Last weekend

The only problem with working is that, despite only being 37 hours per week, it takes up a lot of days. That and an inability to get out of bed after a late shift, has probably accounted for a few days off. Plus of course, there’s all the other chores that need doing.

So the next Saturday (after getting up at about 11. Getting home from work at 1am does mean that it is a good time for phoning home), I spent doing the cleaning, shopping etc. I’ve (unsurprisingly) started a few culinary herbs in pots, so a bit of gardening too. Or could you call it yarding – “garden” is a slightly grand word.

Then I was invited out for supper – winter and the Aussies are still cooking on the barbecue. Except that as I went out of the house it was to see a small crowd of people and lots of flashing light. And a fire engine parked right across the gate. Not sure what happened exactly, but when I went up to offer a hand (not needed – which is a good thing as I wasn’t exactly dressed for the roadside), someone was being cut out of a car. It can’t have been that much of an impact as there was more damage done by the fire service than by the collision. So anyway, I went in and found a gardening programme to watch instead. Lots more ideas now for my garden. And I really didn’t need to watch.

I was about 30 min late for the supper in the end, so not too bad. And v pleasant – not much of interest to relate, really. Except the wonderful bluntness of the questions from the Aussie men. Such as “why aren’t you pregnant?”. Personally I thought “pleased to meet you” would be a good start, but I guess I’m just an uptight Pom. To be fair two of the other girls are about to drop in the next few weeks, and Kylie (the hostess – what a grown-up word) has a 3 year old.


The next day – again, when I got up – thought I’d try Port Adelaide. You can tell it’s the place to visit because there are lots of banners saying “Port Adelaide – It’s happening”. I’m just not sure where it was happening, and I am glad they told me that it was cos I’d never have guessed otherwise.

OK, I’ll be fair. There’s a bright red lighthouse in the middle of the street and a large indoor market which is worth a visit – all sorts of very random rubbish. A lot of it was, actually, rubbish. Sorry. Antiques. There’s a fairly good photographer, who on chatting, was a Pom, lots of bric-a-brac, and some craft-y type things that had to be seen to be believed. All plastic, glitter and fairies. Acceptable if you’re five, I suppose.

Then I wandered on round the streets. There are a lot of old (obviously it’s a relative term), really good art deco, Victorian etc. But what was most noticeable was that most of them were to let. On Lipson Street (did I say that this place is a strange elision of places where I’ve lived), is the maritime museum (cheaper if you go just before closing and smile nicely). It’s actually pretty interesting – lots of history of immigrants over the last 200 years, and of the docks. There’s an old ketch you can actually go in – galley smaller than a dining table. The strange thing was going below, coming up and finding that the boat was NOT rocking – I’m so used to them moving that my brain was definitely telling me that there were waves lapping at the hull.

Upstairs was slightly disordered and charming, in the sort of way that small museums often are. Moving from a sailmaker’s locker and knots to a display on bikinis and an old bathing machine, for instance.

I drove back around the peninsula and watched the sun go down at Larg’s bay – another beach. Adelaide is not short of sandy beaches. But the kiosk there just missed the point of chips by the sea. I want cheap, coarse malt vinegar and a mug of builder’s tea that you can stand the spoon up in. Not a cup and saucer with a cinnamon biscuit. It was wrong. But I’d recommend the chips.