Ginger Without Borders

After two wonderful days on Kangaroo Island, we took a short (25 minute) hop back to Adelaide in a propeller driven Volvo commuter plane. Neither Dawn nor I could remember the last time we rode in a propeller driven plane (and now we have done it twice in three days). Before we left for the airport (powered entirely by solar panels), we spoke with Lena. She admitted she was surprised we had spotted the elusive echnida so many times. I remembered that Dawn’s final Australia Zoo experience was with an echnida, so here is what all the fuss has been about:

Scientists suggest the echnida evolved from 20 to 50 million years ago, it is one of only two living mammals that lay eggs (the other is the platypus). The platypus is even more elusive. Our guides who have lived all their lives on KI have NEVER seen one, even though there are thousands of platypuses on the island (they are one of the few original inhabitants). An echnida is also called a spiny anteater because its principal diet is ants and termites. Its tongue is sticky like an anteater and as long as its body and it can also use that long snout as an air tube, so they are capable swimmers Unlike a porcupine, its quills do not release when it is attacked. But as the kangaroo we saw yesterday found out, the quills are still quite sharp.

Kangaroo Island has been quite the adventure. The scenery was just breathtaking and the wildlife was abundant in the national parks. Sheep were abundant elsewhere.

While we enjoyed the cool days, it would have been fun to swim at the shore there because the water is too cold for jellyfish. Of course, you don’t swim near a sea lion or fur seal colony because those attract great white sharks. And the island’s inhabitants were some of the most friendly Australians yet and genuinely committed to preserving the wildlife of their little island. But we must press on to Adelaide.

Adelaide was designed in 1836 by an English army officer who laid out very wide streets in a grid pattern for the planned capital of Australia’s only free state. In addition to parks within the city (like the planned city of Raleigh), he surrounded the city on four sides with parklands. Adelaide is now known as the “city in a park.” Those parklands are now home to the sports complexes, a zoo and an extensive botanical garden.

Before we head out to dinner, there are a few interesting notes we should make about the Australian language we have picked up so far. On the menu, an entree is the appetizer. The principal dish is a main, not an entree. A thunderstorm that only involves lightning is a “dry storm.” If someone relocates to an area other than where they were born, they have “blown in” to the new city. The city’s center is the CDB (for central business district). And at least on Kangaroo Island, anyone who is a little foolish is a Galah, named after the most common type of parrot in Australia (actually quite a quite lovely large white bird with a reddish breast).

PS., Lena, we will try the Garmin on the Great Coastal Highway that we spent some of your interitance to update (not even one gig used on the Vodafone, so it will be the backup). Mom is still holding my hand, so I am safe for now.