A Perfect Day

Posted at 5:00 PM, Tuesday, October 2, 2007

It was a hot and dry 87 degrees in downtown Adelaide yesterday afternoon, but in the nearby seaside town of Semaphore, the temperature was considerably cooler. I drove the half hour with the boys to the Semaphore Odeon Cinema, where movie tickets are $6 all the time (in contrast to most theaters, where tickets are about $15 apiece.) This is not amphitheatre-type viewing, and there is no state-of-the-art sound system, but if the three of us can see a movie for less than $20, I'm willing to make the sacrifice. And just as well, since the film in question was the eminently forgettable "Surf's Up." The boys say they enjoyed the story, and I certainly enjoyed the fabulous animated water.

After the film, we moved the car two blocks closer to the beach and walked down to the Semaphore Steam Railway. You notice how much of our leisure time is spent on activities involving four wheels? It's because things that go make Nadav very happy, and the rest of us are generally happy to go along. This train was quite a bargain; we paid $14 for one adult and two children's rides. We were issued tickets which were punched twice--on the way to the turntable at the end of the route, and on the way back. The kilometer-long track hugs the beach, so the view is gorgeous, and we also enjoyed the logistics of moving the small steam-powered locomotive from one end of the train to the other.

We waited 45 minutes for the train, and while we were waiting the boys enjoyed playing at the lovely sheltered playground nearby. And as a special treat, I ordered a bag of four cinnamon doughnuts, which were fried up fresh just for us. At the end of our train ride, we enjoyed the lush breezes that accompanied us back to our car, and we headed home.

Actually, we headed off for the latest in a succession of house inspections. I think we've viewed seven houses so far, and every one of them has something that's not quite right. Two were absolutely gorgeous and wonderfully located. We would have loved to live there aside from the fact that both had small bedrooms with no closets, a good-sized common area, and no other living space. Then there was the house conveniently located a mere 1/4 mile from where we're living now. No heat, little air conditioning, no dishwasher, no backyard to speak of, and all for $400 per week. I'm slowly concluding that there is actually no logic to rental prices at all. My parents, who are still here, have accompanied us on several house inspections, including a house that looked just gorgeous from the outside. As my mother commented, "They started with a really beautiful house and managed to wreck it." If you'd like to join our adventures, you can log onto www.realestate.com.au and search for properties in South Australia.