Adelaide Central Markets

The two chocolate fountains pictured above were almost irresistible to MB & MDR. The perfect combination - melted Belgian chocolate and fresh strawberries. MB & MDR reluctantly settled for a photo rather than the calories....

Coffin Bay National Park

Approx. 30k from Port Lincoln is the Coffin Bay National Park, well worth a visit to see the rugged coastline and amazing sand dunes. MB & MDR lucked out with the weather with a warm northerly wind so nearly t-shirt weather. Pictured above is Almonta Beach, just near Point Avoid. More pics on Flickr.

Port Lincoln

View of Port Lincoln from our B&B, The Yardarm, which turned out to be a wonderful spot to stay. Our hosts, Judy & Ken have thought of everything ensuring a stay in the fully self-contained studio is incredibly comfortable. Plenty of hot water too, unlike MB & MDR's city digs, Walter St Mews! Port Lincoln is a small and very prosperous city centered in what appears to be a thriving wheat growing area, judging by the massive silo & grain handling complex which dominates the waterfront. Of course Port Lincoln is famous for white pointer sharks, tuna and seafood and has many wealthy fisherman, including Tony Santic the owner of Makybe Diva. This famous racehorse has been immortalised on the Port Lincoln foreshore reserve in the form of a bronze statue.

Adelaide to Port Lincoln

The duo made a short side trip to Port Lincoln which was a three stage journey:
Adelaide to Wallaroo, Yorke Peninsula - approx. 1hr 45mins
Ferry across the Spencer Gulf from Wallaroo to Lucky Bay on the Eyre Peninsula - approx 2hrs
Lucky Bay to Port Lincoln - just over 2 hours by car.
The ferry shaves about 2 hours off the car trip which would necessitate driving north to Port Augusta which is at the top of the Spencer Gulf and then south down to Port Lincoln.
The ferry was excellent, very comfortable with a snack bar, drinks and even wireless internet. MDR spotted an historical SA Ketches doco on one of the big plasma screens dotted around the cabin so sat down to watch it and was snoozing away in no time.
As the weather was pretty good, MB went up to the top deck to get some photos and had a chat to some of SA's finest from Moonta (near Wallaroo) on their annual pilgrimage, sans wives, to their shack at Lucky Bay. These chaps very kindly invited MB & MDR to their cabin number 16 for drinks, directions from one of the guys were "you'll be able to find the cabin easily, just look for the spew!" Due to time constraints the pair had to decline.
Stop Press from SeaSA website: All ferry services have been temporarily suspended until October 2009. Sea SA apologises to customers for this unavoidable disruption.

Oysters

One dozen fresh Spencer Gulf oysters - picked 'em up at the Caltex Servo in Cowell, on the Eyre Peninsula. MDR remembered to pack his oyster shucker this trip.
MB was intrigued to learn that Cowell is also home to a Jade deposit, so she bought herself a jade pendant at the Jade Motel.
From SMH 08 Feb 2004 - Cowell Jade Factory
"The history of jade in the Cowell area is a recent development. In 1965, Harry Schiller, a local farmer first discovered significant deposits of nephrite jade near Cowell. The next decade saw little real development and it wasn't until 1974, when the South Australian government became involved, that the potential of the area was realised. A geological assessment found a total of 91 separate jade outcrops (this has subsequently been increased to 115) in a small 10 sq km area which is now known as the Cowell Jade Province. The deposit is recognised as containing about 80 000 tonnes which means that it represents about 90 per cent of the world's known jade reserves (this excludes China for which figures are not available). In the decade to 1987 over 1500 tonnes of jade had been extracted of which 40 per cent was either dark green or black. Cowell jade is now exported to countries as diverse as India, West Germany, USA, Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Italy and New Zealand."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/South-Australia/Cowell/2005/02/17/1108500204228.html

Walter St Mews

Our accommodation in North Adelaide, has it all - location, location, location.

Barossa

Wednesday the pair decided to take a run up to Rosesale in the Barossa to see if their 1.5ha of vines were still extant (it's one of those MIS investments).

