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| Sir Donald Bradman |
From Melbourne to Adelaide on the 'Overland' train. These trains are made of 'wriggly tin' just like the Amtrak variety. Same builder no doubt. This line is run by Great Southern Rail, unlike the one from Sydney which is CountryLink. The service up the east coast is run by Queensland Rail. These three independent organisations cover all the railways in Oz. The only thing they seem to have in common is that their baggage handlers can't lift more than 20kg. It is a 10 hour trip from Melbourne to Adelaide. The train left at 0800hrs.
Left: The bar and cafeteria. Another extraordinary regulation here. They were not allowed to sell alcohol while in the state of Victoria ( for which they apologised ), and could only do so on passing into South Australia at 1430hrs…and I thought we had the best nannies in charge in the UK! The Aussies seem to put up with all these various petty rules, restrictions and regulations without demur.
Met up with a most amusing girl, Irene, from Hong Kong ( right ) who was a fund of knowledge and interesting stories. She managed a 'Kayaking' Club in HK. She was going to Adelaide and staying at the YHA, same as me, before going on to work in Perth.
The train must have been a genuine ex-Amtrak east coast model, or the lines put in by the same Chinese navvies, because it rocked and rolled a bit. When we got to Adelaide we shared a taxi for the 15 min drive to the YHA. Our taxi driver was an Indian Sikh who obviously had aspirations of Formula 1 victory. It was a white knuckle ride all the way. Irene thought it was amusing. I was told later that the speed restrictions in Adelaide are comprehensive, very limiting, financially punitive and ( deliberately ) confusing ( to make money ). A source of great complaint even by the passive law-abiding Adelaidians. I can only think this guy was either new to to place, on his way out or mad.
Adelaide is a pleasant enough 'low-rise' place with a compact city centre ( sorry CBD ) built on a grid system designed by Colonel William Light, the Surveyor General, in 1837 and another very elegant residential and restaurant district to the north. They are divided by the river Torrens ( left ). The flood-lights of the Adelaide Oval ( cricket ground ) are just visible to the north side of the river. Adelaide was the first Australian city to give women the vote and to legalise nude swimming.
The main shopping street is Rundle Mall which is a pedestrian precinct and seemed to have decent shops and many rather untalented buskers. I saw one chap trying to juggle with 3 balls and even then kept dropping them. Others played musical instruments extremely badly. I'm sure I could do better. Perhaps this is a buskers' training ground? There were some amusing pieces of statuary ( right: one of four pigs ). There is a massive Chinese market near Victoria Square in a large Chinatown area.
Left: This was a modelling performance going on in Rundle Mall.
As mentioned earlier I was staying at the YHA which is a fantastic place with excellent facilities and relatively inexpensive. It had a TV room dedicated to the World Cup Rugby which provided much amusing banter between various resident nationalities. Everyone seemed to enjoy taking the mick out of the French, for some reason. There was a large Irish contingent who went ballistic when Ireland beat Australia the first night I was there. A lot of drink was taken thereafter.
I had a few days to kill before the Ghan train left ( it only leaves Adelaide on Wednesdays and Sundays ). I thought of going to either Kangaroo Island, a popular tourist venue off the west coast of the Fleurieu Peninsular, famous for it's kangaroos, koala bears and other indigenous wildlife, or Port Elliot, with pleasant beaches at the bottom of the peninsula where lots of Right Whales are supposed to hang out. I chose Port Elliot ( right ) because it was closer, and cheaper and, I reasoned, I would be bound to see loads of kangaroos etc. later on the journey north. Not many whales in the Simpson Desert, I reckoned.
Port Elliot is a 2 hour bus journey south of Adelaide which passes through the McLaren Vale wineries district. Miles and miles of vineyards. I recall passing a farm which offered pet alpacas for sale! Who on earth would want a stupid spitting alpaca as a pet? They should just eat them; being eaten is the only thing that alpacas are good at. There were also yellow triangular signs warning of 'kangaroos' and 'koalas' - crossing the road, presumably. What are you supposed to do if you see one? ( which I didn't ). Raise your hat? Shoot it? Not explained.
Port Elliot is a lovely quiet place with beautiful walks along the shoreline, glorious beaches and several decent restaurants ( especially the Flying Fish on the shore: strongly recommended ). There is also an old steam railway which runs along the coast between Victor Harbour and Goolwa passing through Port Elliot. Sadly it only operates at weekends, so I missed it. I decided not to get wet and seasick by going out in the much advertised boat to watch whales and, on some resident's advice, thought I would see just as many from the cliff tops and get photos without getting my camera wet.
Right: Bodyboard surfers. I got lots of pics of these heroic characters being smashed around and dunked by some gigantic waves. This one is relatively small beer. The rocks were never far away! I didn't realise that they were practicing for the Bodyboard Surfing Championships taking place the day after I left. I read about it in the paper. Are 'bodyboarders' people who can't quite crack real surfing? They wear flippers. Advice please.
