Blogging by popular demand

Having fielded some flack for not having my usual 600 to 1,000 words up by 10 am, I offer some random observations about Adelaide and business travel.

1. Flying in it looks as flat as Melbourne and even more suburban the Canberra: lots of tidy suburban homes in grid-perfect suburbs crowding in around the city. The city centre is, however, much cooler than that. Lotsa old colonial buildings jumbled in together, and they fly the aboriginal and national flags in the centre of town. Goucher Street, the China Town/Central Markets area, is great for eating out too - really lively, yet still very big-country-town relaxed.

2. The water is not the colour people warn you about, but it does taste kinda chlorine-treated.

3. Next time I book myself in somewhere I'm going to phone ahead and check I have a window that opens. I hate waking up adozen times a night because it's so stuffy I can't breath and the air conditioning doesn't seem to help.

4. I'm only just beginning to have childhood memories of this region triggered. I used to visit occasionally while my family lived in Broken Hill. I stumbled across a tourist brochure for the "giant rocking horse", a huge painted metal construction over a wooden-toy factory in the Adelaide hills. We would stop there on the way into town to pacify me and my sister. The Australian obsession with novelty road-side attractions that are "big" things is astounding. The Big Merino (a giant concrete ram the size of a four storey building) in Goulburn outside Canberra being another example.

5. The guys in the Adelaide office are fantastic. Had a wonderful dinner at an Indian place with them in North Adelaide last night, then drinks at The Archer - where the beer glasses are of frightening size. I'm looking forward to repaying the hospitality. One of them is up in Mlebourne next week.

Time to pack up my stuff and dash for the plane.