The vineyards looked pretty healthy and well tended so that was a relief. The pair visited the office to find two farmhands who told us that the office had moved to "Waltons" in Seppeltsfield. One of the guys generously offered to show us the way. The new office is an old bluestone farmhouse and it turns out Barossa Vines has set up a wine making operation, Rosedale Wines, with the actual winemaking contracted out to Martincellars and Barossa Valley Estate. The duo met with Rosedale Wine's winemaker Matt and sales manager Chris and sampled the 2007 Shiraz & Shiraz Grenache which were pretty damn good.

Had a stopover in very picturesque Tanunda and found a little cafe doing steak wraps which were delicious.

Made a nice coq au vin for dinner with a bottle of Rosedale Shiraz Grenache, Mt Lofty thyme and beautiful fresh swiss brown button mushrooms from Adelaide Central markets.

Mt Lofty

Tuesday dawned clear and sunny so the pair headed for the hills to visit Mt Lofty Botanical Gardens. The autumn colours were delightful and MDR & MB got a quite a workout walking up to the lookout, via some quite steep tracks.
Stopped in at nearby Hahndorf for lunch and spotted little cafe offering minestrone. Weren't disappointed either, it was lovely, hot home made soup, just the ticket for such a cold day. The Adelaide Hills are such a contrast to Adelaide, rolling green hills rather than flat desert.

Urbanised

Landed in Adelaide Mon. morning, a very grey day, cold and wet so headed straight for the Central Markets in the city, but not open on a Monday. Not to worry went to Chinatown next door and found an Asian food hall, MB opted for some Vietnamese Pho Po (beef broth) and MDR got a trayful of Yum Cha, a nice, cheap and cheerful lunch.

Lodgings are called Walter St Mews, just off O'Connell Rd in North Adelaide. Not a bad location, lots of pubs, restaurants & shops within walking distance. The Mews is a heritage listed cottage which is very quaint indeed, looks a lot better from the outside. Interior is a mix of seventies vogue and op shop shabby. Our first night there was freezing, got down to 9C and we didn't realise there was heating in the bedroom until the next day!

Picked up a fantastic takeaway dinner from a nearby Thai restaurant, "Basil & Lemongrass", one of the best Thai curries we've had.

Move over Hills Hoist

Browsing today's Google news MB stumbled on this headline: "Australia's CSIRO wins big Wi-Fi patent battle". Turns out the CSIRO registered a patent over wi-fi way back in 1993 and have successfully claimed royalties from many of the major technology giants.
This is sensational news but MB has not seen anything in the mainstream media, guess it's too positive!
Just last week an Aussie successfully sued Microsoft for using software he developed to lock software programs. The gist of the story was that he took his software to Microsoft in the 1990's, Microsoft declined to purchase it but then started using it in all of their software shortly thereafter. The judgment amount (which is being appealed) was around $500 million dollars, a great result for the Aussie battler.

If I had a week in Melbourne

Apart from eating herself silly, drinking lots of latte and reading The Age everyday MB would:

View the iconic photographs of Max Dupain on exhibition at the Victorian Archives - http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/online/dupain2009.asp

Visit the National Gallery on St Kilda Rd: http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/ngvinternational/

At least one visit to the Queen Victoria Market is mandatory: http://www.qvm.com.au/ Jam donuts there are the best. Prahran & South Melbourne markets are worth a visit too.

Take a stroll through the Botanic Gardens: http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/

On Mothers Day - 10 May: MB would head out to Langwarrin to check out Lady Elisabeth Murdoch's gardens which will be open to public - http://www.opengarden.org.au/regions/vic_calendar.html

MDR would love to do Foster's Brewery Tour in Abbotsford: http://brewhouse.melbourneaustralia.com.au/

MB would definitely catch some Cuban music http://www.ticketmaster.com.au/The-Bar-At-Buena-Vista-tickets/artist/1293942?tm_link=tm_homeA_music_header_r3

Browsing in Chapel Street, eating in Brunswick Street and at little Vietnam in Richmond. A kebab at Alasya always goes down well too.

Of course this is only the tip of the iceberg....

