Show Homes

A visit to see showhomes in a new housing development in Gawler.   A trip to Australia/New Zealand is never complete without a few visits to see the latest show homes in all their splendour.   Quite flashy and displayed perfectly, with minimalist type furniture and landscaped gardens.   No clutter in these houses, which will look decidedly smaller once filled with all the clutter that makes up a normal home.   

There is also the realisation that comes when one agrees to have one of the houses built on their own piece of land.  The price includes the basic home only.  All the lovely extras such as air conditioning, special windows, iron lace, door handles and taps, come at an extra cost.    This is not immediate apparent when visiting the show homes. 

The Australian 'nature strip', the strip of ground outside each house.  It was once grass that was carefully watered and mowed by the occupants of each house before the cost of water in South Australia became astronomically high.    Now only the rich can afford to have grass at the front, everyone else has dirt.  

Apparently the expression 'nature strip' may have another meaning in the UK, so beware all Aussies,  put this expression in the basket with thongs and pants, when visiting the UK.   Best used with caution.  

I can imagine once the houses have been sold, no one will keep the grass watered here.   Even now the grass is starting to look a little brown.

A beautifully landscaped park in the centre of the housing development.

Kangaroo paws.  I am not sure of the botanical name, but these plants were grown profusely in the new development.

The perfect interior of one of the houses.

Margaret, Andreena and me, sitting comfortably on a lounge.

The movie theatre in a very large house.  Comfortable seating in order to watch favourite movies.

On a slightly different theme.   I have another new smart watch as the Target smart watch had trouble connecting via Bluetooth to my mobile phone.  Between Christmas and New Year we had heaps of laughs, as my smart watch issued whistles and beeps in its endeavour to connect to my phone.

But in the long run, the Target watch would have resulted in much frustration, so we returned it, and I got a good deal on a new Samsung Gear smart watch.  

This watch is considerably more expensive, and very serious.  It works perfectly and the message alerts are discreet.  All I feel is a slight vibration on my wrist.

Most of all I miss the 'Hello, this is 99', as I talked into my watch, whenever my mobile rang.  It was great fun, for a while anyway.