Being in Adelaide is a bit like coming home
for me (Christel). When I was in my fourth year of Medical School I was
fortunate enough to be part of a research project in Adelaide that lasted 6
months and had me living on North Terrace in the residential wing of the Royal
Adelaide Hospital, back in 1999.
My two worlds couldn’t be further apart,
considering I was a single Med-Student then, returning now married and with a
lot of children. Mode of transport is also very different. I was driving a mint
green Mitsubishi Sigma Station Wagon back then, and now we’re pulling in with a
Denning-Super-Amazing-Motorhome.
Jolmer is navigating the Adelaide Hills
very well, low gear and slow descent. The only tricky thing is to figure out
where to stay, not all caravan parks welcome dogs, and most parking lots are
not for overnight stays. After two nights on the Adelaide Foreshores we shift
to Belair National Park, slightly in the hills, with a pool and a welcome sign
for Flicky.
Here is where we are much better suited,
the bikes are coming out of the trailer and the awning is being set up with all
the possible side flaps we can find.
This is where we start the first term of
distance education. Let’s say we need a couple of weeks to get the hang of it.
I need to be broken in as a supervisor, and the children need to adjust to
having their mother around delivering the work.
Of all of them Jaap is the one who misses
his former teacher the most.
Jolmer is committed to teaching a trauma
course and is away for a couple of days.
We hit the city for a visit to Adelaide
Zoo, a walk through the Botanical Gardens, casting a look at the glass house
and the windows of the residential wing where I once lived. Into the CBD to
return to Scoozi for lunch –which I must mention: many times had I been here in
1999. Anno 2015 we find the restaurant unchanged! Even the penne with chicken
and broccoli in white cream sauce with black pepper is still on the menu. I am
hit by a major flash back, and cannot express the joy of being able to show my
children and share pizza with them. So after we were there earlier in the week,
we have to return for cake this time.
The day continues in the cinema where we
watch the Australian movie Paper Planes. What a very sweet film. Please go and
see it, rent it, download it, or buy it.
We finish the day with a quick round of ten
pin bowling. Who says we cannot have fun while Dad is teaching?
The rest of the weekend is less eventful;
actually, we are in a bit of a pickle, because the black water tank is full.
Very full indeed. It is starting to get smelly in the bus, and I don’t think it
is wise to maneuver the bus to the dump point on my own. Firstly because the
awning and all its flaps are up, and secondly, I don’t know yet how to empty
the black water tank. We are stuck with a smelly tank and visits to the toilet
amenities –which is really not a big deal.
Jolmer is pleased with his teaching
achievements and when we are reunited we start making plans to move on from
here –and empty the tank of course.
There are two more things that need to
happen before we go: we catch up with my supervisor and teacher from 16 years
ago, prof. Deb Turnbull. How very precious to catch up with her and pick her
brain at the same time about my current research project.
Secondly Peter is ready for his first swim
test. We are doing this the Dutch way and he is getting his skills tested for a
Swimming Diploma A. Laura comes with us to the SA Aquatic Centre, a very large
swimming pool complex. He swims with his clothes on first–this is one of his
tests- and does a few skills including floating on his back, on his stomach and
swimming a certain distance. After that he needs to tread water for a minute.
During practice he has reached to the side of the pool a number of times and I
have been worried, but with a lot of screaming and encouragement he does his
full minute and passes for his A Diploma.
I haven’t even mentioned our trip to Ikea
(Laura, Jaap and myself), our visit to our financial adviser and his family for
an evening meal, and our late night trip to Mount Lofty summit. This lookout
point is closed after dark, so we have no choice but to sneak around the
entrance building in the cold windy evening, to be able to enjoy the
breathtaking views of the city by night. And there are many more little things
that would be too much to mention.
Adelaide, I love you! City where somehow
the majority of traffic lights always seems to be green, where the time passes
at its own pace, where the hills are just a stone throw away, where we caught
up with old friends and met new people.
It has been a terrific ten days. Let’s not
wait another 16 years before we catch up again.
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