Three time-zones in three days

I am in Adelaide on a whim. Earlier this week I decided to come to see the Crescent Moon exhibition at the state gallery, showcasing Islamic art from south-east Asia. Hoping that I might gain some valuable perspective on the things I will come across in Indonesia, I began a 25-and-a-half hour bus journey from Sydney (after having only flown down from Brisbane the previous day). The trip wasn't complete agony. We passed through Canberra, and the north-western tip of Victoria, through the flattest and most baron landscape I have ever seen, stopping at decrepit old roadhouses (far different to those big flashy truck-stops you see along the east coast). This side of the border it's mostly vineyards and orchards. We arrived in Adelaide just in time for a thunder-storm, so I bought an umbrella in Chinatown and explored the central market (which is where I now plan to buy most of my food, because it's so huge and cheap, and the food all looks so good). I braved the rain to walk along the River Torrens, and back down Rundle Mall. The rain stopped as soon as I arrived back at the YHA. I am sharing a dorm with a South African electrician, a Parisian named Henry, and a talkative New Zealander who has been staying at the hostel for a week deciding whether or not to join the airforce. I left early this morning, bought breakfast at the central market, and then got lost in North Adelaide before finally asking a stranger to point me towards the art gallery. Alas, it was not open, and hence I find myself typing this from a public computer in the state library next door. It is past ten o'clock now though, and so I will be leaving to see this exhibition that I have travelled half-way across the country to see. I'm excited.