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.

Saturday 12th May


A chilly start to the day at Erldunda;

no chance of using the pool

but i did see something which started me thinking.....

Then it was on the caoch and off to the Olgas and Uluru.
Nothing quite prepares one for the first sight of Uluru, - unless it is Mount Conner on the horizon.

Sometimes known as Foolaru by witty locals, Mount Conner is on private land not far from Curtin Springs on the Lasseter Highway. The Lasseter Highway is named after LH Lasseter who claimed to have found a massive gold reef near Kata Tjuka, but his claim was never substantiated. Our first stop however was at The Olgas, or Kata Tjuka to use the traditional Aboriginal name (meaning many heads).

There are 36 of these enormous domes rising out of the sand and the tallest is in fact, 200 metres higher than Uluru. The rock formations are basically due to the same geological causes as Uluru, and are very similar to granite. The rock itself is not read but a greyish pink and the red is caused by feldspar coated in iron oxide.

There are several walks through and around the Olgas, and we walked through one of the valleys.

to where the rocks meet.

The rich oranges and burnt yellows of the domes were even more apparent in the sunshine.

Stopping only for photographs,

we then made our way to Uluru.

It is difficult to write about Uluru. Its image is so iconic as to be a cliche, and I couldn't stop smiling at the thought of actually being there. It does literally loom out of the surrounding bush and it is truly awesome in size. The Anangu are the traditional owners of Uluru and to them it is a sacred place.

It measures 348 metres from the desert and the walk around the base is 9.4 km.  It is estimated that at least two thirds lie beneath the surface. After a visit to the cultural centre we began a series of guided walks round the base and it was here that I was most surprised. No two views of it are the same but it was the folds and valleys in the rocks where the different shapes and textures were to be seen that I found most interesting.

The Anangu ask that people do not climb Uluru as it is a sacred place, but many people still do. I was glad that as a group we made the decision to respect their wishes when I saw the climb!

The speck on the hill I discovered through my binoculars was someone on his mobile phone!
From another angle,

We were shown caves and told about their significance in the Aboriginal dreaming ,

looked at some of the early cave painting, which incidentally,  pre date Lascaux,

heard the stories connected with the various marks on the rock,

and finally discovered a permanent water hole,hidden in the fold of the rock.

By this time we wee nearing sunset so we went back in the coach for our barbecue (and champagne) dinner to watch the light fade over Uluru.

It's true, it really does change!

A perfect end to a fabulous two day trip. The guides were phenomenal and my head is buzzing with the sheer quantity of information we have been given, most of it in the highly amusing, laconic , self deprecating style of the true Aussie! Awesome and wonder and all the other words fall far short of the experience itself, truly magical.

Sunday 13th May


A leisurely breakfast, a swim and a n hour in the sun then off back to the airport. Mothers Day in Australia.
Arrived home just in time for a cup of tea with Bev then settled down to write up the blog....