Flat renovations

We have done some renovations to one of our flats, and made our tenants very happy.   After owning this flat for about six years,  it is time we spent some of the money making sure we look after our investment, and look after our very reliable tenants.  

The split air conditioning unit is a must in a small flat, situated in a sheltered and hot suburb.   We should have installed one of these years ago.    

We arrived in time to see the last of the laminated floor being put down in the loungeroom and hallway.

This floor will be much easier to keep clean, than the carpet that was previously here.

The back steps, a little high perhaps, as it is possible to fall off them, but getting a quote to put railings around two sides of the top stop is almost impossible.   A simple job one might think.   We will have to work on this one.

The new courtyard, looking very swish and practicable.    There used to be just bare sandy soil here.  

But the front garden, jointly owned with the owners of the other two flats, is a disgrace.    Dry, weedy and with very few bark chips remaining to cover the bare earth.    And we all pay large amounts of money to the Corporate Body.    Luckily we will be attending the quarterly meeting next week.   I think we will have plenty of issues to discuss.

When the estate agent also took responsibility for the Corporate Body, she, and us, were very proactive, as the white ant problem was fixed, and the outside of the building was rendered and painted.   It helped that Darren owned one of the flats too.

The next projects for our flat will be new kitchen cupboards for the wall, and paint the entire inside of the flat.

Adelaide Camping and Caravaning Show

Walter, Scott and I went to the Camping and Caravaning Show at the Wayville Showgrounds.    A huge affair, and much larger than any we have attended in the United Kingdom.   It was an extremely hot day, but luckily the large showrooms were airconditioned.

Walter taking a breather in one of the large caravans.   How can I afford one of these beasts?   Wishful thinking, Walter.

At this point, Scott wished he could lie down and have a sleep.  The bed looked overwhelmingly comfortable, and cool.

I liked this cooking and washing arrangement, which slid out from the side of the camping trailer.  Not much use in a cold climate though.

The pointy nosed, air streamed trailer, which looked like a giant hornet.   It opened up at the top, and a large tent popped out.   Of course one has to climb up a ladder to reach one's bed.   Not good in the middle of the night.   

The shower cubicle, which is attached to the end of a caravan.   Why pink?

The main entrance of the Wayville Showgrounds has been revamped into a very smart atrium, which houses fast food outlets, as well as seating areas.   The airconditioned showrooms run off the the atrium.

A large beast, together with its spotlights and bull bars, and off road tyres.    I wonder if it will ever be driven off road, or will it become a status symbol in city camping grounds.

We loved this little cupboard, which we noticed was built into most caravans.   And guess what! It does not house the toilet cassette.   Oh no!   It is designed to house a small TV, which can be swung out, in order that TV viewing can be completed, whilst sitting outside in the company of mosquitoes.   What more can one ask for!   The ultimate in TV viewing.

And this is the ultimate in luxurious facilities.   An outside cooking area, with sink, cupboards and washing machine.   I want one of these areas in our motorhome.    Wait a minute, this outside washing/cooking area is nearly the size of our whole motorhome!

The automated pop up caravan.    Very smooth.

The off road wheels and tyres.    Great for the south of France.

The pop out, netted sleeping area.   So cool.

The A Frame.    The top folds down to make a low and flat trailer.   We saw plenty of these trailers in our travels in 2011.  Very popular.

The Weekender.   Not for tall people though.

The pop up, square trailer, with end sleeping compartments.   Another very popular trailer, I think.

The old!   Very stylish.

No Quechua pop up tents among this lot.   Why has no one thought about importing some into Australia.   So versatile.   I did notice that the old swag sleeping bag, has now developed into a small tent arrangement, with stretcher, and mosquito cover, which makes sleeping under the stars a little more comfortable.  And creature free.

We were impressed with the large array of very sturdy, and imaginatively designed trailers and caravans.   But they came with high price tags.   Breathtakingly expensive!