The Fat Controller

To keep little grandson LJ entertained during his frequent visits with the oldies MB bought a DVD of Thomas the Tank Engine which he enjoys very much, so much so he wants go to the Island of Sodor.
MB & MDR thought TtT, which is written by a Rev. W.V. Awdrey, was a very conservative, safe program suitable for very young children, so they were pretty surprised when the narrator, in his very best children's program voice, referred to the "Fat Controller". At first they thought they had misheard the narrator but it turns out to be correct and he's the manager of the railway company. The Rev. Awdrey has a very dry sense of humour indeed.

British Tories on Fire

This would be perfect for the current Queensland state elections, much more entertaining than watching a bunch of mediocre candidates from both sides of the political spectrum pork barreling their way around the state:

"In his speech to Congress, Gordon Brown yet again bottled out of saying sorry for taking Britain to the brink of bankruptcy. So we have set up www.sorryfromgordon.com where you can write an apology note from Gordon Brown and send it on to everyone you think the Prime Minister should say sorry to. Jeremy Hunt, our Spokesman for Online Campaigning, said, "If Gordon Brown is struggling to spit the words out, hopefully our online viral will give him a few ideas."

Another Gourmet Delight

A lovely gift of Marzipan from the Stumpf's in Germany was had by MB via VT en-route to Brisbane in Janauary. This is a most delicious marzipan, not too sweet. A truly delightful, and much appreciated, gift.

Bush Fire Tragedy in Victoria

Keenie

MB was forced to buy the Cairns Post yesterday as she had a long wait at the Doctor's (she may have Dengue Fever).
The Cairns Post doesn't appear to hold to any rigorous standards with regard to factual reporting, literacy and grammar but it seems the good folks at the CP are trail blazing the use of a new word, "Keenie". An enraged husband* from Machans Beach accused his female neighbour of having a lesbian affair with his wife and stated "She was denying the fact that she had a keenie on my wife."
Apparently this came about when the hapless neighbour sent a thank you card to Mrs & Mrs Enraged Husband and failed to write His name in the card.
Naturally MB googled "keenie" as she hadn't come across this before and came up with the following at: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=keenie
It appears the Urban Dictionary editors may have to add a second definition. BTW this site has an hilarious definition of "AFL"

*Husband Attacks Lesbian Love Rival, Cairns Post 3 Feb 09

Banana Fritter Day

The MB family got to enjoy some calorie laden banana fritters and ice cream today as it's JB's birthday (MB's late father). You guessed it, JB's favourite dessert was banana fritters. His favourite meal was a couple of lamb chops cooked in lots of extra fat, a real Aussie classic. He was also a huge fan of freshly shucked natural oysters. A more formal commemoration would have to include all of the above food items (in a room filled with "Drum" cigarette smoke of course!)
MB always has a chuckle when she remembers her Dad returning to Oz after his first trip to Hong Kong and exclaiming that none of the Chinese restaurants there had banana fritter on the menu, he was awfully taken aback. MB could just imagine him winging his way to Hong Kong and dreaming of banana fritters every time he ate out in HK.

Movie Reviews

MB has endured a longish podcast drought due to her Creative Zen MP3 player packing it in last year.
On learning that digital radio broadcasting is being introduced this year she decided to try to future-proof herself by buying an MP3/MP4 player with DAB radio but after lots of googling it seems that there are hardly any portable DAB MP3 players anywhere in the world.
MB has settled instead for a basic Philips 2gb MP3 with FM radio (thanks to her Mum who sent her a Dick Smith voucher for her birthday).
After downloading over three months' worth of podcasts MB is enjoying a feast of Jonathon Dawson film reviews. JD bounces his movie reviews off Tim Cox on ABC radio in Hobart, presenting remarkably funny and entertaining reviews. This program is a real treat if you like dry humour from two unpretentious guys who don't really take anything too seriously.

Fatwa against Smoking

MB congratulates the Ulemas Council in Indonesia for proclaiming a Fatwa prohibiting smoking in public places and also prohibiting children and pregnant women smoking. 
Indonesia must have one of the highest smoking rates in the world and this Fatwa is certainly a novel way to deal with such a serious health issue.

ABC Style Guide

Browsing on the ABC Radio National website MB stumbled on this excellent online style guide.
When writing MB often trips up on grammatical challenges such as accents over the "e" in French words, ie café or résumé.
Buying an Australian style guide sets you back a quite a few dollars, so this online guide is an excellent resource for writers and bloggers.
Well done Aunty.