after taking a quick peek around Robe first thing. It's a tiny and quaint seaside village. The back of our hotel opens out onto a gorgeous strip of white sand and blue sea. We would have liked to have stayed another day, but need to press on and get some miles under our belts as Adelaide awaits.
First stop Kingston Southeast where crayfish (rock lobster) is top dog (or seafood). The town is home to Larry The Giant Lobster - a huge art creation celebrating Kingston's claim to fame.
A quick picture with Larry and then onwards across the rugged and desolate south-east.
A large section of our journey takes us through the remarkable Coorong National Park on a lonely road which cuts its way alongside massive sand dunes, saltwater lagoons and freshwater lakes. It's is a wild and isolated region of South Australia, but beautiful too and home to all manner of birdlife, including pelicans, ducks, waders and black swans.
This sparse and salty internationally acclaimed wetland area was used as the location for the evocative and haunting movie Storm Boy, about a young boy's friendship with a pelican (a sort of Australian version of Kes).
After a long journey on this lost highway with not a community in sight for some 100 miles - and it seems to be getting hotter and hotter (air con is on full blast) - we pull into the little town of Meningie for a picnic on the shores of Lake Albert - a peaceful inlet sheltered from the ocean beyond by white-capped dunes.
Fed and watered (and we drink lots of it ice cold) we head for Adelaide crossing up and over outlying pastoral hills before dropping down into the city itself. We have decided to base ourselves at the busy and bustling seaside resort of Glenelg. Check into smart little motel off the main drag. It's modern and neat, and will do us fine for a few nights.

Glenelg & city
Air con in motel working a treat. Just as well. Heatwave warnings blasting out on TV and radio. It's going to peak at 43C today. Locals are complaining about the heat. We know Perth can get up to around 44C, but this is rare for South Australia's capital and we certainly hadn''t bargained for it.
Unlike Cairns in north Queensland, it's not humid. But dry or not, hot is hot - and, oh boy, is it hot here - so much so, in fact, that's it's impossible to sit on the beach, even less take a stroll on the pier stretching out into the Southern Ocean.
The city is nearby, so decide to ditch car. We are not going to need it. Return it to rental firm at airport and get full three-day refund. Impressed how easy it is to do this in Oz. No fuss or questions - a result.
Take bus into city. We are baking. Head to food court with air con for coffee (iced) and cake. Bliss. A slow stroll along some of the city's main sights (Lonely Planet suggests a walking tour and Chris has umbrella up, not for the rain but to protect us from the sun). We complete about a quarter, but are too pooped to go any further. Walking not such a good idea after all.
Back to Glenleg on bus (seems to take forever. Our mistake. Tram is way quicker we learn later). Arrive at 5.30pm. Hit the beach (it's cooled a little) and take refreshing dip in sea.
Later we watch red-sun turning to gold on horizon from the pier and on the way back to motel stop off at lively Jetty Hotel pub for cooling drink(s). Medicinal purposes, of course, after rigours of heatwave.

Summer in the city, part two
Switch TV on to hear that Cyclone Yasi is about to tear into Queensland. Another kick in the teeth for this huge state from Mother Nature after the devastating floods of a couple of weeks ago.
Here in Adelaide better news. The temperatures are coming down to a much more manageable 33/34C. Left a lot unseen in the city, so back in - by tram this time. A doddle. Should have done this yesterday. Still better late than never.
Broad tree-lined streets, gorgeous architecture and a swathe of lush green gardens and parks makes for a much more pleasant experinece - as does the drop in heat.
Head down to the River Torrens (Chris still needs that umbrella to keep off the rays, though) and cross into north Adelaide.
Catch glimpse of cathedral from park. Setting is quintessentialy English. It could be Canterbury or Salisbury Cathedrals we are gazing at. But this is St Peter's, the first Anglican church in South Australia (1860s). It is imposing and beautiful - and we spend an hour taking in its serenity.
Serene in a different way - and just across the park - from St Peter's is the graceful statue of cricket legend and all-time Aussie sporting icon Sir Donald Bradman. John reckons it's too good a photo opportunity to pass up, so duly plonks himself in front of the world's greatest batsman The Don for a snap.
He also manages to take a quick gander inside the tree-lined Adelaide Oval (the main gates are open). The MCG in Melbourne may be state of the art, but this Oval is elegance personified. It's a more traditional ground - cosy, yet regal.
Cultural and sporting passions satisfied, it's back to Glenelg. Swimmers on - another late dip and another glorious sunset.
Tomorrow it's an early start. We are catching the 6am flight to Perth, gateway to Western Australia, and jumping on shuttle bus to arty Fremantle, or Freo, as its laidback (so laidback, in fact that some are almost horizontal) locals call it.
We are going to hang out here for a week before embarking on a two-week trip to the Great South-West, home of vast forests, some of the tallest trees in the world, wild, elemental white-sand beaches, blue and greens oceans, both churning and calm, which bottlenose dolphins and massive stingrays call home.
We can't wait, but first for some chill out time in Freo before the next phase of our Oz adventure.