Lie of the Land

These stone structures are a few of the 25 which can be seen adjacent to Sir Donald Bradman drive just west of the City. 'Lie of the Land' was created in 2004 by Aleks Danko and Jude Walton and was inspired by a drawing showing Indigenous Australians camped in the parklands when Adelaide was first settled by Europeans.

ABC Wednesdays - C for cricket.

Last week in response to my post on Bradman, I was asked to explain the game of cricket. So here goes....

In the centre of a cricket field is a pitch, 22 yards (20.12m) long. At each end of the pitch is a set of wickets. The object for the bowler is to hit the stumps and the batter tries to prevent this by blocking the ball or better still hitting it far enough as to allow him to run to the other end of the pitch to score a run. The bowler does not throw the ball; the bowling action requires a bent arm.

Fielders try to catch the ball on the full resulting in the batter being caught out. Alternatively they field the ball and throw it back towards the pitch and hit the wickets before the runner reaches the batting crease - a line drawn across the pitch 4 feet (1.22m) from the wickets.

There are many variations on the game; a test match is played for up to 5 days. International One Day matches continue until all batters are out or all balls are bowled; 50 overs of 6 balls. School students play at lunch time until the siren sounds!

Cricket is mainly played in summer months, so I have posted a photo of a game of beach cricket that I took last January.

To find out more about ABC Wednesdays and see other participants' contributions go to the ABC Wednesdays' site.

Strathalbyn Bands Festival

Strathalbyn is a country town in the Adelaide Hills, about 60 km from Adelaide and each year they host a bands' festival. The event runs over two Sundays, attracting about 10 bands each day. Last Sunday I performed as a member of the Henley and Grange Concert Band.

Pictured is the City of Holdfast Bay Concert Band, another of our Adelaide community bands.

The Falie

Here is another shot of the Falie; see my original post here.

Mary MacKillop Bridge

This rail bridge, opened in May this year, is named after Sister Mary MacKillop who founded the Sisters of St Joseph at Penola in 1866. In 1867 she established a school adjacent to the church in Dale Street, Port Adelaide.

She is acknowledged for her commitment to the welfare and education of the disadvantaged and is the first Australian to have been made a saint within the Roman Catholic Church.

Port River Expressway Bridges

A photo of the Diver Derrick Bridge with the Mary MacKillop Bridge (the rail bridge) in the background.

The bridge has a height clearance of 8.65m at high tide, and the channel width is 30m.

In the closed position the river cruise operators will be able to pass through and in the open position a a vessel like a naval frigate will have access. Even modest sized yachts like my Roberts 25 will need to have the bridge open for them.

Port River Expressway Bridges Opening

Today was the official opening of a new bridge at Port Adelaide. In the afternoon the public were allowed the walk across the bridge, and at 4 pm the bridge opened to allow a large yacht to pass through.

As you can see in the photo there are in fact two bridges; the other one is a rail bridge.

The road bridge which cost 178 million dollars is named after a Port Adelaide World War II hero Tom "Diver" Derrick VC, who swam in the Port River.

People in attendance on the day were handed an A4 sized poster as a memento.