Where has the last month gone? I’ve just lost it. So I left you hanging on with a random bunch of pictures.
On the 25th of Jan, the parents came out – flying in for 0730 in the morning. The flight was delayed, so I had plenty of time to have enough coffee to wake up, actually read the local rag properly (that doesn’t take long, it’s about as trashy as Take a Break) and watch the crowds build up. Hundreds of screaming schoolkids, and a very grumpy bloke behind me with a northern accent who just couldn’t get into the spirit of things. Not just for Mum & Dad, but for a school party arriving from Germany, plus a lot of studenty-types finishing their Grand Tour in time for Australia day. I dumped the parents at home to sleep and eventually got into work to (thankfully) find that my ward round had been done. It wasn’t part of the deal, but thanks JC.
Work, pah! Home at 4 and we went out again to keep everyone awake. This time to the market and for a Chinese on Gouger St (never yet had a bad dish there). Tea Smoked Duck. Mmm.
The next two days were spent watching the cricket. Saturday was Australia day. As we walked down to the Oval, we walked alongside the parade – representatives of people from lots of different countries celebrating their new home. The UK contribution was some old cars, Dad was rapt. Maybe that’s what the UK needs – a day to celebrate our Britishness and all being happy. Can’t see many of the Scots and Welsh buying it.
The cricket. Well, least said the better. And Kate, you can skip this paragraph. It was hot (although we were mostly under the shade). Because of the (controversial) win in Sydney, all Aus needed to do was draw the game. And boy, was that what they did. 150 runs per day, no risks taken. Gilchrist’s last test innings – out for 14, but obviously he got a standing ovation. But it was no contest, and there was just no way that wickets were going to fall on such a slow pitch. But it’s a lovely ground, with trees round half of if, and an old scoreboard that tells you everything you could possibly need to know. If there was room, they’d probably tell you what the batsmen had for breakfast. Ponting (eggs and bacon), caught Dhoni (cheese roll), bowled Harbhajan (whole wheat muesli with skimmed milk).
At lunch time, there was a citizenship ceremony for around 12 people who then had to play a game of cricket. And a reaffirmation of an oath to Australia for all citizens, followed by the anthem. Interesting watching people – most did stand and take the oath. It’s such an alien concept.
Anyway, having someone over staying was a chance to sample some of the local restaurants (there are precisely 2 that are very close). An Italian, not cheap but very good on Saturday. I had the duck, nectarine and beetroot salad. With a bottle of the Alicante Bouchet.
On Monday we stayed local. It was getting v hot. So obviously a morning in the blazing heat in the Botanical Gardens. We got about halfway round before retreating into the cool of the art gallery. One day I’ll get round all of it. Ditto the museum which provided half an hour respite in the inevitable stuffed animal gallery before it shut. Sadly it was a Bank Holiday (as Australia day had been on a Saturday). There are lots of public holidays here. So we wondered up to Elder Park by the river and sat in the sun for a while, listening to the presentations of trophies from the cricket ground. Not surprisingly to Aus – who didn’t even bother to take their last innings. So negative.
Tuesday was a day doing little. They have to happen occasionally, and we didn’t have many of them. We made it to Hahndorf, the “German” village. Presumably Germany doesn’t close for Tuesdays, though. We managed to have coffee and left. The weather was overcast, so even the main street which is supposed to be v pretty, looked pretty ordinary. We even had dinner in that night.
Wednesday was the Barossa. We drove out through Gorge Road – which runs alongside the Torrens and is as rocky spectacular as it sounds, then up through Eden Valley to Angaston. First stop was Saltram as I wanted a specific bottle of pink. They do however, brew their own beer which is pretty special. Then on was a quest to find a wine that Mum liked.
Next stop was Maggie Beer’s, but I’m sure I’ve raved about that before, so I won’t do so again. They have turtles like dinner plates, and incontinent ducks. Then Richmond Grove, who like us cos we spent lots of money. After that St Hallett, which Mum did like – and even better, their wines are available in Waitrose and M&S as own label Barossa wines (look on the back). I feel like I owe them a plug as I swiped a magazine on the way out for a specific article. Link: http://www.adelaidereview.com.au/archives.php?subaction=showfull&id=1200528838&archive=1201752738&start_from=&ucat=16&
And after that, on an off-chance, swing off the road next to Jacob’s Creek. But not to them, I’m just disappointed by their wines. But Grant Burge is next door – and their wines are excellent. Finally Mum is happy. Dad has been happy for a while (and I’m driving). We are served by a girl who was afraid of the fog in England, see a map of their distributors in England. Except that Mansfield is the West Midlands. Some work needed there. And back to Adelaide to the other local restaurant – at the end of the road – Chinese. I probably don’t need to know that they do take-aways. It wouldn’t be good to pick up a menu either. Never mind.
