Wednesday, August 20

[South Australia]

Central Adelaide:

The farm:

The infamous Aldinga incident:

Wonderful people who I always miss:

Sonia's kitchen:

posted by pete at 16:42

[Hmmm]

I can't imagine you'd need to take much to Japan; it would all be there.

posted by pete at 12:33

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Tuesday, August 19

[The Clare Valley]

I've got some great Adelaide / SA photos on the way, but it takes a lifetime to process the images from camera output quality to publication quality.

In the meantime, I'd like to make mention of the Clare Valley, because I passed through it on the way to Adelaide the other day. This region is world-renowned for its fine wines, and is a district that lies about an hour's drive south of my childhood home. I've always enjoyed going there. It seems to have significantly lower temperatures at any time of the year, and such meteorological trends have a magnetic quality for me. The hills are cloaked with ranks of lush vines, wineries dot the landscape, and cafes, restaurants and interesting little shops pop up everywhere.

Towns such as Clare, Auburn, Watervale and particularly Mintaro invite all sorts of exploration, and balance historical significance with a reasonably modern approach (although some places remain entrenched in rural 80's). Delicious produce abounds. In some ways I think I prefer the Clare Valley to McLaren Vale and the Barossa, those other great wine regions. Visually it's just so beautiful, particularly in the cooler months, and since I tire of wine culture (and the wank that surrounds it) these other qualities seem all the more important. The region is reasonably far from Adelaide though, which seems to put some visitors off, especially for day trips. But it's well worth the effort!

posted by pete at 21:24

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Monday, August 11

[Bundaleer]

In this whirlwind SA tour I’ve found time for a quick trip up home to visit mum and dad. Actually, they were the ones who drove me home from Adelaide, saving me some much needed dollars.

And it’s been good to be home. Not that it is my home anymore, but it’s still kind of home, even though I wouldn't live here again. I might draw on multiple-home theory to explain this. I think you’re always a bit connected to places that shaped your childhood.

This place really is only nice in winter – the hills are a rich green, the crops are growing, the cattle are lowing. Not that dad has any cattle; he raises sheep along with crops such as wheat and whatever. The forest across the valley still clings to the range, and the strange wolf-like formation is still visible on Mt Campbell. Many of the trees are being harvested now, unfortunately, but that’s why they were planted in the first place. You’ve got to enjoy things while you can. At least they seem to be replacing the fallen trees with healthy new saplings.

In summer, the earth browns and all that remains after the harvest are dry stalks amongst red, iron-enriched stones. Dust and flies abound, as does intense dry heat. Hot winds sweep in from the northern deserts.

During this visit, I struck one of the coldest days on record. I don’t think it got above 5C yesterday. Hardly cold by Scandinavian standards, but it’s all about what you’re used to. Their current heat wave of 37C seems a bit mild when you consider the temperature didn’t drop below 38C for a whole month in SA a couple of years ago. So, yeah, it was cold. There was snow in the adjacent valleys, but we missed out. I’ve always missed the snows here, much to my disappointment. But there was some form of sleet falling, and frozen air seeped into the house under the doors and through every crack in the old stones. When I got into bed last night, it felt like I was climbing into the refrigerator. Today was much milder, and the sun was shining this afternoon.

I return to Adelaide early tomorrow morning.

posted by pete at 21:56

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Saturday, August 9

[Southwards]

Back to the Fleurieu, and a visit to Claire's fabulous beach house. A very restful home for a commuter. The area around Aldinga is a stunning stretch of coast, with dramatic hills, glorious beaches and eerie wind farms twirling on distant shoulders.

But we just threw a party. Lots of people, lots of cocktails. It was a hit! :)

posted by pete at 13:45

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Tuesday, August 5

[Tiny white flowers]

Why wouldn't you enthuse about the Fleurieu Peninsula? The region is green and bountiful and resplendent with almond blossoms. It's such a gorgeous time of year to visit, but as a matter of fact, any time is good due to the lovely climate, moderated by the Antarctic Ocean (or whatever it's called).

