Friday May 25th

This morning I visited the Anglican cathedral of St George, consecrated in 1888 and one of only a few cathedrals built from hand made bricks. The sculpture is called Ascalon, after the name of St George's lance and the billowing white cloak like element symbolises victory over darkness and oppression.
Opposite , a group of kangaroos plays in front of the law courts.

Next a visit to the museum , where I discovered that DH Lawrence had been to Australia in 1922, using the experience in his novel Kangaroo. On the same complex was the amazing Library of Western Australia,

and the art gallery.

Moving on from here I went to the home of cricket in Western Australia - the WACA- then up to the parliament building on the slopes of Kings Park.

Opposite, the arch was meant to provide a view through the city but obviously the new buildings now overshadow it.

The Bell Tower on Riverside Drive overlooking the Swan river includes the twelve bells of St Martins in the Fields, the only royal bells to have left England.

A walk along the Swan river completed the day in Perth.

Saturday May 26th


After an early start due to the man in the room next door who had gone out but forgotten to turn off his alarm siren, I made my way to Scarborough. Having been told on the phone that I had a "partial" sea view I could not believe the scene from the balcony.

After shopping for provisions the beach was the obvious place to spend the afternoon!

Sunday May 27th


Waking to the sound of the waves Emma and I headed for the beach

and a long walk towards Trigg.

The surfers were out in force,

with some people taking lessons,

and a competition being held at Trigg. After a cup of coffee and some photos,

we walked back to Scarborough via the outdoor gym

and braved the currents for a (quite quick) swim.

Tuesday May 22nd

Packing up day! :-(

Wednesday May 23rd

Really sad day today as I had to leave Adelaide! It was so hard to leave the lovely house, my neighbour and all the friends I have met.  Managed to get past Virgin's eagle eyed check in staff, but far too much luggage. A very uneventful flight; three and a half hours and no snacks from the Ryanair like Virgin, and we were in Perth. Although there was not much time for sightseeing by the time I arrived I did walk down to the river side (the Swan river is huge- 4and a half kilometres at the widest point) and have a picnic dinner as I watched the sun go down.

Thursday May 24^th

Decided to visit the Perth Mint first as it is nearly opposite the hostel.

We were given a brief history of the mint by our guide and shown a tableau of a gold mining camp in the early days of the gold rush. The grave in the corner was a stark reminder of just how hard this life was, and what difficult conditions the prospectors worked under (often for no reward at all).

We were then shown various nuggets of gold and went to watch a demonstration of pouring gold into a mould to make a gold bar. Exceptionally hot, it cools very rapidly when poured and can be handled within minutes. We were invited to calculate our weight in gold   (no details!) and were able to try and lift a bar of gold valued at over $200,000. Finally we were shown how coins are minted and viewed some of the coins made by the Perth Mint- notably the Olympic Medals, and the most valuable coin in the world, a one ton gigantic gold coin.

After the Mint I went on one of the three free city circular bus routes to get an overview of the city, and followed it with a more detailed city tour. A commentary was provided giving information about the various points of interest.

Kings Park is definitely the jewel in the crown of Perth. It is a 400 hectare expanse of parkland, at the heart of which is the Botanical garden containing over 2000 indigenous species of plants. Kings Park has numerous  tracks and pathways winding around the hillside, including one with a 222m long glass and steel bridge which passes through the canopy of a stand of eucalypts.

The park is situated on a hillside and therefore provides staggering views over Perth. I include a couple but none really do it justice.

There are water gardens,

 a womens memorial garden,

 cenotaph,

and a structure built to commemorate the 26 people from west Australia who lost their lives in the Bali bombings in 2002.

and an impressive avenue of eucalyptus one planted for every soldier lost in the two world wars.

Originally the idea was to have an avenue of oaks like the one in Windsor Great Park, but the acorns sent from the Great Park failed to grow in the Australian climate and now only one oak tree remains. From Kings Park I went down into the city and saw one of the few older buildings in Perth; this church the Uniting Church, built with convict labour

and the Town Hall.

The Roman Catholic Cathedral of St Mary was the final stop for the day, an unusual mixture of old and new, both inside and outside.

Monday 21st May


Almost left it too late to visit Strathalbyn which would have been a great pity as it is such a lovely little town. Strathalbyn was founded by moneyed Scots in 1839 and descendants of the settlers still live in the town.People came to the town on the way to crossing nearby Lake Alexandrina, or changing at the Terminus Hotel  to the horse drawn tram to Victor Harbor. The savings bank , built in 1930, would not look out of place in Scotland.

In the middle of the town is the River Angas and the gardens and park,

whilst St Andrew's church stands in a prominent position above the bridge.

