ABC Wednesdays - R for Ridley's Stripper

In the early days of settlement in South Australia there was a general shortage of farm labourers to manually harvest crops. In 1943 a competition was held in search of a design for a reaping machine. The eventual winner was John Ridley, whose machine was known as The Stripper. There was some contention as to the true inventor; John Wrathran Bull claimed he had submitted a design in the contest and Ridley's machine was an adaption.

Over the years the machine was modified and improved; it was used as the primary method of harvesting until the early 1900's. I am not sure as to the age and make of the harvester photographed.


The ABC Wednesday meme was initiated by Denise Nesbitt. To find out more about ABC Wednesdays and see other participants' contributions click here.

British Hotel

The British Hotel at Port Adelaide was built in 1849 but has recently been restored and refurbished.

Last Saturday whilst we were at the hotel celebrating my son's engagement, the hotel received great news; it was judged as the best hotel in the Western Region in the Messenger's Local Business Awards for 2010.

ABC Wednesdays - Q for a Quiet Rural Ride

A quiet ride in the country - that is how I spent last Sunday. This shot was taken atop a hill; quite a steep uphill climb but followed by a rewarding quick descent.

We caught a train to Gawler (about 40 kms north of Adelaide), then rode to Lyndoch in the Barossa Valley along mainly unsealed roads and returned to Gawler via a minor sealed road; in all about 36kms.

The ABC Wednesday meme was initiated by Denise Nesbitt. To find out more about ABC Wednesdays and see other participants' contributions click here.

ABC Wednesdays - P for Pools

This is a recent photo of Adelaide's new State Aqautic Centre being built at Marion. The new centre will offer pools for training and special events; swimming, diving and water polo. There will also be a leisure section including polls and water slides. Construction started in October 2009 and is scheduled for completion early in 2011.

Here is a link to a brochure about the Centre.


The ABC Wednesday meme was initiated by Denise Nesbitt. To find out more about ABC Wednesdays and see other participants' contributions click here.

Breakout Creek Wetlands

Breakout Creek is the last 3.5 kilometres of the River Torrens. A new wetlands has been developed between Henley Beach Road and Tapleys Hill Road. I took this photo a few weeks ago on the day of its official opening.

You can see the project in its early stages; posted here in June 2009.

ABC Wednesdays - O for Orontes Beacon

The Orontes Beacon (34º 45.385'S. 138º 0.477'E) is located about 22 nautical miles (41km) from Adelaide in the Gulf of St Vincent. When sailing to Port Vincent, one needs to round this beacon to avoid the shallow waters of the Orontes Shoal.

This is my first post for quite a while; hopefully I can find the necessary time to devote to my blog and ABC Wednesdays once again.

The ABC Wednesday meme was initiated by Denise Nesbitt. To find out more about ABC Wednesdays and see other participants' contributions click here.

ABC Wednesdays - N for Northern Lights

Throughout the duration of Adelaide's recent Festival of Arts, several buildings along North Terrrace were painted with light. The Northern Lights' show was first seen here two years ago; see my previous posts here and here.

This year one additional building was illuminated; the rear of Parliament House. This particular slide celebrates the fact that our Festival of Arts first started 50 years ago.


The ABC Wednesday meme was initiated by Denise Nesbitt. To find out more about ABC Wednesdays and see other participants' contributions click here.