Clipsal, it's all about the Clipsal!

20th March
Alarm at 7.35am but stayed in bed until 8. Shower, breakfast (with the fridge still not working, so really had to chew through the weetbix. Pack a bag and headed out about 10am, stopping at Woolies for some fruit, Subway for lunch and the promo shop to check out the Holden gear. Arrived around 11am and headed for the Holden area, and arrived just as the V8’s came out for their second practice of the day. Found the Bundy Ute (for Cowie) and the Beam and XXXX girls! It was really warm standing in the sun so just before midday I left and headed back to the spot I’d found yesterday, bought a program (and a paper) and sat under the trees in front of the big screen. Failed the sudoku and once the sun moved and I was out of the shade I headed over to the tier seating and popped up my umbrella – laughing! Qualifying was good but the shootout was where it was all going to take place, and with two of the top 10 ending up disqualified (Frosty and Holdsworth) it was lucky there was any red in there at all. Last years champion pulled of the fastest lap, with the adjusted places following with Lowndes, Tander, Courtney and Coulthard. I decided to head back to the hostel and dump some gear. Merch tent again, upstairs to get changed and downstairs for a well earned pint (or two). Somehow got chatting with a couple of old gentlemen who were really nice (and apparently quite pissed) before I bought another drink and headed to the corner. Back to the track, heading to Dominos for pizza, which I’d had a hankering for a few days for. Down to the racetrack, eating on the way (and like normal burning my mouth) before getting in and finding the nearest toilet! Operator Please were playing, and I managed hear Ping Pong just as I entered the arena. I tell you what – you want to make friends with people, take pizza into a crowed area about 6.30pm! A random chick walked past and said how nice my pizza smelled, so I offered her the last piece, which after refusing eventually took. Moved up near the stage (because Aaron had said be in the mosh pit for Presets) and listened to Faker (who didn’t have as many songs that I recognised as I thought they would) before a group happened to squeeze their way in front of me... and low and behold it was the random chick again (who said the pizza was awesome!). Pete Murray came on, and was playing to a hard audience, but eventually won us over I think (although at one stage I thought he was going to cut his set short). I got a stomped foot before the Presets came on (not a good start). So after a lot of pumping up they appeared on stage with no introduction –and the crown went absolutely mental! I survived about 45 minutes before needing to go to the bathroom, and it took a whole song to make my way out, following random people in front who seemed to be making headway. It took almost a whole song, but I eventually made it. Couldn’t be bothered heading back into that mess, so decided to head for a walk around the other end of the track, except that security weren’t letting you past the pits. Back to the main arena, for their last couple of songs (when there was a mass exit) and then headed home after the fireworks, arriving around midnight. Needed a shower (yet again) but decided just to sit on the bath and wash my feet, bed at 12.45am.

21st March – Karlee’s Birthday
7am alarm (why do I bother) and I was eventually up at 8.30. Shower and into the kitchen for breaky – fridge completely stuffed, blowing hot air. Right, no cereal for me then I headed down to Woollies, opting for a breakfast of fruit (banana and apple), calcium (chocolate milk) and some carbs (croissant) along with some grapes for later. Back to Subway for another sub and down past the beer drinkers at every pub and cafe for a 10am entry into the ground. Bit more packed today, and considering I was quite a bit earlier thought I might struggle for a seat. Bought a program and newspaper and managed to squeeze in on the bottom row of the stands with the half step at my back – excellent! Got myself comfortable and set for the day. The weather was really bizarre, with clouds and then the spit of rain – I didn’t think it rained in Adelaide??? I got my umbrella out (which was not the reason I thought I’d need it for) and put it over my legs and bags, but it was humid and it never got heavy enough to be a problem. Unfortunately the clouds disappeared and were replaced by blaring sun, with the temperature reaching mid 30’s it was hot, damb hot! In between races I’m reading through the newspaper and all of a sudden we were all scared shitless with a F18 flying overhead that was well gone when