Central Market in Adelaide

The Central Market, open on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.    An amazing market, and the best I have seen, with its array of stalls and food from around the world.    And the locally produced food is very remarkable too.   A 'foodies' market especially, but interesting for everyone else too.   A definite 'must visit' place for tourists too.    That is now us of course.

When we lived here, Walter visited the market each week, early on a Friday morning in order to buy our fruit and vegetables.  But often we would shop there on Friday evenings, when we would spend money on other food items too, such as delicious cheeses and breads, and cold meats.    

The centre of the market, by the escalators, was the place where we would arrange to meet each other, together with all the other people who had the same idea.   Always busy.   

Now which cheese will I select?  Scott surveying the huge collection of local and imported cheeses.   We noticed the Comte cheese which we buy in the South of France, quite cheaply, was selling for $85 a kilo.  We thought we would wait until we were next at the campsite before indulging in our favourite cheese.

Watermelons, watermelons and more watermelons.    Scott was impressed with the number and size of the water melons.   

 This was once Reg Muller's fruit and vegetable stall, but there were new owners now, who have made it into a self service stall.   No more personal service.    Donna worked here for a couple of years, earning some money while at university.    She became very good at being able to add and multiply quickly in her head, and then give the correct change.   Not an easy task when it was so busy.     Walter bought our fruit and vegetables from this stall for sixteen years.  

The chocolate fountains, oozing in delicious chocolate sauce.

 After the influx of Vietnamese refugees, which then also brought an influx of other Asian migrants,  the market established two Asian food halls, filled with the most amazing variety of food from Singapore, China, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Bali.    All food is freshly cooked and cheap.    I wondered at times if we were sitting in a food hall in Singapore, rather than in Adelaide.    Last week we chose a Malay curry, and today we chose food at the Chinese stall (self service and all you can eat for $6.50).   Delicious.    But very noisy.

Then afterwards we drank coffee a Lucia's, a cafe in the market which is very popular.    Excellent coffee, made by Maria, who has taken over the cafe from her parents, who started it years and years ago.    Maria still remembered Walter, which was remarkable, but then he had coffee there every week, for sixteen years, and then every time he visited Adelaide during the past twenty years.   Tradition.  
So important.

We met up with Andreena on both visits to the market, as she now works in a building which overlooks the market.   It was great to catch up, and have lunch together.    

And today we also saw Morag, who was dashing through the market, on the way to an appointment.  

Central market is not just about food, it is also a place to meet people, and talk.  

Hot weather.

A cool change came through last night, and today is warm, with a strong cool sea breeze.   I feel like writing a blog, cleaning the house, going for a walk, cooking dinner.   And relaxing.   

But it has not been so, for the past five days or more.    The weather has just been too hot, and mostly over 35 degrees.   So one ends up by just gritting one's teeth and sitting it out.    This is Adelaide weather I do not enjoy, in fact I detest it, and always feel very miserable.   The searing heat, the northerly winds, the dryness.    I even start to pine for the grey skies of England.  

Adelaide is the dryest city, in the dryest state, in the dryest country, in the dryest continent in the world.   So if you have not visited Adelaide, than this will give you a general idea about the colour of everything at this time of year.   Brown, brown and more brown. And this is especially so after a summer without much rain, and with the grass in the paddocks drying off, ready to be cut for hay, or for harvesting for wheat etc.   The animals certainly have not much feed available, as there is a lot of bare and barren pastureland around as well.    The bare earth reflects the heat dreadfully.

Darren's back area of grass is looking very threadbare, except around the septic tank area.   It is lush there, of course.  

 JD stretched out in the shade.   No temper tantrums here, it is just too hot.   He even lost his appetite.   Poor JD, with all that fur.

 Of course we are lucky that we have a beautiful beach.   And we can drive our airconditioned cars right up to the waters edge, so no running across boiling hot sand in order to reach the coolness of the water.

The people in the photograph sat on their chairs in the water, and drank their beer in cool comfort.

