Road Trip, Adelaide and Bunnings

The recent trip to Adelaide was completed in excellent weather. No storms sneaking up and no nasty surprised lurking over

hills. I made directly for Bunnings at Para Hills.  I like Bunnings – different from most run-of-the-mill hardware stores. There is always an excellent range of stock and I can generally get things that I want and that are not stocked at home. They alsdo have a good garden center.

Provided the weather is good (and it was) the drive on Highway 1  is quite relaxing. The change in the vegetation  is very noticeable the further south you drive – it becomes softer and you can find this strange green stuff, which I am told is called Grass. We had this in Scotland, but I had forgotten it.

We do not have the great multi-lane highways and intersections that are normal in the populous parts of Australia – Sydney – Brisbane – Melbourne and driving through Adelaide, although busy and frustrating at times,  is not a patch on Sydney.  What you see is the major highway  linking the north of the state from the south. It carries on across the top of the state and links South Australia with Western Australia. You have, no doubt, noticed the distinct lack of transport – other road users – this is fairly normal. In our little world if we see more than four cars in a row, we wonder where the funeral is. There is not much in the way of wildlife either.  People die on this road because it is long, little or no traffic, and minds tend to wander. I do not travel this road at night. I used to but it’s not a great experience – major trucks tend to travel at night. The one advantage of Highway 1 is the  4 klm long passing lanes. They occur every  10 klms, so the longest you are ever stuck behind a caravan or truck is about 20 minutes to half an hour. On the way down (or up from) to Adelaide is the “Tin Man” a BP Service Station and the Crossroads of South Australia for anyone traveling north or south. This is where I generally stop for coffee and a snack both going do0wn and coming back. You meet all sorts of people there – even family  :o)