The motel we stayed at in Mildura had tremendous roses all around the courtyard. The lady behind the desk told me all about them. The red ones, she said, are called Mr. Lincoln, and the peach colored ones are Just Joey. You can see Ness, Percy, and Marnie loading the car in the background of the pictures I took of the rose bushes. Mom's silly joke of the day (which made everyone laugh out loud): "What did the stomach say to the burp? - If you're really quiet, I'll let you slip out the back!"

The flies are definitely getting thicker as we head southwest. We got out of the car for a second to use the loo, and they would follow you in a buzzing cloud. There are at least three or four on you at any given moment, and they dont move when you try to shake them off. So you just walk around looking rather spastic, swatting constantly and missing just as often. There was an interesting rusting heap in the yard nearby. The dog barked angrily at me as I swatted my way towards it for the shot.

Checking Email on my Laptop	Mr. Lincoln	Just Joey	Junk Heap
Old Building

We stopped in Karoonda for lunch, but it was almost too windy for it. They all shivered and winged (complained) about the cold, but I thought it was great. There is an enormous ram monument in the park there that begged to be ridden. So after a game of footie, Ness and Joel climbed up. Joel is still nursing the bruise he got from it.

Karoonda Koala	On the Tracks	Footie by the Big Ram	Windy Picnic
On Top

Not far from Adalaide is a little town called Murray Bridge. Rosemary showed us the little house where she used to live. We also tried to contact one of her old friends who met while coming over to Australia from Germany on the same plane after the war. They later discovered that they both had become witnesses. As we got closer to Adalaide, the ground got greener and hillier.

Murray Bridge

Adalaide Hills

Jess is the reason we've made this trip. There are other people to visit here, but we would not have made this 2000km journey were it not for her. She's getting married this Sunday, and Ness and Marnie are her bridesmaids. They've known each other for ages and are as close as triplets. They were all very glad to see her again.

Reunion	The Ring	Opening the Dodgy Champaine	Jess Listening
Fruit

While in town, everyone has a place to stay but us three guys, so we had to hunt one down. I would very much prefer a place with telephones and proper beds. Matt would gladly sleep in the car if it was an option. The first place we went to was an apartment type setup. For only $100 per night (Aussie dollars, which is about $70 USD) they offered us a huge place with three separate bedrooms, two bathrooms, a real kitchen, a dining room, and a TV room. It completely blew away everything we'd seen so far on our trip, and all the places we would see later. I might have gone for it, but we all felt it was just a little too much for our needs. But what we couldn't get over was the woman who tried to rent it to us. She had this incredibly thick Greek or Turkish accent with an even thicker mustache! I suddenly felt like we were in Mallorca again, arguing with the gypsies about why we didn't want their flowers, and that they couldn't have our money. Perhaps it was wrong of us to stereotype her, but we felt really put off by her pushy attitude. So we tried at several other places, some across the street from the beach, overlooking an incredible view of the water. So we went up to one of these, like all the rest, expecting to have to haggle for a price. When we rang the phone for service, that same greek woman answered! Apparantly, she runs both places. I thought, "Oh, forget it. There's no reason to try." She started with, "You three american boys, yah? Your american money is good, yah. Mooch bettah than our money." There was no way. So we just fled and settled for the caravan park (campground) next to the golf course. It was actually pretty nice there. We've got a tiny cabin with one queen size bed and two tiny bunks. For a laugh, Joel tried to lay in the tiny bed, but since he's so tall, his head and feet were bent out of shape. Joel got the big bed.

The five of us walked down to the beach. I've never seen the sun set on the water quite like this before. For four out of the five of us, it was a very romantic moment. We watched as the sun turned orange and then red and slowly touched the water and disappeared. I just ran around taking photos. To preface the following, though, I have to explain what a "Mintie" is. They've got these chewy mint flavored lollies (candies) called minities with funny drawings on each wrapper of some embarassing or bad luck situation. For example, one has a skateboarder in a rail slide, but his board has broken in half. Another has two blokes fishing but their hooks are stuck together. Another has a guy cutting down a power pole thinking it's a tree, etc, etc. But each one says, "It's moments like these... you need Minites!" We had them in the glove box and were eating them all the way from Brisbane, laughing at the different pictures. Okay... So Matt and Marnie are close together, watching the sun go down, looking at each other and all that mush. And just as I take the photo, like a trigger, Matt lets one rip. I mean, really loud! Everyone just burst out laughing because Ness had predicted that given Matt's propensity for flatulence such a thing was bound to happen. Marnie just said, laughing, "It's moments like these..."

Sunset in Adalaide	Sunset in Adalaide	Sunset in Adalaide	Sunset in Adalaide
Sunset in Adalaide	Almost There	Behind the Fence	Keeping Warm
Not Far Now	Watching the Sunset	Touching Down	It's Moments Like These
Marnie and Matt Again	Just Getting Their Feet Wet