Picnic at Mitre 10

An intermission while I relay a story from Thursday just gone.  Steve and I were heading home from Hobart.  We stopped at the hardware shop in Sorell and Steve went in search of some Stevey sort of thing.  I stayed in my car with Jill.  I thought I could smell a sort of hot engine smell and the guy in the next car thought he could too.  I cautiously opened the bonnet.  I think I may have told you that a few months ago, while driving from Sorell to Triabunna, a long white cloud streamed from under the bonnet as I was driving and I was forced to pull over.  Somehow the radiator cap had come off.  The upshot was I had to be towed home and buy a new engine.  You can understand why I was apprehensive driving to Mildura in extreme heat.
Well, this Thursday the cap had come off again, green coolant was splashed all over the place and things did not look good.  The RACT advised yet again getting towed back to Tribes, and we waited about 3 hours for the tow truck.  We did not really have a picnic but there was plenty of time for little forages and walks for Jill.  The tow truck driver proved to be a very chatty bloke and I learned a lot about the life of a submariner.  Did you know the mariners in a sub can hear whales singing?  I was half in love with the chap by the time we got to Tribes.

Jill had a very good day.  She had the best view of the countryside from my car on the back of the truck.  And earlier she and I had re-discovered Bellerive while waiting for Steve who was having some tests in the Royal Hobart Hospital.  We decided to park at the Bellerive Battery aka The Fort.

view of Hobart and Battery Point across the Derwent River

view down D'Entrecastaux Channel - top viewing spot during the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

I'd forgotten there's a moat around the fort

the moat's dry in some places allowing some intriguing graffiti (possibly Russian)

Jill PD and I found our way down to the road and footpath and walked towards Bellerive Beach.  It was a perfect day (given I didn't know what was to come) and there were people everywhere.

lovely to see a fisher and the blue green sea

more sea and colourful geology (for Pearl)

even more fishing with Bellerive Beach in distance

This area has been much sanitised since our Bellerive days.  There are now very civilised footpaths, viewing platforms and built stairways down to the rocks.

I was taken with the native planting - using plants I'm assembling for my own garden.

the view to Droughty Point - clouds were gathering...

I got the call from the hospital to say that Steve was ready for collecting so hurried back to the car.  There was a hold up on the bridge and we crawled along with only 1 lane open.  Thank goodness I didn't know what was going on under the car bonnet.  I'd be having conniptions. All's well that ends well.  Steve's test results are fine and my car seems fine too according to our mechanic.  Just one of those things - though the mystery of the errant radiator cap remains.

Now the Jansz wasn't to celebrate our escape from having to buy another new engine, but to celebrate Georgia's birthday on Friday.  We were even allowed to have Thai instead of pizza.

And here's a rare photo of Georgia and her children.  It was actually a sad event - the funeral of her grandmother - but these are times when families come together, and that's something to celebrate.  I love them all.  Each so different.

Au revoir chez Pearl

My time in Adelaide and just about daily visits to Mum were coming to an end.  I had bought an anniversary present for Steve in Victor Harbor and, although I had not booked my return travel, thought it would be a nice touch to actually be there on the 22nd anniversary of our wedding... But I did want to see Sandrine's new house in Mildura.  Before that, there were things that must be done.

Like, catch the train to the city and buy a banh mi at the railway station.  I saw this poster in a shop in the Adelaide Arcade and had to take a photo to send to the Floosie.  She and I have many interests in common but she abhors fantasy literature.

  I was tempted to buy a new cottage for Flowers the Maid

There was Pearl and my ritual visit to the place that can't be named.  We had a bit of a carb hit and I bemoaned the unavailability of red wine.

I took a drive to Klemzig, where our old house looked very sad.  But I was cheered by 'short eats' from the Sri Lankan grocery on OG Road, and an expensive trip to Mercato where I finally found chestnut flour and some more immediately consumable items like roast artichokes, eggplant parmigiana, Sicilian olives, panini.  You get the picture.

Pearl introduced me to a laneway garden created and maintained by a very civic minded friend of hers.  The lane runs adjacent to the friend's property.  Council had done some planting but it was not well looked after.  Pearl's friend decided to work on it.  Now other people contribute to the planting.   There is a book cupboard, shaded seating and a play area for children.  Children love to play in the fairyland (take that Floosie) and new critters and embellishments appear regularly.  

looking  up the laneway

looking down the laneway, past an enchanted Pearl

it's awful when you think you look perfectly acceptable and later realise you look like a walking blue stemmed mushroom or, possibly, Father Brown

The weather was hot and getting hotter.