we looked up. He did a few more passes overhead before disappearing into the distance, and with us well and truly awake now we were ready for the main race. They came around for their warm-up laps and then they were off and racing, with Whincup getting stuck and having a slow start and Tander capitalizing into second spot. I called Kel so she could hear the roar of the engines as they came past – love it! So everything appeared to be going smoothly (although most of us were ready to kill a kid in the stands, cheering for Ford) when with 10 laps to go smoke starts billowing out of Tander’s car – oh no! He made another lap before going back to the pits and straight into the shed – race over! So it was Whincup, Lowndes, Holdsworth and Davidson, so the HRT fans started egging Davidson on. 3 laps to go and with cars going everywhere Lowndes ends up in the wall! No way!!! He keeps going after loosing a place, but half a lap later is back in the wall again when Davidson overtakes him! He heads into pits and it’s now Ford, Holden, Holden, Whincup, Holdsworth, Davidson, who with his new team is absolutely rapped! There were two more races on, but most people headed off, so I moved (for the first time since 10am) and headed to the bar for a beer... lesser of the two evils with a TED. Not a good option with it not being cold but I sat on the grass and watched the last races until the screen died, so I headed in to check out the band, who were singing country songs and decided to head off. Back for a shower and changed and headed down to the Garden of Unearthly Delights and picking two shows in the Bosco Theatre, Sammy J – 1999 and The Paradoxical Adventures of Lawrence Leung and Andrew McClelland: Time Ninjas (which was for you Chris). A glass of wine, that I nearly finished before we were let in, as the show running about 20 minutes late starting. So 1999 was rather amusing, taking me back to my school days of tamagotchy’s, computer with dial up internet, land line phones and bad fashion. It had a bit of a sadistic twist to it, but it all came back together and overall wasn’t bad. Ducked off for a pancake in between shows before missing the first two minutes of the next one. The Time Ninjas was a bit all over the place (makes you wonder how much they pay the people to write the comments at the end of the summary) but it was slapstick humour and did improve (or my expectations dropped). Decided to head in for an early night before a big day tomorrow, and passed the massive crowds queuing to get in to the Garden. Arrived at the backpackers around 11.30pm, where The Perfect Storm was on in the TV room, so watched that until it finished about 1am. Went back to my room to find I had a message from Anthony to say he was out and about, so weighed up the options and decided a few hours sleep was definitely the go. After waiting for Katich to get his 50 (which was taking too long) I went to sleep about 2am.

22nd March – Race Day
Up at 8.00am it was time for a shower and to get organised. Missed call from Scotty, but was on the way out by 9am and in Woolies for yet another breakfast of a milk drink, croissant, banana, grapes and a sports drink. Rang Scotty who was not much further down Rundle St having breaky, so ducked into Subway for yet another Vegie Delight foot long for lunch and met them at the Austral Pub – where of course, people were drinking! We walked down past the Rundle St Markets and made our way into the race track just before 10am. Definitely busier than the previous days we headed through the middle and over to Holden Heaven, saying goodbye to Scotty so he could piss it up in the corporate tent. We managed to score a table with umbrella in front of the Harley Davidson stand, with views of the racetrack and XXXX Retreat (with big screen tv, and of course the girls!). So we hung out there (having my first beer – yes a XXXX Gold – just on 11am) for a while, enjoying the shade and the seat! Checked out the girls and the bikes, and occasionally the track. Troy and family came past to say hi and headed off to get back in their seats before the race started. The jets flew over again, but this time we were a little more prepared (that and we saw him before we heard him!). Scotty made his way back shortly afterwards, in time for a beer (or two) and the start of the race. The biggest cheer went up when Lowndesy dropped back to about 10th, and then Tander overtook Whincup on the first lap – magic! We headed back in towards the main screen, checking out the merchandise, which was now discounted (and you know I can’t resist a bargain) and keeping an eye on the race (with Tander being overtaken by Davidson, and