What a turbulent couple of weeks… and I am sure it’s all because I responded to Sue’s email, saying if I send on a particular shamrock message in two minutes flat to a certain amount of people then I would inherit the luck of the Irish… and sure enough the next day John got the offer of going to Australia!

The trip to London and Wales was so good… I loved seeing Gerry and Tasha in their homes. I ate delicious Greek food with Tash before going off to Cardiff to dance in the aisles with Buddy Holly, then after a much too brief visit, I came back to London to spend some time with Gerry, who is suffering with a bad back. After all the visits to London over the years I finally managed to go to Highgate Cemetery and see the grave of Karl Marx. Mission was accomplished on a gorgeous spring day, and we also saw the stones of George Eliot and Jeremy Beadle!

Back to Edinburgh and the completion of the house move… and with chipped nails and a bleeding knuckle, John and I finally made it to the airport with our bags packed for the next big adventure.

Had a stop over in Seoul, where we met up with Ruth, in the bustling Itaewon area, and I was black affronted when she asked me if I wanted some tea to drink in the Seoul Bar… all that way for a cup of tea?????? Then I discovered it was Long Island iced tea which was a very tasty cocktail… and quite lethal, and just set me up for Korean barbecue and a tour round the seedy back streets full of US military haunting the brothels, sort of reminded me of MASH.

The next day we were very brave and ventured on to the Seoul Metro, and compared to London it was so clean, orderly and efficient… and every time we produced a map, someone stopped and asked if they could help. We cruised around Insa dong, and tentatively went into a park, dominated by a large statue (National Treasure Number 3). I was quite worried as the dusty, wintry park was full of men, sitting enjoying the tentative spring sunshine… (the seasons seem very far behind the UK… there wasn’t even a bud on a tree). Oh well, we were made to feel quite welcome.

And NOW!  Well here we are in Glenelg. It’s a gorgeous suburb of Adelaide, and our apartment looks out to the beach and the ocean… I feel like a Hollywood star living in Malibu or somewhere… it is like a dream.

Poor John had to go to work, but first he was given a car so we were able to do some grocery shopping, so now on our second day I can see some routine that may be emerging. This morning I lay out on the sand, and turned pink (good for Vitamin D, after our long winter) and later will go and explore how far the beach goes. I have already circumnavigated the town… it seems to have everything. No doubt once I have settled I will figure out how to actually meet people. Nick is flying down for Easter, so that is something to look forward to.

There is a monument in front of the town hall to the worthy men and women who founded this state of South Australia… and I wondered if any of the ancestors of the folk from the original Glenelg might have been on it… but no, not that I could see. I will have to look for family resemblances to the Macdonalds, MacClures, MacAskils and Chisholms etc! The beach doesn’t really resemble Bernera either, but who knows, it might have done once.

The tram leaves for the city every 15 mins. so I could go for a jaunt, but I think I will wait for John and we can go on a joint venture this weekend.

There is so much to see: parks and wildlife areas, as well as the Barossa Valley vineyards, where no doubt we may buy a bottle or twenty two.

Next day….I have just woken up, and I see the local school is giving surfing lessons on the beach…it is very colourful, all the boards and kids splashing away. Got quite a pang and almost wanted to go back to work!!!! Ha!