They even deserted their beautifully set up shelter.  A birthday party on the beach, according to the banner.

 Scott sunning himself.  Where is your sunhat Scott?  At least you have a T shirt on.  

 On Sunday we visited Morag, Sean and Murphy at Largs Bay, not far from Port Adelaide, where we spent an hour and a half sitting in the warm shallow water.   So refreshing. We also saw an enormous sting ray swimming past, but did not try any Steve Irwin tricks.    Normally sting rays are very timid but I sat behind Morag and Billie Joe just to make sure.  

Yesterday, it was a pupil free day at Jay and Jespa's school, so we took them to the ice skating rink.   A very cold place, perfect when it is so hot outside.  And we loved it.    Why is there no one else there?  Scott looks very lonely on the skating rink.  

 Ice skating in shorts.   Jespa was not going to take any chances so put his tracksuit bottoms on, no skinned knees there.   Ice skating when it is 35 degree outside is so incongruous!

 Walter sat in a comfortable lounge, in icy cold conditions.   There were many such spongy lounges and chairs there, obviously this skating rink looks after the comfort of their patrons.  I had to leave the area after half an hour, as my feet were starting to get frost bite.   I had my rubber thongs (flip flops) on.    Not really appropriate foot wear for icy conditions.

During the past five days we also spent a lot of time in shopping centres, which were always beautifully airconditioned.   At least we could enjoy our coffee in comfort.

And with the hot weather comes glorious red sunsets.  

But I am so pleased to be feeling cool as I write this blog.

At the seaside

It is so lovely to be living close to the seaside, and we never tire of the fantastic views from the cliffs not far from Darren's house

Scott at the Victory Hotel, about to eat his favourite food, salt and pepper squid.    This is my favourite dish too, when in Australia.   The squid is thinly sliced, lightly battered, and deep fried.  Delicious!  As the hotel is on the side of a hill there is also a fantastic view of the bay below, and an even better view of the very red sunset after a hot and clear day.    The Victory Hotel has an amazing wine cellar, ideal for the wine buffs.   Walter can only look of course, no drinking of the red stuff for him. 

A drive to our old beach, Henley Beach, where we once lived, a long time ago.    On this occasion it was catch up time with Karen and Sue, as well as enjoy the lovely view and eat fresh fish, cooked to perfection.

We also visited the show homes at Aldinga Beach, an activity we always enjoy when in Australia.   The houses are always open planned, and very bright and airy, and the price looks appealing too, until you check and find out that you need to double the price if you want to build a similar house.   Typical.

A walk on Aldinga Beach, early on a Sunday morning, with only a few people around.   So deserted.   Karen is concentrating on getting a perfect photograph of the waves.

And there are a few waves too, rolling in perfect symmetry towards the sand.

And later on, we went to a busier seaside suburb, Glenelg, where there was a junior surf life saving carnival taking place.  In the photograph below, the girls line up on the sand, in readiness for their race, to see who was first to collect the marker from the sand.    A trip down memory lane as as we remembered spending many  Sundays at different beaches, when Aaron, Donna, Darren and Emma took part in different carnivals.    A certain way of ruining the skin in those days.   Although, it would appear that might be still the case, as the children appeared to be wearing skimpy swimwear.  What happened to the current 'sun safety' programme?.    

Glenelg certainly has had a face lift, with smart restaurants and cafes, palms and brick paving.   Plus a very large sign warning people that anti social behaviour will not be tolerated.   The sign did spoil the ambiance somewhat, but anti social behaviour was obviously a problem in Glenelg.   Sad really.

Definitely a scene from the Cote d'Azur, but perhaps not quite St Tropez.  

A view along the beach, the north side of Glenelg, where the sand gets washed away and deposited further up the gulf, due to the building of sea walls to protect the harbour, which shelters pleasure boats.  Progress versus nature.

The seaside in Adelaide, is mostly white beaches and very clear water.   And enough sunshine to make swimming possible.    Perfect.