Sue and I went to Adelaide this week.  Sue was attending a conference and I was an “accompanying person” – which is good fun.

I meant that I had no commitments but to enjoy the luxury hotel and find amusing things to do.  So on Monday I rented a bike (I would have liked a good road bike, but had to have a heavy, stiff, “hybrid” bike, but there you are – for $25 you don’t get much choice), and decided to ride from Glenelg to the summit of Mount Lofty.

It took me three hours to get there!

I thought that I was being a bit wimpy because I was taking so long, going quite slowly at times.  It was about 27km and 700m climb.  Burning sun: I slapped on lots of suncream, and drank about 3 litres of water over the whole journey!

I felt less bad about how long it had taken me when it only took me 90 min on the return journey – the outgoing leg must have been quite steep!

The view from the summit was spectacular.  Looking out over the whole of Adelaide, you realise that in comparison to Melbourne or Sydney, it isn’t a large city.  Nevertheless, when Sue and I looked it up, it has over 1M inhabitants, so it isn’t small, either.

I like Adelaide.  A very bike-friendly city – flat, lots of bike tracks.  Also: trams, good climate, several excellent wine areas nearby (the Barossa, Clare and Piccadilly Valleys, the McLaren Vale) and really wonderful food-producing areas (the Adelaide Hills are known for this).

Why did I come to live in Australia?  Cycle around the Adelaide Hills in the sunshine, or live with Brexit and “Cyclone Doris” in England ….