Australia Day

Australia Day.    A time to celebrate being Australian.    And people do, with flags, clothes, barbeques, gatherings, music and general merrimaking.

However the indigenous peoples of Australia often do not feel so joyous, as the day also marks the time when invaders came to their country, took over, and set out to destroy their land and their culture, and their people too.

How do I feel about being Australian?    I hold an Australian passport.   Our children were born as Australian citizens.   We have two grandchildren who have only lived in Australia, and another one, who lives here now.   I have mixed feelings.    I lived in this country for 26 years, and there are some aspects of the country that I really love,  yet to be honest I do not feel Australian.    My roots are in New Zealand, and there they stay, I think.   

In consideration of the fact that I am fortunate in being able to have an Australian passport, I try and feel Australian on this important day of the year.

So we decided to celebrate Australia Day in Port Hughes, in glorious sunny weather, and just a slight breeze to keep the air coolish and pleasant.

This group started early, with plenty of alcohol and food, and an electric cord plugged into the point by the gas barbeque in order to keep everything cool.     A couple of shelters provided the finishing touches to their setting.   They were very loud, and it was only 10 a.m.

Now this sign had nothing to do with Australia Day, but the children were fascinated by all the missing letters, and the resulting 'rude words'!

In the morning two other shelters made up the total gatherings on the beach.

After lunch, in our airconditioned cabin, we too set off for a session on the beach.   Darren managed to construct a temporary shelter with two poles, some rope and a small plastic tarpaulIn.    Enough to shelter from the searing sun.

Darren and Sonya taking Elvis for a walk, and a swim.    Not sure if Elvis appreciated the water, as he needed to lie in the sunshine afterwards in order to warm up.

There were plenty of boats, and people fishing, or being towed while sitting on inflatables, or using jet skies.   All a bit too close to people swimming though.

 A group of people sitting on chairs in the water, keeping cool.  All with hats and shirts on.   Sensible people.

 Scott spent some time digging a huge hole in the sand, in order to lie comfortably and sunbathe.    Luckily he had plenty of sunscreen on, otherwise he would have suffered from sunburn.    Not good in this climate.

Jespa and Talie, then took over and buried themselves in the hole.    They looked so cute lying there with just their heads showing above the sand.

Jay found a kite and spent some time flying it on the beach, and in the water, with the other three children.  We always knew exactly where they were playing.

Back at the camping ground, and a bit of fun with my pink sunhat.   I think the result was more American rather than Australian.

Jay and Scarlett, spent a considerable amount of time attaching false Australian flag nails to their own nails.   A very exacting job.

A close up of the finished nail application.    Very cool.    Well done, girls.

Out to dinner at a local restaurant.   Where were the other customers?    Apparently Australia Day celebrations are usually held at home with family and friends, with barbeques and plenty of alcohol.   Oh well, we decided to do it differently.   Great food, and attentive staff who whipped our plates away rather too quickly.   Time to go home I think.

 We stopped on the way home to take silhouette photographs.    Perfect light, and plenty of photographers and willing subjects.

There are those masts again, standing tall and proud in the twilight.

A very red sunset, predicting a very hot day ahead.    And it was too.

And as the sun set on another Australia Day, I reflected on the one aspect of the day that always causes me to cringe somewhat.    Australia Day seems to bring out the ocker' in some people.    For those who are from elsewhere, ócker' is the slang word for a sterotypical Australian, one who has a strong accent, a very loud voice,  drinks a lot of beer, and likes sport.    Generally uncultured.    And most unattractive.

And I was not disappointed, on this past Australia Day.

Camping at Port Hughes

Port Hughes, on the east coast of the York Peninsula.  Not the Cote DÁzur, I admit, but beautiful in its isolation.  

Once a small and quiet fishing haven, frequented by keen fisherfolk, with their boats, fishing lines, crabbing nets, and shacks,.   Now it has become a holiday centre as well as a fishing resort.   There was a well equiped caravan park, spread over two sites, with plenty of very comfortable accommodation, plus large holiday homes, and sub divisions laid out for more housing, to cater for the holiday makers and retirees.   In fact, the housing areas now blend with Moonta Bay, so that it looks like one large suburb of the town of Moonta.

The caravan park was quiet when we arrived on the Friday evening.  This was not to last unfortunately.   Our cabin, two bedrooms and large lounge/kitchen/diner plus bathroom, was very roomy.   And airconditioned.   Although with five adults and four children, it did become a little squashed at times during the day.

The children, plus Scott, slept in two tents on the site opposite our cabin.   Well they tried to sleep on the Saturday and Sunday nights but the partying and loud talking around them resulted in very disturbed nights.  

Poor Elvis had to live on the other side of the fence, due to a 'No Dog' policy in the campsite.  The 'No Dog' policy was not made clear to us when we booked into the camping ground the previous week.

As he was a little dog, and well trained, he happily slept in the car at night, and was equally happy to lie in his bed, under a canopy, and view the world around him, during the day when we were back in the camping ground.    He could see us through the fence so was not completely alone.

We were surrounded by campers with boats, but this group arrived on the Saturday afternoon, quickly set up their tents, and barbeque, then the men went off to do a spot of fishing, leaving the women to sit around the campsite.   Mind you, that would be preferable to spending a few hours in a small boat, rolling about on the sea.

Our barbeque, as Elvis the dog was with us, was down on the seafront.    The gas barbeque was free, no coins, which I think was the usual case in Australia   We had plenty of meat of course, steak, hamburgers and sausages.    All washed down with beer or wine for the adults, and cordial for the children.

