Has it been a year already? Being in a new country with the stress of school and finding our own living arrangements, the day crept upon me and I realized that I didn't have a gift. I made a second rookie mistake of actually believing that we could celebrate our anniversary after we had gotten settled into our new place. Needless to say as the day arrived this idea was not going over very well. The pressure began to build even more as we had to plan our day before we left for church. Given our reliance on the bus system and the fact that it would take 2 hours to get to church, we needed to pack our bags and have a general idea of our direction. Fortunately for me, the beach in Glenelg is only 15 minutes from downtown Adelaide. We were able to get dropped off at the beach with our bags, but this still left the question of where we were going to stay. The first option was a Best Western a block off the beach. Fortunately after we checked out BW, we discovered that there was a public library right across the street. The internet! After having been in Australia for a few weeks, we have discovered that the Internet is quite a valuable commodity. First off, I have not traveled the world that extensively, but in Adelaide, the Internet is not served on an "All You Can Eat" basis at least not at the prices we're used to back home. Secondly, there is almost no such thing as every McDonald's and coffee shop having free wifi. While I'm on the subject, there are not very many public bathrooms (or toilets as they call them here). Getting back to the hotel question, we discovered a second option which was a large hotel with a casino and right on the beach. While it seemed like an appealing option, the hotel was quite busy and the rooms facing the water were at least 300 or so. Fortunately, there was another option about a 5 minute walk down the beach. It was near luxury apartments and a bit more secluded but with beach front access.
Although the whole situation was not ideal given our limitations in a new country, we could not have asked for more from the setting. Additionally, the room was quite large and set for an extended stay which gave us everything that we needed. Furthermore, South Australia being such a big wine region makes it quite difficult to pay more than $20 for even a very good bottle of wine.
I have been quite surprised at how clear the water is here. Although we haven't been to many beaches, it is quite a nice change from many of the murky waters back home. If you walk out chest deep into the water, you can still look down and see your feet, which is pretty cool.
Long story short, although the first anniversary got off to a rocky start, it was salvaged in the end!
