Transit of Venus Viewing

Members of the Astronomical Society of South Australia set up about a dozen telescopes in the City as a service to the general public to view the Transit of Venus. When I arrived the sun was obscured by cloud, but thankfully the sky cleared and I got a great view.

ABC Wednesdays - P for Port Festival

Port Adelaide is rich in history and it came alive at the Port Festival last October; stories of the past were told by images projected on many of the buildings.

This image is of a scene in 1904 with with ships of the day on the river; a paddle wheel steamship and a sailing ketch.

Click here to see more ABC Wednesday posts.

Kids in the Kitchen

Budding chefs of the future were given a chance to work with some of the top chefs from Australia and abroad at the Tasting Australia event on Sunday.

Feast for the Senses

Today I spent a couple of hours at the Bank SA Feast for the Senses at Elder Park. This public event is part of Tasting Australia which runs for a week, with a program of more than 80 events in and around Adelaide and rural South Australia.

Anzacs abroad

On Anzac Day our TV stations covered events here and overseas; one being the service at the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux in France.

Visiting here and other places in and around Amiens two years ago, gave us a true apprection of the contribution and sacrifices made by the Australian forces during the war in this part of the world.

Dawn Service at Henley

Yesterday morning I attended the Anzac Day dawn service at Henley Beach. I have been going to these services for about 15 years; playing in the Henley and Grange Concert Band. It is gratifying to observe that a growing number of people are attending; a time to remember and honour the sacrifices of our servicemen and women.

ABC Wednesdays - O for orphan girl

Thanks to Steve for the photo

This is 'Sarah', a young child whose parents died on board a ship enroute to Adelaide in the 1800's. She is sitting on her bunk, holding her only real possession; a straw doll. You can read about her at the Maritime Museum at Port Adelaide.

Last October as part of the Port Festival, Sarah came alive - her story was told by this young girl, my granddaughter, who was employed for the weekend to roleplay her character. During the day she went about her chores, sweeping and scrubbing, spoke to passing visitors and spent time playing with her friend.

Throughout the Museum there were other actors enacting other characters, giving patrons a better understanding of life at sea.

Click here to see more ABC Wednesday posts.

Heart of the City

A quiet Sunday morning view of Adelaide; a northerly aspect with Victoria Square in the foreground.

City Street Skate

This morning a small group of roller bladers and roller skaters took part in a 6km ride through the city. The event, organised by SkateSA, provided participants the opportunity to skate on the city street circuit with a police escort.

Similar events are held in many cities around the world. The event in Paris is held regularly on a Friday night and attracts thousands of skaters. Maybe this event today in Adelaide could be the start of something big!

Adelaide Botanic Garden First Creek Wetland

Adelaide need to conserve water, so projects like this are significant for our future. Some of the water that would otherwise flow out to sea in periods of heavy rain will be captured and stored here; to be used for watering the Botanic Gardens.

(Copy of an information board at the site)

ABC Wednesdays - N for National Wine Centre

The National Wine Centre of Australia was built in 2000 and has won many awards for its architecture and features. It is used as a function centre and for wine education. A key attraction for visitors is an interactive display that covers such topics as vine growing, wine regions in Australia, history and containers.

The Centre has a very large cellar that can house up to 38,000 bottles! A selection of these can be tasted at the Concourse Cafe.

I briefly visited the Centre to take some photos, but will be going back soon the spend more time looking at the display and, of course, sampling some of the wines!

Click here to see more ABC Wednesday posts.

Second Valley jetty

Second Valley

Second Valley is 91km south of Adelaide, just off the main road to Cape Jervis. This shot was taken in February on a balmy warm summer's day.

Second Valley was named by Mathew Flinders in 1836 as he explored the coastline looking for a suitable site for Adelaide. He had spent a few days further south at Rapid Bay and then discovered another little valley; the second valley.

Sealink Terminal

The Sealink is a vehicle and passenger ferry that that services Kangaroo Island. The terminal is about a hundred kilometres south of Adelaide and the ferry takes about forty minutes to travel the 20 kilometres across Backstairs Passage to Penneshaw.

Unfortunately it not always this calm. Many years ago I sailed my small yacht across to the Island in 4 metre seas; the ferry might have been a better option!

War Memorial Clock

This monument near the entrance to the Semaphore Jetty was unveiled in 1925, as a memorial to the soldiers who fell in the First World War. Since then another plaque has been added in memory of those who served in subsequent wars that Australia was involved in.

Semaphore sunset

We have been having some glorious weather this week; temperatures in the upper 20's and very little wind, and to top it off an evening glow when the sun sets. This was the Semaphore Jetty yesterday, much less busy that it was last weekend during the Kite Festival.

Puppet lad

A roving performer at Semaphore during the Kite Festival last weekend.

ABC Wednesdays - M for migration

"The Immigrants" is a bronze statue located at the Migration Museum in Adelaide. It was designed by Italian sculptor Aurelio Fortelaan and was created by the Guastini Artistic Foundry of Vicenza in Italy.

