A visit to Gawler

We made a visit to Gawler two weekends ago, to see Andreena and John.   We had a relaxing time with plenty of talking and eating, visiting the Gawler shops, and Barossa Valley, plus watching a bit of tennis.

On the Friday we met up for lunch with Donna, Lucy and Andreena at Delish in Victoria Square. A very pleasant hour.

Lily, the cat relaxing on the lawn.

On the Saturday we ate lunch at Cibos, in Gawler, which also included our favourite, an espresso plus dessert, namely an affogato.  Minus the liqueur though.  Very low on calories too.

Andreena and John's house is on a hill overlooking the Adelaide plains.  Fantastic views.  Plus there is a great patio, with a very comfortable couch, all of which is surrounded by a beautiful garden.

And the sunsets were superb.

The back garden.  A very pleasant area to sit in during the morning, while watching the sun rise through the trees.  Great bird life too.

I love the old olive trees.

We went for a drive through the vineyards in the Barossa Valley, although we did not stop to taste any wines.  I think we are all a little past wine tasting these days.  Not a novelty any more.  But it was interesting to look at the huge wine companies with their smart wine tasting rooms, plus restaurants.

We found the huge wine tanks fascinating.  I don't think many British people realise that much of the cheaper wine sold in British supermarkets starts off in huge tanks, then transferred into smaller tanks and shipped off.  The wine is bottled when it arrives at its destination.  Much is added to the wine too, which is not declared in the labels.

We made a short visit to some show homes, at Nuroopta, always interesting.

And then back to Andreena and John's house for a curry and rice dinner.  Delicious.

Plus abother glorious sunset.

A really lovely weekend.

Cleanup time at Aldinga Beach

It is always very satisfying to have a good clean up in the garden, regardless of where we are, either in the United Kingdom or in Australia.  The environment is a little different here, I know, but a good clean up, is a good cleanup anywhere.  

We wore thick gardening gloves, in case we encountered 'a red back spider', but I think the spiders all scampered away before we started.  They knew it was cleanup time.

Darren found a barbeque, discarded outside a house.  No doubt the owners hoped someone would take it home.  And Darren did just that.  I gave it a good scrub and it worked brilliantly.   Darren's old rusty barbeque went out with the rubbish.  No one took it.  People knew that it had gone beyond its use by date.  

Darren and Walter made new doors for the shed.  Now Darren has a nice dry shed, plus one that is not full of leaves and dust that have blown in through the open front door.

They also moved the clothesline onto the lawn area.

We made many trips to the giant hardware store, Bunnings, which has heaps more stock than its equivalent in the UK, B & Q.  I love visiting Bunnings, to look at all the gardening equipment that one cannot buy in the UK.  How one makes a choice, I do not know, when there are twenty or more hedge trimmers waiting selection.  And most appear to be reasonably priced.

I bought Darren and Donna a lemon tree each.  Hope they grow quickly, as they are very small trees.

We planted zucchini, cucumber and pumpkin plants in the spare piece of garden.  They are enormous plants now, with plenty of flowers, but not many vegetables due to the rotting down of grass clippings around the plants. We have had three cucumbers.

Darren's new barbeque area, once the clothes drying area.

Darren's revamped patio, with new table, chairs and marque.  The paving slabs were at different heights due to the roots of the tree next door pushing them up.  Darren chopped the roots off, and relaid the paving slabs.   He planted clivias along the fence where once there was a line up of barbeques.

The clivias and Darren's garden bed, filled to capacity with lettuces, basel, parsley, chives and tomato plants.

Dave gave Darren some advice about the best way to cook the lamb chops.

The trailers, finally empty of used building materials, old appliances and furniture.  Darren just needs to get rid of the trailers now.  However, rusty trailers appear to adorn the front driveways in the southern suburbs.  What is a rusty eyesore to me, is someone else's trusty trailer that is used often.

The green bin, full of weeds and tree prunings.  Green bin collection is now monthly rather than fortnightly, which is very annoying.   The bin was finally emptied this morning.

Councils here collect hard rubbish for free, about twice a year.  There is a bin for items that can be recycled which is collected once a fortnight.  Beer cans, beer bottles and drink bottles are taken to a depot where they are exchanged for money.  I love this idea.  Unfortunately taking rubbish to the tip here is extremely expensive.  I very much appreciate being able to take garden rubbish and building materials to our local tip in the UK, for free.  All part of our council tax.

The sorting out of everything in the shed on a very hot day.  I think the temperature was about 35 degrees when the photograph was taken.  Darren in sensible boots and Walter in his trusty rubber flip flops.

Jespa gave the bikes a good clean.

Barbeque time again.

A very happy group of people.

That was the night we saw the large but beautiful huntsman spider.  I thought you would like another look at the spider, Margaret.  I think it escaped the cleanup by coming into the house.

 And the redback, under a piece of cardboard in the trailer. It was found a couple of weeks before the cleanup.  There were no more spiders in the trailer.  Not that we saw, anyway.

We have all been enjoying sitting out in Darren's revamped garden and Darren loves his very clean and tidy shed.

I especially enjoy looking at the empty trailers in the front driveway.  