We went for a walk on Thursday. By the time we were all ready to go out (it takes so long with three people), we just had time to drive south before finding food at a beach-side greasy spoon. Not sure it’s a place you’d go alone, unless you’re local.
And we were walking in the hottest part of the day. We did about 3 miles, round some not-very-wetlands renowned for birdlife – just not in the heat. There were pelicans, ibises, the ubiquitous magpie-crows, and a few small brown birds. Probably reed warblers or something like that. They were in the reeds. Even by the river, everything is so parched. There was some rain just before the parents arrived, none since. (I know it rained cos at 2 o’clock it was raining in the bedroom. Thankfully just a shifted tile in the high winds.) On the way back we went to Marion for a cup of tea, then to Glenelg for a more civilised drink and so the parents could relive their holiday last time they were here, before having dinner. Beautiful sunset.
Friday was Port Adelaide. I was supposed to be going out in the evening but I skipped, too much to do. Once again, by the time we got there it was time to eat (spot the theme), in a café that I noticed last time given the name (Lipson Café). I would highly recommend the Goat’s Crud, even if I wouldn’t recommend their spelling.
After that we went to the Railway Museum. It was bigger and more interesting that I expected. Apart from reminding me of being a child and going regularly to Didcot, there was quite a lot of political and social history bound up with the railways. The complete inability to build same size track, for example, so that travelling from Perth to Melbourne at one time involved SIX changes of train. And the need to take education, health care and food to the outback and how that was done. It’s just not a problem that England faces, yet still in Aus it happens today with having some places with minimal or no medical care, so that the RFDS or state retrieval teams have to go and get patients. One GP may cover hundreds of miles, and some areas do not have any doctors. Just the sheer size. Having to travel 30 miles to see a GP at night in Lincolnshire, for example, that’s nothing. And at one stage the only shop in the outback was the train.
So instead of going out, I spent the evening cooking and cleaning the house so that when I got back from New Zealand, I would be able to go straight to bed without having to do the washing-up first.
On the 25th of Jan, the parents came out – flying in for 0730 in the morning. The flight was delayed, so I had plenty of time to have enough coffee to wake up, actually read the local rag properly (that doesn’t take long, it’s about as trashy as Take a Break) and watch the crowds build up. Hundreds of screaming schoolkids, and a very grumpy bloke behind me with a northern accent who just couldn’t get into the spirit of things. Not just for Mum & Dad, but for a school party arriving from Germany, plus a lot of studenty-types finishing their Grand Tour in time for Australia day. I dumped the parents at home to sleep and eventually got into work to (thankfully) find that my ward round had been done. It wasn’t part of the deal, but thanks JC.
Work, pah! Home at 4 and we went out again to keep everyone awake. This time to the market and for a Chinese on Gouger St (never yet had a bad dish there). Tea Smoked Duck. Mmm.
The next two days were spent watching the cricket. Saturday was Australia day. As we walked down to the Oval, we walked alongside the parade – representatives of people from lots of different countries celebrating their new home. The UK contribution was some old cars, Dad was rapt. Maybe that’s what the UK needs – a day to celebrate our Britishness and all being happy. Can’t see many of the Scots and Welsh buying it.
The cricket. Well, least said the better. And Kate, you can skip this paragraph. It was hot (although we were mostly under the shade). Because of the (controversial) win in Sydney, all Aus needed to do was draw the game. And boy, was that what they did. 150 runs per day, no risks taken. Gilchrist’s last test innings – out for 14, but obviously he got a standing ovation. But it was no contest, and there was just no way that wickets were going to fall on such a slow pitch. But it’s a lovely ground, with trees round half of if, and an old scoreboard that tells you everything you could possibly need to know. If there was room, they’d probably tell you what the batsmen had for breakfast. Ponting (eggs and bacon), caught Dhoni (cheese roll), bowled Harbhajan (whole wheat muesli with skimmed milk).
At lunch time, there was a citizenship ceremony for around 12 people who then had to play a game of cricket. And a reaffirmation of an oath to Australia for all citizens, followed by the anthem. Interesting watching people – most did stand and take the oath. It’s such an alien concept.
