A Regal Visitor

On Wednesday Queen Victoria paid us a visit. Over the last few years an increasing number of cruise ships have stopped over in Adelaide, but for us locals it is still a novelty to see these huge luxury vessels.

ABC Wednesdays - F for F10

An tutu wearing astronaut taking pride of place in Adelaide's Victoria Square! These larger than life inflatable models symbolise the 2010 Adelaide Fringe. They were created as a result of this year's Fringe poster competition winner.

The poster artist David Capriotti explained the design is intended to capture the iconic nature of the Fringe. “I came up with the idea of a tutu wearing astronaut because it illustrates how something everyday and familiar, like our city, is completely transformed when the Adelaide Fringe is on.” (From the Fringe 2010 website - Read the full report here)

Adelaide's Fringe commenced in 1960, running in alternate years to our Festival of Arts. Since 2007 it has been run every year. It is the largest Arts' event in Australia and second largest in the world; Edinburgh takes that honour.

This year's program offers over 700 events. What a choice there is! All you need is lots of time and a bit of spare cash. The events are reasonably priced (many around the $20 mark) and some are even free. So far I have managed to see the Fringe Parade (scroll down to see yesterday's post) and one theatre performance, Bienvenue à Brelville - most enjoyable.



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

2010 Fringe Parade

An estimated 80,000 spectators lined the streets of Adelaide last Friday evening to see the opening parade for this year's Fringe; 1500 performers and 25 floats.





























If you would like to see more of my Fringe Parade photos click here.

Dinosours at large

Last Friday evening a couple of dinosaurs roamed the streets of Adelaide, terrorising anyone who crossed their paths.

















The lifelike puppet dinosoaurs belong to Earth Visual and Physical Inc who are in Adelaide as part of the 2010 Fringe with a show called Dinasour Petting Zoo.

"It's a petting zoo, but not as you know it". This extraordinary performance takes kids and adults on a journey through prehistoric Australia. Featuring an incredible cast of dinosaurs that inhabited our landscape millions of years ago. Children can interact with these prehistoric marvels through simple lessons in animal husbandry. (As promoted in the Fringe Guide)

Dad and the Siblings

Ron to the rescue! On seeing my post yesterday my neighbour gave me this photo of a male emu with his chicks; taken last September in the Flinders Ranges.

In this species it is the father who raises the young; a sole parent so to speak.

A female emu mates with her partner, and in about May or June, she lays somewhere between 5 and 20 eggs. She then leaves the nest area and her (short term) partner who incubates the eggs. The eggs hatch in about 8 or 10 weeks. The young emus remain with their father for up to two years. They may stay in the same area or may wander off further afield to find a partner of their own. Emus are sexually mature at about 18 months.

ABC Wednesdays - E for Emu

The emu is the largest bird native to Australia. They are quite plentiful in South Australia, especially in our northern rural areas. They are a proctected species; a policy brought about following their exinction in Tasmania and a decline in numbers in other parts of Australia.

I am sorry to have to say this but I took this photo at our zoo. I have seen emus in the bush, but it was pre digital photography days so I do not have an image.



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

Pancake Day

Today was Shrove Tuesday, the last day before Lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter. To acknowledge the time Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness, historically Christians gave up luxury items including some foods. To use up butter and eggs, people made pancakes on this day; Shrove Tuesday became known as Pancake Day.

Today in Rundle Mall, Uniting Care Wesley organised a fundraising event. Thousands of pancakes were made and sold for a gold coin donation, with proceeds going to assist Uniting Care agencies to support needy people in our community.






















Pankcake relay races were held; teams of four running a short course, tossing the pancakes into the air several times as they went.

And yes, I did buy a pancake but I did not run in a relay!

2010 NAB Cup

On Saturday South Australia's two AFL teams played against each other in the first game of the 2010 NAB Cup; a pre season knockout competition. The game was held at AAMI stadium with Port Adelaide defeating the Adelaide Crows.

Thanks to my son Steve for the photos.

ABC Wednesdays - D for didgeridoo

The digeridoo is unique to our Australian aboriginal culture; originally from Arnhem Land, northern Australia. Digeridoos are made from limbs or tree trunks, eaten out by termites. They are cut to a length of about 1.3 metres and cleaned out by scraping or with hot coals.

I took this photo at last year's Come Out Festival; see related posts here and here.

The Didgeridoo is not normally played as a solo instrument; usually it is used to accompany a singer/dancer beating two sticks together.




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

Brighton Jetty Classic - 2

It was a rather calm day for the surf boat crews who pitted themselves against each other on Sunday. I suspect the swimmers were happy with the conditions though.

Brighton Jetty Classic - 1

On Sunday saw the running of the 2010 The Brighton Jetty Classic, an ocean swimming race first run in 2006. Judging by the numbers of entrants and spectators there should more to come.

There were 400 metre and 1500 metre races for men and women in 10 age divisions; 10 to 70+ years. Click here to read about the event on its official site.

Apartments

On Thursdays I am attending a French class in the south eastern corner of the City. At the class we were discussing the types of houses that people live in in France. Mostly in cities people live in multi storey apartments.

Typically in Adelaide most people live in single houses, but there is an emerging trend in the City towards apartment blocks. I took this photo near where I attend the class.

ABC Wednesdays - C for Conch

This photo of a Solomon Islander blowing a conch was taken at the recent Australia Day Parade in Adelaide.

The conch shell was used as a means of communication in the past. It was blown to gather the people, announce a message or to declare a festival or event open.

It was used along with drums which have different types of beating rhythms to relate messages; death, warning, harvest, tribal war, etc.

Both can be sounded together during festivals or celebrations.


You can see more of my Australia Day parade photos here on a recent post. (I thank Karley, a member of the Solomon Island Community, who supplied me the information about the conch and drum.)

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

Australia Day Concert - 3

The final act at the free concert at Elder Park was Vanessa Amorosi performing songs from her new album 'Hazardous'. Billed as Australia's rock chick, she lived up to the name - an awesome performance!












Backed by a great band, Vanessa performed a high energy concert; non stop for 70 minutes and then came back for an encore, much to the delight of the 30,000 people in the audience.