Adelaide

Thursday September 19th.

Weather: Adelaide: Mostly Sunny, 19c, Sydney: Dark but warmer! 

For a day when we did not do much, we seem to have accomplished quite a lot!  I had a couple of hours to myself this morning and took a trip to a small quilting shop in Adelaide and purchased a few treats.  It was interesting to see what products are not available in Canada, and I’ll write more about this in my sewing blog upon my return to Canada

 

We then all went to the Freemason Lodge in Adelaide.  I was amazed that it was open to the public and that not only could we wander round, but also take photos of everything.  Very interesting with lots of links to the UK and Canada.  The Lodge itself is also on North East Street, and we were taken up to a balcony, about 3 stories up, the views of Adelaide were quite amazing.

 

We also had chance to pay our respects at the War Memorial.  Another fabulous monument that can’t even come close to tell the sad tales behind the names on the walls.  Lest We Forget.

 

Our last job of the day? To catch a flight to Sydney for two full days of sightseeing.  Can’t wait!

Downtown Adelaide

Weather: 21c, overcast.

Today was spent shopping:

Actually, I was very good at the fabric shop and only looked . . . . maybe not so good at the Pandora shop - but boy, the prices are a lot cheaper than in Canada, so I may have picked up a couple of Australian inspired charms . . . . . .

We then spent the afternoon on North Terrace, a long, long road that has lots of lovely old buildings, including the Museum, the Freemasons Hall, statues, Adelaide University etc.,  Here are a few favorites:

The architecture rather reminds me of Cambridge - all the sandstone.  Very beautiful.

We spent the afternoon at the South Australian Museum, which was really neat.  I find it very interesting to see history from different perspectives.  In the UK we are the conquerors, discovering new worlds, there is also lots of information about the industrial revolution, etc.,  In Canada you can learn about the explorers, Metis and First Nations.  In Australia the perspective is from the explorers (again!) and the Aboriginal people. I am really quite interested in the Aboriginal paintings - their significance and the stories that they tell.  I picked up a couple of small books and look forward to reading more about it.  I took a couple of photos of the shields in the museum which are not only used for defence, but also to tell the story of the owner:

 

And what museum worth its salt does not have an example of a fabulous old Singer?  This one was used by Antarctic explorers (early 20th century) and has a hand crank (as you can see), but also a weird foot lever that I just could not fit in the photo!  Apparently all the explorers would have to be able to use one, because if clothing or equipment needed to be repaired, it was down to the individual to do so.  No spares flown in here!

It certainly looks well loved and used!

To finish off, here is a quick outtake.  I was messing round behind some metal railings, and Sharon took this pics as I was walking away . . . turns out that it was the best of the lot!!

Return from the Outback - and some odds and ends

Weather: Sunny, 32c

We drove back from Coober Pedy to Adelaide today - about 800km making our outback trip about 3685km in total.  Quite some distance!  We arrived just in time for a fabulous home made lasagne and salad.  Ah, the joys of staying with an Italian!  Thanks Lina :)

Not much in the way of photos, but I still managed a few:

When in Rome - yep, watching Aussie Rules Footy when in Oz - has to be done.  It used to be televised quite a lot in the UK, but not all in Canada, so it has been fun to catch up on some matches.  I also managed to watch some cricket, and despite England losing three quick wickets, they went on to win a one day international against Australia (sorry new friends, but this is cricket!!)

This was for Dad - he wanted a pic of his motel room key in Coober Pedy . . .

Now, we are used to large vehicles in Canada taking up a LOT of space on the roads, but this behemoth came thundering by taking up BOTH the available lanes and pushing us onto the hard shoulder - wouldn't want to mess with this though!
 

And this is what is called a 'road train'.  Massive, articulated vehicles.  Sadly, I think that this one was a cattle truck.
 

This is Sturts Desert Pea - a wildflower that is actually the emblem for South Australia - where Adelaide can be found.  It grows low to the ground, where most other vegetation is grey and dried out.  It really stands out and is most vibrant, almost to the point of garish due to its surroundings.

So, that is us back in Adelaide.  It seems as though we have been in Oz for ages and we are not quite halfway through yet.  Tomorrow we plan to have a lazy day - maybe go out for lunch, and plan our trip to Sydney at the end of the week.

In response to Annie - I know that there are not many pics of me on the blog, mainly because I take photos on my camera of everyone else, and they take pics of me.  But I found a couple, including one painful 'selfie' - but it was taken at Uluru, so that must count for something!

It also looks as though the weather is cooling off for a few days . . . maybe that will keep the flies at bay!!

PS  I'll also have a look at the settings on this blog so that it will accept anonymous comments.  I know a few people have not been successful posting comments, so watch this space.

Update - I have changed the settings so that you can add comments anonymously, but the word verification thingy is there still.  Let me know if that is an issue!