We are busier now, so time is really whizzing past.
It’s easier to keep busy because its cooler and we are used to the weather. Also, we know more and are getting around more.
Driving is actually starting to feel “right”, although I have to be careful not to drift and, from time to time, I still signal a left turn with the windshield wipers. For some reason the drivers behind me don’t seem to get that, but I can usually get the signal light turned on before they hit me – even if the wipers do run for awhile on a sunny day.
Festival is pretty much over. I think there is still some fringe going on and the “Northern Lights” are still on for a few weeks. Called Northern Lights because they are on North Terrace – a main street in the city. Lights shine on the buildings to change their appearance. I think there are about seven buildings. We watched for close to two hours on Friday night and didn’t see all the buildings. They all have numerous designs. We were told that each had three and they went through the three every 15 minutes. But, some have more designs than that and they are very detailed – see photos. You will also see from the photos that there are “heaps” of people out enjoying them.
Sue and I went to see Good Morning Mr. Gershyn put on be a French Company, although the program had a list of about ten theatre and dance companies that are involved. It was fantastic – funny, entertaining, political. It’s amazing what these people can do with their bodies. There was ballet, hip hop, modern, tap, break, afro, and other kinds of dancing. Also, some singing – one was an Africa folk song. There were about 20 people in the company. I never thought to count when they bowed.
We also attended the Clipsal 500 – the Adeliade 500 car races. Clipsal is a big sponsor, but I have not figured out what Clipsal is so I’m not sure how effective their advertising is. There were different kinds of races than just Nascar and some interesting cars – Touring Car Masters - 60 and 70s muscle cars, minis, aussie cars (four cyclinders), exotic car in the Australian GT (Porsche, Lamborghini, Corvette, Mosler, Audi), V8 supercar series and the V8 Utes. Yes, V8 Utes – they are Al Caminos and they are BIG here – they are everywhere. The car companies here are Ford and Holden. Holden was GM. And both Ford and Holden make Utes and both call them Utes. So, you differentiate by naming the manufacturer. I couldn’t figure that out at first. They are talking about re-introducing the Chev Al Camino in North America. If they did they’d apparently make them here in a Holden factory and put a Chev decal on them. Let’s hope they remember to move the steering wheel.
The Clipsal 500 also had an airshow - see photos
Ute is short for utility vehicle. They shorten everything that way here. Universities are Uni, so we have UniSA for University of South Australia, Adelaide Uni and Flinders Uni. Breakfast is brekkie and football is footy. Last night we came across a sports show on TV. They were interviewing these huge football players who refer to the game as footy. Somehow that doesn’t sound macho enough for football. Names are similar. There are lots of Suzies and Lizzies – names not common at home.
We went to the Adelaide Hills with friends on Sat. It was great. We were driving on back roads – not really back roads but not the freeway. It’s like the Rockies but not as high – hills not mountains and the soil and rocks are kinds of a red tan colour. The small towns remind me of the sort of thing you’d find in the Ottawa Valley – very small and picturesque with lots of specialty shops and little cafes. A fellow in one of the shops told us that he had visited LaRonge. People here thought he had superimposed the photos – actually told him that nowhere is that beautiful. I agree, of course!
Dave and I headed out on Sunday and soon discovered that we needed more detailed maps. Getting into the town is like driving on residential streets but you have to know which street goes into the town – they call them suburbs but they are not part of the government of Adelaide.
We watched some more birds while we were out there. Learned today that they are cockatoos, which are parrots. They have dirty white backs and faded red under-bellies – not quite pink, more like faded red.
We are headed into the autumn here – note the restaurant sign about the autumn menu. I didn’t realize that was what it said – I read it as Australian. Because it can’t be autumn in March – especially when it’s still over 30 degrees some days. The days are getting shorter – it’s dark close to an hour earlier than when we arrived.
The sun, however, is still very hot. The UV falls from extreme to very high some days. Sue actually tanned through her clothing and the sun hurts my skin. We got UV protective shirts and hats and wear scarves around our necks. I also bought gloves because my hands were hurting. Unfortunately, Dave and I have bought identical shirts. That wasn’t planned – bought on different days in different stores, but they are a neutral color so they can be worn over anything and have collars we can put up to block the sun. I guess we’ll look cute!!!
I went on a tour of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. There are a lot of trees here that loose their bark. The Eucalyptus, commonly called Gum trees loose their bark in long strips and are native to Australia. They have thin leaves to prevent moisture loose. Most native plants have small leathery leaves because the country is so dry. However, it turns out a huge number of the plants that grow here are not native. Another large tree that looses it bark is an import called a London Plain tree. Its leaves are more like a maple leaf. The woman giving the tour said these trees like pollution, do well in it and slough their bark if there is too much pollution. Then she added, “But, fortunately we don’t have any pollution here.” I didn’t have the heart to point out the traffic smog or the hole in the ozone.
There is a tree native to Australia that dates back to dinosaur times. They found a few of them growing in an isolated area. The female cones are on the top of the tree and the male close to the ground. The male cones puff their pollen upward, but they cannot fertilize the female cones on the same tree so have to hit a neighbouring tree. There is one in the Adelaide Botanic gardens but it is not doing well. The one in the Mount Lofty (in the hills just outside Adelaide) Gardens is doing better and they think it is because there aren’t as many other kinds of trees around it.
Where we live is very handy for getting around, but very noisy – kinda like living under an overpass. The buses come from both directions, slow to turn the corner and their acceleration drowns out all sound in the house. The cars are also very loud. We’re told that cars are louder in hot weather, tires noisier, etc. It also appears that we live on what people think is a seven-block freeway – they drive unbelievable fast for a short street in a residential neighbourhood that has a day care on the corner. We can also hear the city. At one spot just outside the house we could hear WOMadelide clearly, the music from Clipsal and the cars. Inside the house we can’t hear it clearly but can tell what it is. Our place at home is so quiet in comparison it’s going to seem weird when we get there.
I was doing pilates outside yesterday morning and a pair of small red and green parrots flew over. I got a real good look at them because I was on the ground looking up. If you look at them from a standing position they usually just look brown. They were going so fast I’m not sure I could have focused even if I’d had to camera pointing at the sky.
Enjoy the photos of the Northern Lights and the Clipsal 500, including air show.
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