Anyway, having someone over staying was a chance to sample some of the local restaurants (there are precisely 2 that are very close). An Italian, not cheap but very good on Saturday. I had the duck, nectarine and beetroot salad. With a bottle of the Alicante Bouchet.
On Monday we stayed local. It was getting v hot. So obviously a morning in the blazing heat in the Botanical Gardens. We got about halfway round before retreating into the cool of the art gallery. One day I’ll get round all of it. Ditto the museum which provided half an hour respite in the inevitable stuffed animal gallery before it shut. Sadly it was a Bank Holiday (as Australia day had been on a Saturday). There are lots of public holidays here. So we wondered up to Elder Park by the river and sat in the sun for a while, listening to the presentations of trophies from the cricket ground. Not surprisingly to Aus – who didn’t even bother to take their last innings. So negative.Tuesday was a day doing little. They have to happen occasionally, and we didn’t have many of them. We made it to Hahndorf, the “German” village. Presumably Germany doesn’t close for Tuesdays, though. We managed to have coffee and left. The weather was overcast, so even the main street which is supposed to be v pretty, looked pretty ordinary. We even had dinner in that night.
Wednesday was the Barossa. We drove out through Gorge Road – which runs alongside the Torrens and is as rocky spectacular as it sounds, then up through Eden Valley to Angaston. First stop was Saltram as I wanted a specific bottle of pink. They do however, brew their own beer which is pretty special. Then on was a quest to find a wine that Mum liked.
Next stop was Maggie Beer’s, but I’m sure I’ve raved about that before, so I won’t do so again. They have turtles like dinner plates, and incontinent ducks. Then Richmond Grove, who like us cos we spent lots of money. After that St Hallett, which Mum did like – and even better, their wines are available in Waitrose and M&S as own label Barossa wines (look on the back). I feel like I owe them a plug as I swiped a magazine on the way out for a specific article. Link: http://www.adelaidereview.com.au/archives.php?subaction=showfull&id=1200528838&archive=1201752738&start_from=&ucat=16&
And after that, on an off-chance, swing off the road next to Jacob’s Creek. But not to them, I’m just disappointed by their wines. But Grant Burge is next door – and their wines are excellent. Finally Mum is happy. Dad has been happy for a while (and I’m driving). We are served by a girl who was afraid of the fog in England, see a map of their distributors in England. Except that Mansfield is the West Midlands. Some work needed there. And back to Adelaide to the other local restaurant – at the end of the road – Chinese. I probably don’t need to know that they do take-aways. It wouldn’t be good to pick up a menu either. Never mind.
We went for a walk on Thursday. By the time we were all ready to go out (it takes so long with three people), we just had time to drive south before finding food at a beach-side greasy spoon. Not sure it’s a place you’d go alone, unless you’re local.And we were walking in the hottest part of the day. We did about 3 miles, round some not-very-wetlands renowned for birdlife – just not in the heat. There were pelicans, ibises, the ubiquitous magpie-crows, and a few small brown birds. Probably reed warblers or something like that. They were in the reeds. Even by the river, everything is so parched. There was some rain just before the parents arrived, none since. (I know it rained cos at 2 o’clock it was raining in the bedroom. Thankfully just a shifted tile in the high winds.) On the way back we went to Marion for a cup of tea, then to Glenelg for a more civilised drink and so the parents could relive their holiday last time they were here, before having dinner. Beautiful sunset.
Friday was Port Adelaide. I was supposed to be going out in the evening but I skipped, too much to do. Once again, by the time we got there it was time to eat (spot the theme), in a café that I noticed last time given the name (Lipson Café). I would highly recommend the Goat’s Crud, even if I wouldn’t recommend their spelling.
After that we went to the Railway Museum. It was bigger and more interesting that I expected. Apart from reminding me of being a child and going regularly to Didcot, there was quite a lot of political and social history bound up with the railways. The complete inability to build same size track, for example, so that travelling from Perth to Melbourne at one time involved SIX changes of train. And the need to take education, health care and food to the outback and how that was done. It’s just not a problem that England faces, yet still in Aus it happens today with having some places with minimal or no medical care, so that the RFDS or state retrieval teams have to go and get patients. One GP may cover hundreds of miles, and some areas do not have any doctors. Just the sheer size. Having to travel 30 miles to see a GP at night in Lincolnshire, for example, that’s nothing. And at one stage the only shop in the outback was the train.
So instead of going out, I spent the evening cooking and cleaning the house so that when I got back from New Zealand, I would be able to go straight to bed without having to do the washing-up first.
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