Oh no, not again.....

It's amazing. I left my hostel in Perth only seven hours ago and now I am in a place that is now all too familiar... Adelaide. It's just a quick hop by plane, but I have covered a massive distance. Leaving Perth was tough. I have fallen in love with WA in the five weeks I spent there. I have seen how beautiful that state is and I have experienced Perth in-depth (well, I have spent some time there). I even managed to make some Perthian friends I didn't want to leave behind. But once again: such is life. It's my goal to return one day, though!

I would never have guessed that Adelaide, this somewhat less than thrilling city would turn out to be the hub of Australia. This is the third time I am here. I must admit it feels somewhat nice to come back to a familiar place. I don't have to search for the nearest Westpac ATM, or the nearest supermarket and I know a very nice Chinese place I might have lunch at later today. But it's still not my favourite city of the lot. I would have loved Melbourne to be this central to my trip. But such is life. I am leaving tomorrow anyway. I am off on a seven-day tour to Alice Springs. I am finally, after more than three months, going to one of the symbols of Australia: Uluru. Definitely looking forward to it!

I just found out today's the Queen's birthday (the British one, that is). And because of that, the Aussies have an extra day off and practically all shops are closed. Argh! How am I supposed to get supplies for the trip? I hope I can find at least a corner shop that's open. If not, I'm well and truly screwed. Maybe I'm ignorant, but didn't Aussies not like the Queen much? Sure, there's the whole Commonwealth thing, but in my months here, I got the impression that Australia is not a particularly royalist country. Any excuse for a party, I reckon.

(why am I looking at the BBC site for tonight's Euro2008 game against Italy? Bad, bad!)