Whincup back in the lead). Into the main arena and managed to catch up with Alex and Josh from Bathurst for a bit before they headed off and we relocated to left of stage so we wouldn’t get sandwiched in later. We could still hear the cars zooming around the track, and got to watch the end of the race on the 3 big screen tv’s with the commentary going in the background. Unfortunately Davidson couldn’t make up any ground on Whincup, who took out both races and the weekend. Davidson, Tander and Lowndes followed in what was a close finish. We watched the presentations and then waited for the first band to come on, which was very, very average, and with the second one not much better Kyle and I headed for a walk around the track. Work was already underway to remove the fencing, so we were dodging trucks and machinery. Around to pit lane (‘Watch out for the tires as you drive through, they are bolted down.’ ‘As long as we take entry better than Lowndesy did’ ‘That won’t be hard.’) I started taking photos of the HRT cars, when the bloke next to me called out to Garth, who was wandering around, and then came out for a visit, grabbing his pen out of his pocket. Christ he is skinny!!! In a black shirt I searched for something – anything – that he could sign, and came up with my ticket hanging around my neck. Awesome!!! Got his autograph (whoo hoo!) and some pictures before we moved on and I took some photos of the Vodaphone cars for Aaron. Over the start line and we cut through the ‘restricted area’ to the main arena, following ‘5 Cougars Thanks’, who was attracting a bucket load of attention (no wonder with more of her boobs hanging out of her top than in it!). I grabbed a beer and found the crew, cracked open the biscuits and settled in to listen to The Getaway Plan before Scotty found us just as it was getting really dark. Wolfmother did steal the show though, playing for about 1 ½ hours and doing 3 encores, finishing with Joker and the Thief, which sent the crowd (and the lead singer) absolutely mental! We headed out as the fireworks went off, stopping for the finale (but like a few people said, bit of a waste with no-one paying attention!). Headed down Rundle St and listened to the beep bop rapper and said goodbye to the crew, before taking some photos of their corner lights display. Back to the backpackers and being only 9.30pm I bought a glass of red and took the paper out the front and caught up on next, while laughing at the extremely drunk guy out the front. Headed upstairs, jumped on the computer and went to sleep about midnight, looking forward to a sleep in tomorrow!

23 March
Sleep in – yay! However it was short lived, and once the girl from above me (that I didn’t particularly like) left I got up, changed and headed for Woolies for some milk. Back to the backpackers by 10 and collected my weetbix, teabag and laptop, headed for the kitchen. Breakfast with a soup spoon, out of a cracked bowl and a mug that was freshly washed (because I’m sure the place only has 3 in circulation). On the computer to book tickets to the footy (and to check out the cricket result – onya Mitch, but poor effort Australia!) when my phone started going off, first Scotty, then Aaron, then a message from Anthony – talk about Miss Popular! So the long and the short of that was I was heading to Scotty’s for dinner, Aaron was all go for the footy (which was good as I’d just booked 4 seats) and Anthony had a cancelled appointment and was heading for a walk in Waterfall Gully if I was keen – absolutely! Made some calls and all sorted. Time to send off an e-mail to Chris and head to the room (banging the door against the bunks and waking up the random girl in it – at midday!) packed a backpack and headed downstairs. Found Anthony and we headed off. Stopped for lunch, and the craziest driving you have ever seen in a car park (to the point Anthony was directing from in the car, and I got out to direct in the car park) before we headed up to Waterfall Gully. Slap on some sun cream and we were off – 3.2km walk, 3 hours return – pftt, can’t be that bad! How wrong I was!!! We powered up the hill, but unfortunately having someone fit and male with me meant I was the one taking the followers role. And being typically stubborn didn’t want to stop for a drink or photos until he did... or until I was at the point of throwing up! I eventually caved and used a photo op of the valley and city to take a shot, before Anthony spotted an echidna and I was able to catch my breath while I took some photos and skulled some more sports drink. With 1 ½ k’s to go any opportunity for a drink/breather/photos was certainly welcomed, and the sign at the end