I scanned the sea relentlessly for whales. Can you see any in this pic ( left )? Buggered if I can! I never saw a single poxy whale. A girl on the bus back to Adelaide was waxing lyrical about how she had seen several, plus calves, from the cliffs. I'm sure she was making it up. Maybe someone had given her some binos with a whale painted on the lens.
There are probably no kangaroos on Kangaroo Island either.
A small group of us were taken on a 'free' walking tour of Adelaide, courtesy of the YHA. Our guide was a lovely cheerful young lady, Gemma, from Manchester ( 2nd from left in photo ). She had been working in Adelaide since January and did say that she was only a 'stand-in' guide for the regular one.
Her knowledge of the best clothes shops, cafes, hairdressers, chocolate shops, night clubs and drinking holes was second to none. Her knowledge of Adelaide's history and other sites was somewhat limited. I asked if we could go to see the statue of probably Adelaide's, if not one of Australia's, most famous citizens; the late great Sir Donald Bradman ( 1908 - 2001 ). "'Ooo? Never 'eard of 'im", says Gemma. Bless. We did finally locate Don outside the main entrance to the Adelaide Oval ( unsurprisingly ). She probably hasn't heard of Rolf Harris either.
Give her her due, she did point out some interesting features such as this large wall ( left ). It looks just like a speckly red wall until you get up close......
.....then you see it is decorated with thousands of mini model cars.
Everywhere throughout the city are signs on buildings saying 'Polites', as per photo ( left ). Apparently ( according to Gemma ) all these properties were bought by a man called 'Polites' a long time ago. The family still owns and lets them out and proudly advertises the fact. Having said that, Gemma also thought that the Col. prefix of the city founder, Col. William Light, stands for 'Colonial'.
Another extraordinary feature of the city is the proliferation of images, stuck on walls all over the place, of Albert Einstein ( right ). I never did discover the significance. Maybe some student thing.
Adelaide is supposedly known as the 'City of Churches'. Here's one ( left ). I didn't notice a particularly large number of them.....more than Christchurch obviously, but not a patch on any self-respecting Central or South American town. It's probably because they can't think of anything else to be 'The City of'.
It is more renowned, in my opinion, for being the main town in the largest wine growing area of Australia; the Barossa Valley. I didn't have the inclination to go on any of the many advertised Wine Tours.
Gemma showed us this magnificent tea shop in Rundle Road. They sell a staggering amount of different kinds of tea and would mix you any blend you chose. You could taste them and, as a curious side line, they were giving away turkish delight!
There are also several opal shops. Many of the opals are mined at Coober Pedy, a strange town because most of it is built underground, only a few hundred kms away. Some of the better stones were on sale for about $80,000. I had never really seen opals before. They come in a vast variety of colours.
We passed the campus of the University of South Australia ( left ) which had some smart looking and impressive buildings. Gemma knew a bit about 'Unis'.
She had done 'Communications' at Salford and was now trying to work off her debt.
Right: A converted factory; now an art gallery. Maybe this is where they produce all those Albert Einstein posters. There is another one of him on the back of this building too.
Left: An impressive Anzac memorial with a list of remembrance in a small room inside.
Right: Looking up King William Street, the main north-south artery of the city, from Victoria Square. There is a free tram which goes up and down and which is most convenient.
Left: The rowing clubhouse on the south bank of the Torrens. It seemed a popular sport as there were always several crews doing the 'in out in out' routine up and down the river. This area has a new and attractive Riverside development. I am always most impressed by how all these cites are so clean. I was informed by a Brit, born in Oz, on our little walking tour who now works as a guide in Alice Springs, that Aussies are strictly educated from an early age about not leaving litter and conserving water, amongst other things. Lesson to be learnt here I think.
Right: These flags were flying in Victoria Square. The one under the Aussie job is that of the Aboriginal Peoples. The black representing the people, the red is the land and the yellow disc the sun.
Did I ever describe to you how the South African 'electric Y-fronts' flag is composed? Maybe not. I will enlighten you on that little gem when I find one to take a photo of, and when I am in a safe place.
Left: Another high-spot pointed out by Gemma. I failed, not surprisingly, to get a pic of her standing in front of this door.
Right: Hindley Street. This is where, I was totally reliably informed, all the 'best' watering holes and 'night-clubs' are situated. It was here after the Irish v Oz rugger match that several Irishmen repaired to celebrate until the early hours. Apparently these revels involved many punch-ups, but only between the Irish! I wasn't there so can't vouch for any of that.
Left: The great Capt. Matthew Flinders RN makes another appearance here. The Flinders Ranges mountains stretch away to the north of Adelaide. This statue seems not to include his faithful cat ( Trim ). I looked for it. Perhaps it had been eaten or killed by one of the many lethal Aussie creatures around these parts. Or run over by the free tram.
I'm off on 'The Ghan' up to Darwin, Northern Territories ( the Top End ) next. My blog transmission frequency has, and I make no apologies for it, been affected by the World Cup Rugby ( WCR ). It has proved more entertaining and time consuming to watch that, when available, than do a blog. I still reckon the All Blacks will win, easily.
Stand-by for the Ghan Special.
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