Lisa and I tripped on down there yesterday afternoon, I'd done the tourist thing at Glenelg and I waited for Lisa on a park bench on Jetty Rd, again much like a vagrant. We went straight to Sandra's delightful cottage in Port Elliot and then rushed off for dinner at an Asian restaurant in Victor Harbor (it really is spelt without a 'u'). This restaurant draws influences from nearly every land mass, sub continent and archipelago in the Asian region, so there's a fair amount of choice for anyone who fancies those flavours.

Then we went back to Sandra's and watched The Ring and Rules of attraction. Sandra's got this amazing guestbook concept going where she makes every visitor paint an image of themself onto a pre-existing background. Quite wonderful really.

After a leisurely morning we tritted around through Victor Harbor and Goolwa, dodging intermittent rain and flying dustbins (I made that up, but it was windy), and have now arrived safely back in Adelaide.

posted by pete at 15:14

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Sunday, August 3

[Adelaide: it's okay!]

Never again, I had said to myself. Never. But I boarded the bus and made the 10 hr trip. Yes, I took the bus. It's nice to be in Adelaide, but I took the bus. You see, sometimes air travel is just a tiny bit out of reach. Fortunately only five people occupied seats on the bus that day, from which one might draw conclusions about how many people visit Adelaide, but I'm told it was the emptiest ever. The lack of passengers was really good news for me – I sprawled out, napped, stared vacantly out the window, napped, listened to CDs, watched About Schmidt and Catch me if you can (not bloody bad for an in-bus lineup if you ask me!), napped, snacked and generally held on until the next service station, I'm not much into on-board toilets.

Now, Adelaide is, in general, full of really attractive people, though you wouldn't know it with all the down and outs at the bus depot. Yes it's a mean observation but a full length metallic silver Dada tracksuit doesn't do anyone any favours, let alone when worn by a guy with a penchant for scraping phlegm from the back of his throat and expelling it violently towards the pavement.

Anyway, Sonia picked me up in a taxi and whisked me away to her lovely new house; a renovated 1890's inner-suburban single fronted cottage. Completely gorgeous. Seeing her house is actually part of the reason I'm actually in Adelaide, as she'd been hassling me about coming over for a while. The other main reason is that she's wrenched her knee apart and I'm driving her around a bit. Oh there are probably other reasons as well.

I don't want to turn this into an obvious comparison of differences between Australian cities, as that sort of thing is so dreary. Adelaide is a wonderful spot, full of interesting and fun things, and its fair share of vile things too. I've already explored some new cafes, trawled through the Central Markets, seen interactive art installations staffed by interesting people in the street and found a whole string of new shops in an arcade running parallel to Rundle Mall. (By the way, of course when I went into the city for the first time I saw two people I vaguely knew within 45 mins; additional chance encounters have occurred and it just seems to be part and parcel of coming here.)

One thing I do want to gripe about is the public transport here. It is absolutely atrocious. I always hated it but now I realise how much. Narrowly missing two buses and a train within an hour was enough to make me want to slit my wrists, but the followup nastiness of bus drivers (one of whom I called "a very, very rude person"), the generally blase approach to timetabling (they are still distributing timetables from the year 2000 despite running on new schedules for a number of months) and a staunch refusal to recognise government-issued concession cards just leaves me livid. Not to mention the 'one bus a day' policy on weekends, I exaggerate but it may as well be. I never thought I would say it, but I am from now on boycotting public transport in Adelaide as much as possible. They don't deserve my patronage! (Thinks longingly of Hong Kong's super-efficient MTR.) No wonder there is such a heavily entrenched car culture here.

Anyway, I've caught up with a whole heap of wonderful friends who I miss constantly when I'm in Melbourne. And I even got to see Legally Blonde 2, what a treat. Looks like I'll be tripping on down to Victor Harbor and Port Elliot, and I also hope to head up to the farm for a few days. Busy times ahead, I'll post when I can.

posted by pete at 15:37

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