Australia Day

Australia Day, a day of celebrations, mostly involving barbeques and alcohol.  But it is a great opportunity for a get together with family and friends.

The indigenous people are not so keen on Australia Day, as it is a reminder that the country was taken from them on the 26th January, 1788, when the first British colony was established in Botany Bay.  And then came the atrocities, as British rule continued to destroy the indigenous people's culture, laws and family life.   

Perhaps it would be a good idea to change the date so that everyone in Australia can celebrate the day together. The people who live in Australia now are not the same people that took over the country in 1788.  It is now a country with diverse cultures, and backgrounds, and the celebration should be about being Australian, not about some obscure date when Britain colonized the country.

But back to our Australia Day celebrations.  We decided after much discussion that we would celebrate Australia Day on the beach, in Aldinga.    Preparations were made the night before, with the responsibility given to Walter, Darren, Dave and Sonya to arrive early and set up two marques,  and reserve two more spaces. Hopefully in front of the toilets and not far from Dave's house.

This all sounded perfect except that at 9 am there was already a queue of cars entering the beach and every place on the first row above the high water line was taken.  

After collecting Donna, Scott and Lucy I arrived at 10 am to find the queue stretching for kilometres.  With the help of Google maps we zig zagged around the back streets and came out in front of the beach entrance, thereby bypassing the queue of traffic.  Andreena and John did the same thing.  A little bit of local knowledge does help.  The police closed access to the beach at midday, which also happened at Sellicks Beach and Moana.  A day at the beach was obviously high on everyone's list this year.

I look a little grim in this photo as I view the long queue of cars and hoped someone would let us in, which they did, thank goodness.

Our three marques, all set up in the photograph below.

A long line of vehicles and sun shelters.  When the tide came in, late in the afternoon, we all had to move.  But for the rest of the day it was perfect being in the front row.

There was a cafe, thank goodness.  Great coffee too.

Our view of the sea.  There were plenty of jet skis and motorboats, but they appeared to be driven responsibly.

There were not many people swimming in the morning, as it was a little overcast at that stage of the day.   Or perhaps people were just too busy drinking their beer, eating their barbeque food, and socialising.   Swimming was therefore not a high priority.  However people may have heard about the two metre shark somewhere out in the water. We were blissfully unaware of the shark, thank goodness.

The giant inflatable swan came out, but again the water was too choppy for lounging on the swan.

Scarlet and Lucy with their surfboards, certainly better for the rough sea.

Andreena and I relaxing in our chairs, and sipping our red wine.

Poppy also relaxing on her chair, or I should say, Patrick's chair, which he could not use as he was working that day.

One swan and the Australian flag.  Good mix there.

John very kindly cooked our meat, using his faithful charcoal barbeque.  The meat, sausages, lamb chops, kebabs and chicken, was cooked to perfection, and tasted delicious.  We all loved the oil, onion, and herb marinade on the lamb chops.

Walter brought his porterhouse steak for John to cook.  Luckily no one else brought steak, so his piece of meat was easily identifiable. And tender. And he managed to eat it easily, with his front feeth.  He still does not have his new clip on dentures.

Andreena, in her Aussie apron, and looking very cheerful,  finished cooking the last of the lamb chops.

A relaxing moment after lunch, and then it was off for a refreshing swim.

Now I wonder if all the people, in the photograph below, were paddling in the water as they knew there was a shark somewhere out there in the water.  But it was a lovely serene scene.  Ideal for photographs.

Thank you Donna for many of the lovely photos.  You were certainly the photographer of the day.

And for us, the best ever Australia Day celebration, with our family and friends, at Aldinga Beach.  Plus hundreds of other people, and their vehicles, a few police cars, and one two metre shark.

Tour Down Under - again

Santos Tour Down Under, which I have written about before, I know.  However, it is an exciting event, and one which we never tire of seeing.  The cycle race, plus the cricket and tennis, dominates at the moment.  I am currently trying not to be tempted into spending a few hours glued to the television screen, watching the tennis.  It can be very addictive.

Last Thursday, we walked with Donna, Lucy and Jay along Jetty Street to watch the start of the race, which went from Glenelg to Victor Harbour.

A chance for me to pose in front of the support vehicles.

The support cars left early.

Around the corner the cyclists were getting ready to start.

There were plenty of people lining the road.

The camera man balancing precariously on the back of a motorbike.  Quite a balancing act.

The start.  Off they go.

I always find it amazing how many people there are, dressed in lycra and out on their racing bikes.  By the look of some of them I would guess that they had not ridden very far.

We walked quickly around to the cafe behind the playground and managed to get a table at the cafe.  Time for a much needed coffee break.

Mosely Square, quite deserted after the race start.   The people in lycra had also taken their bikes and cycled home or if keen, cycled elsewhere.

Victoria Square, the central home for the Tour Down Under.

Walter wearing his two free hats.

And a much more glamorous photo!  I intend to take my hat to Camping Manjastre.  But perhaps I will put a new band on it, which matches the hat and does not have the Sandos logo on it.  I love the blue colour.

And now the city of Adelaide looks normal again.  But we still have the cricket and tennis on television.  And perhaps I will now just watch the tennis for a few minutes.