Adelaide's Migration Museum has numerous displays depicting migration to our state; starting with the British in 1836 through to the current day. SA is now very much a multi-cultural state, and this museum tells the stories of the groups of people who immigrated; who came, why they came, how they came and what they brought with them - new skills and ideas that have enhanced our culture.

Click here to see more ABC Wednesday posts.

Oz Feathers

 Oz Feathers is a South Australian company that make 'feathers' like these for groups and businesses. Their display added yet more colour at the Adelaide Kite Festival. Click here to see what the company offers.

Kite Fighting

One of the events at the Adelaide Kite Festival on Saturday was kite fighing. Over a dozen small white six sided Rokkaku kites were launched and the battle began. The aim was to cut the oponents' line and bring the kite down. The last kite flying was this one.

Kite Festival

Yesterday we paid a visit to the Adelaide Kite Festival, with our grand-daughters. The girls were pretty excited; I think they will be making or buying a kite of their own tomorrow!

Many kites of all sizes and shapes were on display; some real works of art - a far cry from the paper ones I made when I was younger.

The Adelaide Kite Festival is an annual two day event, with local, interstate and overseas' kite flyers participating.

Easter display

Mmm .... lots of tempation here; this is part of Haigh's Chocolates' window display at their Glenelg store.

Port River sailing

Taken in October last year, during the Port Festival; these boats were two of several adding colour to the weekend's events. Alas, I was just a spectator this time.

Bluebirds

Another shot taken at the National Railway Museum; the 'Bluebirds' were in use in rural SA between 1954 and 1990. They were powered by two 6 cylinder diesel motors and had a top speed of 70 mph.

How times have changed; we no longer have passenger trains running on the lines that were serviced by the 'Bluebirds'.

Abc Wednesdays - L for locomotives

This locomotive was the first of its class, built specifically to run on Australia's Transcontinental line between Port Augusta (in SA) and Kalgoorlie (in WA). The line which was completed in 1917, was part of a railway network that linked the east  to the west.

This particular locomotive, G1, on display at the SA Railway Museum at Port Adelaide, was used until 1945.

Click here to see more ABC Wednesday posts.

Womadelaide 2012

What  a great weekend; so many interesting and exciting performers! Over the space of three and a half days I watched in excess of 30 performances; a bit of a marathon but so enjoyable. Even the weather this year was perfect; upper 20's and fine.

This shot was taken on the final night; on stage 1 (of 7) - Johnny Clegg from South Africa.

Womadelaide 2012

Womadelaide, located in Adelaide's beautiful Botanic Park, is celebrating its 20th year. Here you can see some of the thousands of people enjoying a performance, many sitting amidst some very large shady trees; so welcome on a hot day.

Abc Wednesdays - H for Hindmarsh Island Bridge

Hindmarsh Island is an island across the River Murray from Goolwa. This bridge was opened in 2001 after a decade of controversy. The bridge replaced a cable ferry, thus providing easier access to the island. There had been widespread opposition to the builing of the bridge from Indigenous Australian leaders, environmental groups and some local residents.

Click here to see more ABC Wednesday posts.

Railway Stables at Goolwa

This building was built in 1862; stables for the horses that pulled the train between Goolwa and Pt Elliot. The building is now used as club rooms for the Goolwa sub-branch of the RSL; having been preseved by them since 1946.

Horse Drawn Train Mural

This mural depicts a horse drawn passenger train at Goolwa

ABC Wednesdays - G is for Goolwa

The Goolwa Railway Station is now only used by the Steam Ranger Tourist Railway. On some occasions they actually do run a steam train, but the day I was there recently this diesel train was being used. Known as the Redhen, these trains were used on Adelaide's metropolitan lines between 1995 and 1996.


The railway, opened in 1854, was the first in South Australia, linking Goolwa and Port Elliot. At that time the train was horse drawn. The railway was built to transport goods carried down the River Murray. As the mouth of the river was too treacherous for shipping, the port was established at Port Elliot.

Ten years later the line was extended to Victor Harbor, as Port Elliot was also proved not to be a safe harbour.

Click here to see more ABC Wednesday posts.

HMB Endeavour

The HMB Endeavour was built in Freemantle, Western Australia. This beautiful boat is a full scale replica, although some materials used in its construction differed from those used over 200 years ago in Cook's original vessel. Construction began in 1988 using WA jarah. The iron fittings were hand crafted in a blacksmith shop on site.

The Endeavour was launched in 1993, and has since sailed over 170,000 nautical miles, including 2 round the world voyages.

Detailed information about the construction of this magnificent ship can be found here on the Australian Maritime Museum Website.

 

The HMB Endeavour in Port Adelaide

The HMB Endeavour is a full scale replica of the ship that Captain Cook used in his 1768-71 voyage of discovery that resulted in the settlement of Australia by Europeans in 1788.

For detailed information about the ship on the Australian National Maritime Museum website, click here.