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.

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.

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!

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.

Himejii Gardens

Oh what might have been; back in March we were about to leave for Japan for a 2 week holiday when disaster struck the country. We ultimately chose not to go.

Here in Adelaide we have a small sampling of Japanese culture at the Himejii Gardens on South Terrace. Adelaide formed a sister city relationship with Himejii in 1982.

Womadelaide

Last Monday I attended Womadelaide, a 'world music' festival that was run over 4 days. On stage here was Xavier Rudd, suported by two South African musicians in a lively performance in which he plays guitar, digeridoo and an assortment of percussion instruments.

The last few weeks has been extra busy for Adelaidians as we have had plenty of special activities to attend; in addition to Womadelaide was the Fringe, Writers Week, the Festival of Arts and the Clipsal 500 - and all of them had record numbers of people attending. Now today I can catch my breath and start blogging again because it is all over!

ABC Wednesdays - H for Henley Jetty

Part of the old Henley jetty forms the centre piece of the Artist Bar; constructed for the Adelaide Festival. Underneath the jetty is the bar where you might rub shoulders with a star or two; it was reported last week that Tom Jones was seen here.



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

Reel Life

A bit of nostalgia in the park. As part of the 2010 Adelaide Festival the Rotunda in Elder Park has been transformed to display Super 8 home movies; edited by Richard Raber and Naomi Bishop from hundreds of hours of film donated by South Australians.

Inside Amococo

My post last Tuesday was about Amococo; a luminarium in Adelaide for the Fringe. On Thursday I experienced it for myself - truly amazing and so relaxing.












Some people just walked around experiencing all the amazing colour blends; others sat and chilled out - sitting in a pod and chatting or just laying back and relaxing with the background music.

Writers Week

An integral part of the Adelaide Festival is Writers Week, held this year from 28th Feb to 5th March. A daily free event is held in Pioneer Women's Memorial Gardens just off of King William Road. The program includes writers from Australia and abroad - panel discussions, 'Meet the Author' sessions, lectures and readings.

ABC Wednesdays - G for Gardner's Memorial

This drinking fountain was built in 1887 in memory of John Gardner, a firefighter, who lost his life in a blaze in a Rundle Street shop on Christmas Eve in 1886. The funds for the memorial were raised from public donations.

Another firefighter, Albert Clark, also lost his life in the fire. He is buried at North Road Cemetery in Nailsworth, with a simple gravestone to remember him by.


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

Amococo

Here in Adelaide for the Fringe, this inflatable structure is a luminarium; a series of tunnels and domes measuring 1000 square metres. Amococo is a walk in sculpture that is designed to stimulate one's senses with magnificent display of light and colour.

You can view a video here to give you an appreciation of the experience.

A Little More Light

On Saturday Adelaide was treated to a fireworks/lightshow extravaganza. Brought to us by Groupe F from France; a fitting celebration of the 50th anniversary of our Festival of Arts that runs from 26th Feb to 14th March.

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)

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!

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.

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.

Australia Day Concert - 2

On stage at the Australia Day Concert in Elder Park - the fabulous jazz great James Morrison, and former Australian Idol performer Carl Riseley. James was the special guest of Carl and his band. A class act!


I first heard James Morrison play over 20 years ago. I am still as much in awe of his playing now as I was then. He is a true master of his instrument.