We flew home to Adelaide from Perth on 7 March, arriving at sunrise. From the airport we went directly to the small warehouse shed where our few belongings have been stored since mid 2007, and where we had arranged to meet a removalist at 9am. By 11am we were back in Lee Tuan's home unit that we left 10 years ago and which has been rented out since then.After living out of a backpack and hotel rooms since mid 2007, it's a novel and pleasant feeling to be back in our own place and not to have to repack and move on every few days. We are well settled in now although I still have 1.6 years of mail to sort and file! We'll keep this place as our home base to return to when we feel like a break from travelling. Like now. But we already have plans for later this year so the break won't be too long.
At 9.34 am on 22 July in Hangzhou, China, the moon will totally obscure the sun for 5.5 minutes, making this the longest total solar eclipse for over 150 years. Our American cousin Dick is a keen eclipse chaser and we have agreed to meet him at the Shanghai airport and accompany him on a three week trip in China, including of course a couple of days in Hangzhou at eclipse time. Weatherwise, it will be the worst time of the year to be in China but there's little hope of convincing the solar system to delay its confluence until a more comfortable viewing season.
After several months in Asia, Adelaide seems particularly quiet and sedate. But of course that's how many people like it, and the clean air and relatively sparse and orderly traffic are welcome. A chinese student once told me that when she arrived in Adelaide she was initially frightened by the absence of people on the streets, wrongly thinking there must be some sort of emergency situation and the people must have been evacuated. But she was reassured by others not to panic - this is how Adelaide is!
Autumn is a good time to be in Adelaide. The weather is pleasant and there are interesting places to visit in the city and surrounding regions. It often takes visitors' eyes for locals to appreciate what they have in their own backyard.
