Second Month in Adelaide

Time is absolutely racing by. I’ve been in Adelaide for nearly 2 and a half months (apparently), and I’m still having a great time.

I recently played in my first concert for the University Wind Orchestra. The concert went really well, and we had a great turn out inside a great venue (the Elder Hall). I only played in the second half of the concert as I arrived after the first rehearsals had begun, but I will be playing the full concert at the end of next month. I am really enjoying playing in band, and i’m looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into the new music. It promises to be a fantastic end to a great first semester.

Since my last blog I have continued to explore Adelaide and its surroundings. The locals recommended that we take a trip up to Beaumont for the view out over the city. So on a clear Saturday afternoon we hiked up to Beaumont with little idea as to what to expect; the view did not fail to disappoint. We stayed on the top of Beaumont for hours as we watched the sun set over the city, which was an incredible sight.

These past few weeks have been pretty busy at uni; we’ve had mid-term exams and assignments, as well as the usual other workload, so we’ve had to get our heads down a little bit. That said, it hasn’t stopped the international parties in any shape or form! As well as the International Student Group at uni organising regular events, we have continued to tour around Adelaide to each others houses for BBQ’s etc, with normally, what feels like, every international student from both the Uni. of Adelaide and Uni SA in attendance! I am continuing to make more friends from around the world each week, mostly Brazilian and Chinese, and I’m often still one of the very few, if any, English in attendance at these events.

This past weekend I competed in Adelaide’s famous City to Bay run. Starting next to the Festival Centre in the centre of the city, the 12k route took us to the south of Adelaide, across to Glenelg, and then along the coast to the finish line next to the harbour. It was an incredible race. Throughout the race there were bands playing (from jazz bands to wind bands to small pop groups to morris dancing) and thousands of people cheering you on. There were well over 35,000 runners competing in either the 3k, 6k or 12k. I finished the 12k in a time of 46:49, coming 147th out of 12296, which I am very pleased with.

We are now on our 2 week mid-semester break, and tomorrow I will begin my first bit of travelling. Without spoiling my next blog, I will be heading over to Brisbane for a few days, before going up the coast to Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands for a few days. I will then travel a bit further up the coast to Cairns, before heading back to Adelaide after a few days there.

The weather is really starting to pick up here. This past week, the “spring” weather has brought consistent temperatures of 22-25oC, which was has been really good. I can’t begin to imagine how hot its going to be in summer.

An Idiot Abroad? I’m sure these next two weeks will tell.