Walter posing in front of the shelter, enjoying his glass of wine.

Darren attending to the serious task, of cooking the meat without burning it.   And he did a very good job.

Our barbeque meal, eaten as the sun was setting.   What was not shown in this photograph was the very cool wind.    Unfortunately we had to pack up as soon as we had eaten our food as we were beginning to shiver.

The sunset, brilliantly red and orange as usual.

And the lights on the jetty, sparkling in the dark sky.

All ready for Australia Day.

A weekend away

Last weekend we travelled to Port Hughes, which was on the north eastern coast of the York Peninsula.  An area I had never visited before, which was a pity, because it was such a beautiful area, very dry, but with the most beautiful  beaches.

We took the road out of Adelaide,  a dual lane affair, called Port Wakefield Road. A straight road, with accompanying flat countryside.  Who would want to live there. But people do, surprisingly.   At first there were light industry areas,  market gardens and olive groves but after that, nothing really. We did see a few cattle grazing on dried bushes. I forgot to mention the huge rubbish dump, which was politely described as a landfill area. And the sewage works. Delightful. However I am sure money could be made from training racehorses on this very flat land.

We passed through the only settlement, named Dublin, which bore no resemblance to Dublin in Ireland. A joke, I think.  Blink and you will miss this little settlement. Not even a village. It does boast a pub called the new Dublin Hotel and a few shops and houses.  Dublin will soon be the home of the Big Cockroach,  currently on display in Rundle Mall.  A giant metal sculpture. Perfect.

Finally we arrived at Port Wakefield, no port in sight but it must be there, somewhere. There were roadhouses though, modernised, but still full of greasy food. Roadhouses are refreshment stops for coaches, trucks and motorists, and are typical food places along the main roads in country Australia. Not in the same league as motorway stops in the UK and Europe, but the food is just as expensive and awful.

Finally the aerial masts of Moonta and Port Hughes come into view. We wondered if Moonta was full of radio hams.  But no, these masts were for the television sets in the houses. Once a tall aerial was a sign that there was a keen long distance radio enthusiast below.  The type that spent hours talking to other radio enthusiasts around the world. In the days before the Internet. This part of the York Peninsula was full of tall masts, in a desperate bid to get some television reception.

The beaches go on for ever and ever, white sand, shallow water and blue sky. Perfection.

A fenced in swimming area beside the Moonta jetty. To keep boats away from swimmers?  To contain the swimmers? It certainly will not keep the sharks out, a very flimsy net with holes which will be replaced soon, according to the signs.

The Port Hughes jetty. Home to all the keen fishermen.

But these keen fishermen were keeping cool.  The area is known for its plentiful fish so of course the place was full of very keen fishermen and women too.

There appeared to be no rules regarding  boats and swimmers.  I was amazed at the number of boats that came in close to the shore, and fast too.

A lone sunbather on a huge beach.

Uncrowded and peaceful. An early morning photograph.

But the area was also full of expensive houses, huge holiday homes and houses for retirees.  There has to be some money in this part of the world.

More to follow.

A trip into Adelaide, on a beautiful day, pleasantly warm, and sunny.     First stop, the upmarket and colonial style suburb, North Adelaide.   O'Connell Street.   And a step back in time, except for the modern cars.   Beautifully restored buildings.

   Coffee time, at a trendy cafe which displayed a selection of very good coffee beans.   We chose a latte, with normal beans, and the coffee was excellent.   I was fascinated by the array of spider webs at the top of the windows.   Thank goodness there were no large spiders in them.   Interesting webs, all the same.  Perhaps webs are part of the decor of trendy cafe's in this part of Adelaide.

  The verandahs and well laid out pavements, made a cool and interesting walk along the street.

  Then into Adelaide, and lunch in the trendy Rundle Street.   I was a bit taken back with the heavy dose of oil that had been poured over my cooked prawns and saffron rice, plus a thousand islands type dressing applied liberally on the salad.  Not really to my liking.   I did question the oversupply of sauces, but did not get a reply really.  But apparently the restaurant has new owners.    So they have lost two customers.  

 Sonya at work in the jewellery shop next to the restaurant.   What a beautiful array of jewellery in the shop.    Very easy to spend money in this shop.

  Rundle Mall.     The giant cockroach.   What next!

 Shady Rundle Mall.   A pleasant place to stroll.   But these trees will soon be gone

 The council is redeveloping the mall.

 The redeveloped area looks very smart, and some new trees have been planted, but it will be a long time before there will be shade again.

 

  The new Harris Scarfe store, still just as muddly inside, but always a great place to purchase bargains, especially in the homeware section.

  The new Apple store, cavernous.    We counted 25 staff members.   All on zero hours no doubt.

 The Myers Centre, once the ultimate in modern shopping concepts, looking very tired.   I remember when there were roller coaster rides on the top floor.

The Regent Arcade.  A little bit of old England. 

And the Adelaide Arcade, also a bit of old England.

The Button Shop.  You would love this shop, Kylie.  And a sideline in tea cosies.   Handknitted too.

And you would love this shop, Aaron.   Full of board games.  Perhaps not as good a selection as in Utrecht, but pretty close.

 The two arcades side by side, with the Regent just a little less ornate on the outside.  The Regent arcade used to have an orchestra playing on the balcony.   A long time ago of course.

Then back home to Aldinga Beach.   Home from home.