Enjoying Aldinga Beach

We are enjoying the opportunity to look around Aldinga Beach, and getting to know some of the areas that we did not know existed.   The weather has been too cool to walk comfortably on the beach, and the strong winds seem to blow straight through us.  And we have had plenty of heavy rain, which has covered the hills and surrounding areas in a verdant green.   

Britain, and its Brexit problems, are now a distant problem.   I have been skimming newspaper articles and still sigh at the futility of the Brexit negotiations.    A Government in disarray, led by people who have neither the expertise nor the skills to get Britain out of its current mess.   But happily we no longer live there.   And our money has left too.   Not that we had a great amount, but still I guess every little bit helps.

And talking of money, we had an interesting telephone call with our British bank last week, which highlighted one of the traits that I never came to grips with, when I lived there.   The condescending tone of voice, displayed by some men in authority, when they believe you need to be put in your place.  

  When I rang to cancel our Rewards Card, due to not living in Britain and therefore not able to use any of the benefits, the call was forwarded to a man, obviously a senior employee at the bank.    First he outlined, in a condescending and officious tone of voice, the benefits that we would miss out on, if we cancelled the card.   

He then proceeded to tell me that if we cancelled the card we would have to pay a very high interest rate if we used the overdraft facilities, and should we wish to get another Reward Card, we would have to either earn a huge amount of money per year or have that amount of money invested in the bank.   Eh!   Never.   He also asked me to put the phone on speaker phone so that my husband could add to the chorus of 'I agree' after every stipulation.    From this distance it was all very funny.  What a farce.

I must point out though that we miss all our family, friends and neighbours in Britain, and Bobbi, the dog, and the beautiful woods in Joydens Wood.   Such lovely memories of a beautiful country.

But back to Aldinga Beach, where we will soon be living, in our new house.   At the moment we are staying with Darren for the week.   

First of all, on a relatively calm day, Darren sprayed all the chairs, just to make sure the local red back spider population had not moved in.   He found one little baby red back, sadly we had to get rid of it, before it grew into an adult one.

 Out for a walk, along the cliff top, on a wintry day.   Jay, Darren, Walter and me.

The bicycle point, with tyre pump, various tools and stand.   All that is needed for a cyclist to make quick repairs to the bicycle, when out for a bike ride.

 A beautiful place to visit, the park alongside Aldinga Scrub, which is a conservation park.  There is a fence running along the edge of the conservation park, with a ban on dogs and bicycles in the conservation park.  Everything is green at the moment, after so much rain.

 The park is lined on one side by large two storied houses, rather out of our price range, I think.   Brilliant views over Aldinga Scrub and the line of hills which surround he area.

 The sign, for Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park.    And yes it does look very scrubby, so lives up to its name, however the bush is important coastal growth, and important for the animals that live there.   I have been out of South Australia, for too long, and cannot name the different types of bush that grows in this area.   I need to get back into relearning about our local flora and fauna.

  An area has been set aside for filtering water from the storm water drains from the two housing areas abutting the area.   It has grown into a successful wetland, for the local birds.

 There are good paths throughout the wetlands, and a perfect place for a walk at the weekend.   Darren, Donna and Poppy walking along in front of me.

A beautiful stringy bark eucalyptus tree, standing out above the surrounding scrub.

 We looked over the fence, into Aldinga Scrub, and saw hundreds of kangaroos, resting or nibbling at the lush green grass.   The large male kangaroo scratching his chest, looked very threatening to me.  I was glad I was on the other side of the fence.   He ended up hopping away after a few minutes.  I am not sure I want to walk amongst these huge kangaroos, although Darren has assured me, they will not attack, preferring to hop away instead.   I just hope I don't get freaked out by the kangaroos like I did with the local foxes in Joydens Wood.

 The kangaroos must be having a feast at the moment with the luscious green grass growing at the time of year.

 A large group of kangaroos enjoying themselves amongst the reeds and grass.

Donna, Poppy and I went for a walk along the cliff top, on a windy day.   A lovely view over the sea, towards the hills in the background.   I never tire of this view.

We went up to the Victory Hotel for drinks and dinner in the bar.   Always guaranteed a view of the beautiful sunset.

 The best and friendliest hotel around the area.   Up on the hill with glorious views.   What more can one want.

 We all enjoyed our food, at the bar.   Our favourite meals, salt and pepper squid for me, hamburgers for the men, and schnitzels for Donna, Lucy and Jespa.

There was an ongoing pool game, which some people enjoyed, and lots of laughter all round. 

And back to the weather.   For those people who may not believe me, it is not all blue skies and sunshine here.    At Aldinga Beach, for the past two days, there have been strong winds and heavy rain, with an average temperature of 12 degrees.

My view from the bedroom window, where I am sitting on the bed, with a hot water bottle on my lap and a throw over that.   Not all wonderful weather, sadly.

We are looking forward to warmer days ahead, Spring is only a month away.