Adelaide Friday Night

The Royal Adelaide Show is on. Livestock, ferris wheels, movie stars. If we'd known we'd have stayed on. Seriously. Adelaide was just precious, and I mean that in the best way.

I would live in Adelaide when we get old. Big enough, not as far away from the rest of the world as the South Island of New Zealand (only 1:30 flight to Sydney) and a short drive from the sea.

Its CBD is a tight mile square with pedestrian malls and a Central Market which opens (and fills up) on Friday night, which is when we were there. The Central Market rivals the selection at our Atlanta markets, with additional Aussie favorites like kangaroo steaks and emu.

Then, directly across Gouger Street you'll find a fine selection of ethnic Asian dining. And it's perfectly safe, even at night. And the light during the day reminds you of northern Europe, as good as in Finland for photos. Put Adelaide on your Australia list.

We're starting to look back and find highs and lows, as we're nearing the end of our three week Aussie tour. First verdict - highs: Freemantle, Broome and The Ghan train (with Darwin close). Lows: not many. Hard to find the soul of Melbourne. It's as if Melbourne feels it has to go dour and be the grown up and do all Australia's business and so there's a touch of paternal condescention toward the rest of the country.

Is that true or was that me?

HDR photo from last night at the Central Market in Adelaide. More photos from our Australia trip here on EarthPhotos.com.