The Victoria Hotel, built in the 1860s ,

sits in a row of old shops and offices.

Argus House was built was built in 1870 for Joseph Elliot, the owner and editor of of the Southern Argus, one of the state's oldest country newspapers.

The high Street is now a Heritage Precinct, with underground electricity and old fashioned lamps (but noticeably lots of parking).

The Town Hall was built in 1874.

Reluctantly leaving Strathalbyn I drove to Callington, established by Cornish miners in 1850.

Sadly it has seen better days, but the township was obviously once a pretty place to live

Taking the road to Nairne passing through the tiny hamlet of Kanmantoo, then, apparently in the middle of nowhere I saw this lovely little Lutheran church. (At Salem)

Then it was back down the M1 to Adelaide and time for the evening's entertainment; a rather dubious film called Careless Love at the Palace Cinema in the city. 

Friday 18th May


Today went up to Windy Point to take some photos but the sky was overcast so will return later if possible.

Then went up to the Monastery to complete the photos of the marble statues.

Saturday 19th May


I went with Emma to Mount Lofty where we intended to walk to the waterfall. Unfortunately the summit was covered in cloud so had to content ourselves with some coffee and very sickly cake! I then took Emma to the velodrome where she had a practice session with the former Welsh coach. The velodrome is state of the art, really very impressive indeed.

I did not attempt it myself having seen the gradient close up!

A noticeable thing in Australia is the amount of involvement in sport both for adults and children. All the parks were full of footie matches, netball tournaments, tennis coaching, rugby and so on and there are fantastic facilities for all of these- and more.

Whilst Emma was cycling I went off to look at campervans ( with the germ of an idea forming for my next visit to Oz!) Was disappointed in the ones I saw as the quality was nowhere near as good as ones I have seen in Europe.

This evening we had dinner at the theatre then saw Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie.  The  lady playing Amanda had such a shrill voice that it rather ruined the first act, but the second act was really well done, with Jim being the ideal " gentleman caller" until the final disappointment.



Sunday May 20th 

Returned to the Festival Theatre to see the Namatjira exhibition. Some really lovely water colours, and lots of my favourite gum trees!  This afternoon went for a long walk on the beach and saw perhaps my last Adelaide sunset. :-(  I shall really miss Adelaide, it really does have everything.  To the hills tomorrow......

Tuesday May 15th


Once again in the Adelaide hills I visited Lobethal, established by Lutheran settlers in 1842, with the intention of visiting the National Costume Museum.Unfortunately it has now been moved so had to content myself with a beautiful scenic drive along the Torrens River Gorge to Gumeracha, and then to

Birdwood, originally called Blumberg, founded by German settlers in 1848. In the 1850s it was a prosperous gold mining and agricultural centre and the old flour mill is an impressive reminder of those days.

The trees were spectacular in the autumn foliage,

and it was a very pretty little town with art galleries and antique shops lining the main street. The biggest surprise however was the National Motor Museum which I very nearly missed.

It is housed in the old flour mill and is the largest collection of classic and vintage vehicles I have ever seen.There are over 300 vintage, veteran, post war classic and modern cars commercial vehicles and 100 motorcycles. I don't recall even Beaulieu having such an extensive collection. Generally I have little interest in cars but couldn't help finding this  interesting. Many of the cars are old favourites, Morris Minor, Hillman Imp, Beetles as well as the quirkier designs from the past.There was a fantastic caravan

and folding camper,

the local shop,

and the famous mail lorry used by Tom Kruse (how could I forget that name?) on the Birdsville mail track. Tom is and was  an outback legend in his own time and is famous throughout Australia. His truck, a Leyland Badger ,  broke down in 1957 and was abandoned in the desert where it stayed for almost forty years. It was then restored and driven by the then 85 year old Tom to its permanent home in Birdwood in 1999.

There were the usual old beauties,

buses, trams, fire engines,

and the largest collection of motor bikes I have ever seen.

This car was the first vehicle to be driven across Australia from Adelaide to Darwin by Henry Dutton and Murray Aunger in 1908,

and this Landrover was the first motor vehicle to be driven West to East of Australia by the Leyland brothers in 1966.

There were some bizarre things like this working telephone car used by Telecom for parades and promotions in 1988,

and this motorbike where every available inch has been used for storage.

As well as carrying the owner, John Todd, all over Australia, he travelled extensively in Europe, the Middle East and Asia and the bike is covered with stickers from all the places he visited. My favourite however is this one;

a 1918 ford Model T Stake side, custom built with trailer to match. As they would say here, How sweet is that?

I spent so long there that at the end of the visit it was time to make my way back to Mount Torrens and Charleston and back down the Onkaparinga valley to Adelaide.