was a godsend!!! I have never been so glad to see a lookout in all my life (and that’s a big call!). Turned out 207 years ago today Matthew Flinders named Mount Lofty, so that was kind of momentous. We spend about 10 minutes at the top and started our decent at 3pm, when I was able to resume conversation again (poor Anthony had to do a lot of talking at the top of the hill). So we powered down the hill, stopping for photos of the waterfall and shooting around the bottom to take some more. Sweating like a pig we got back in the car and headed for the city, where I picked up a bag load of stuff (2 minutes flat) and headed north again, ringing Scotty so he could come and pick me up. We didn’t get much chance to talk on the way north though, with both our phones ringing off the hook! Said goodbye and waited in the Bunnings car park for Scotty, just long enough to book a transfer to the airport for tomorrow. Scotty came and got me and we headed back to his place, where Cassey, Ryan and Kyle were waiting. Walked in to the smell of garlic (beautiful) and home cooked roast vegies in the oven. Started on a beer and progressed to wine (just helping out and finishing open bottles in the fridge of course!). Dinner was served and was absolutely amazing – garlic bread, beautiful stir-fry chicken, garlic vegies... absolutely amazing! We chatted and moved into the spa to watch Underbellies, putting the jets on and chatting in the ad breaks. Moving onto red we stayed in until about 10pm, before getting out and I headed for a shower. Said goodnight about 10.30pm and I jumped on the computer until midnight, not wanting to miss a minute of detail from an absolutely superb day! What a way to finish the trip.

24th March – Jody’s Birthday
6.30am wake up call from Scotty and I was up and at em. Cuppa before leaving at 7am, arriving back in the city (through the peak hour traffic) just before 8am. Upstairs to have breakfast and utilise the most of the free internet before packing my bags and checking out. So by 9am I was on my way for a walk through the drizzle – must be time for me to leave with the weather turning average. Down North Terrace and past the museum (which didn’t open until 10am) so I had no choice but to continue onto the National Wine Centre of Australia. Very interesting, giving you a cchance to smell and see the different grape varieties, and you could definitely pick the different aromas. Finished there about 10.30am (without even having a taste of wine) and headed through the Botanic Garden to the Museum, celebrating Palaeontology Week. The museum was huge, and I had to skim through quite a bit of it. Went to the cafe and decided to have one last splurge on chocolate cake and a hot chocolate (yep, this would be my chocolate fix for the rest of the month) before heading back upstairs to see the fossilised shells in opal and giant squid exhibition. Skimmed through the Ancient Egypt and Aboriginal Art displays and was out the door just after 1pm. Down to the river for some photos and through the back of the Arts Centre to Hindley St. A quick wander down there and the last of the souvenir shopping before a walk down Rundle St Mall for photos of the pigs and coins on the paving. Food court for a curried egg sandwich and back to the backpackers to collect my luggage and through the laneway to North Terrace for a 2.37pm pick-up (what a stupid time!) but sure enough, the bus was there at 2.37pm on the dot by my watch (which now actually said 1.07pm, trying to get ahead of the game). Out to the airport, arriving before 3pm and with my flight not due until 4.45 I had some serious time to kill, so I headed for the bar and grabbed a Coopers Lager and jumped on the (free) internet and blog while I waited. Time to go, so I headed out only to find our boarding had been delayed. Made a trip to the bathroom and got back just as they were doing the first boarding call, and made it onto the plane. Ended up next to a (hot) guy from Scarbs, and with my headphones not plugging into the armrest he was kind enough to let me plug into his to watch the movie – although I didn’t have enough nerve to ask him to turn it up. A glass of wine with lunch (which was yum) and then another bottle not long later, followed by and icecream (as they’d run out of wine) and before we knew it we were heading back over land. With mixed feelings we edged closer to civilisation and eventually we were descending into Perth Airport. Touchdown at 6.45pm local time I was home and the trip was over. Wow – how long would it take for reality to set back in????? Until the next major adventure, this is Alisha, signing off, and thanking you for your patronige.