One evening we went for a swim at West Beach.

it was 8pm and we were not alone

Spanish Rose had given me a book for Christmas:

I was a little scared to read it in case something awful happened to the little chap.  But I faced my fear and was rewarded with an excellent grounding for my trip to Mildura.  Why people would want to run marathons in the desert is beyond my understanding, however reading of the gruelling preparation allowed me to gather strength and resources for the 400km drive East in 40C heat.  And so, with sad goodbyes, huge gratitude and many bottles of frozen water, off I set.

Floozn

To the house of a friend, the way is never long, and so it was that in no time at all we were happily ensconced at Encounter Bay.  We were not the only ones digging in.

To our astonishment, this echidna chap decided to sojourn in the Floosie's front garden.

Too much Port Eliott is never enough.  Lady Jayne, Pearl and I had made our pilgrimage a few days previously, retracing our steps with The Beagle but devastated when there was no seafood platter on the menu at Our Hotel.  The Flooz and I concentrated on a bit of retail therapy, visiting every interesting looking shop and even buying stuff!

South Seas was as stimulating as ever

A shopfront I had wandered past and wondered about for many years, proved amusing and au courant with the many hail stone reports coming in locally and from Tasmania.  I have decided the former shop is now just a whimsical home - a little like our River Bank in Wentworth.

There was still no seafood platter at the pub but that didn't matter cos The Floosie is not a shellfish fiend.

She does, however, like a Coorong Mullet and a glass of bubbles.

I had a perfect prawn and crab linguine.  Simple ingredients - parsley, chili, garlic and good olive oil -and something I can whip up at home if I think of it...  And have a tin of crabmeat.  I believe we went  home and had a tagine with a Persian dessert that night.  Could we really be that indulgent?

Possibly.

There were cocktails

grapefruit based, delicious

and healthy with amaretti...

There was a cooking splurge to make more amaretti,

and to make eccles

with reinforcements called in for the assembly.

Cunningly, I made them too big to be sent to Melbourne so had to eat them myself.

For a while I thought I was being haunted by green turtles.

The Flooze showed me the back alleys of Victor Harbor, a bit of a revelation for me who had always found Victor rather bland.

We discussed tattoos, which seemed a rather classy idea in an old Commercial Bank of Australia, not unlike another bank close to my heart.  I also went on a spending spree at the Visitor Information Centre, a very rare activity for me.

A further revelation was Belicious on the Inman Valley Road.  I had often seen the sign for the cafe when driving from Yankalilla to Victor Harbor but had never taken the time to stop.

rock pool in foreground, cafe visible at back

It was a curious place, much larger than I had imagined and hugely popular.

The Floosie loves the place because you can get lime milkshakes there - another thing I didn't know existed.

Brimming with education, I meandered back to Pearl Resort via 'Mr Darcy's house', stopping to report to Mum at Christies Beach.  Mum would love to have these adventures.  Seize the day!  Gather ye rosebuds..., etc.

Easterish

Pearl returned home on the Tuesday and Lady Jayne arrived on Wednesday.  The Easterers were just about together again.  We visited old haunts.

Where the river meets the sea at Port Noarlunga.  A lot of frolicking with first husbands happened here.

Pearl showed us where this beautiful staircase now winds down to the beach.

A West Beach marina.

We took the Glenelg tram into the Adelaide Market to stock up on provisions for New Year's Eve.  I was in my element, though it was rather ho hum for Pearl and Lady Jayne who have everyday access to such abundance.  We spent an indulgent NYE watching the Adelaide fireworks with some of Pearl's neighbours, and Lady Jayne and I saw the New Year in, something neither of us have done for a loooong time.  We even kept a vague pledge to return to Port Noarlunga for a swim on New Year's Day,

joining the local talent,

me

The Pearl

Lady Jayne keeps wisely to the shade.

though not in the yellow, blue and olive green terry towelling bikinis of yore.

The next day was all about culture.  Back on the Glenelg tram and off to the Botanical Gardens and Art Gallery.

via Adelaide Uni, our alma mater

turtles at the Bot Gards enthralled  young and old

The Art Gallery seems to have been rejigged a bit and has a fresher look to my eyes.  I was a bit stunned to see all these works of Clarice Beckett on one wall.  The Floosie and I went to an exhibition of her work which had an entire downstairs gallery devoted it to it.  You can see her blog post of it here.

It was lovely to see these works on display in the main gallery and not relegated to 'Indigenous Art' or some such niche spot.

The Adelaide skyline seems different every time I visit.  This is the view from the Art Gallery's original entrance on North Terrace.  I would be  unable to place it had I not taken the photo myself.

After all that culture you need to replenish the brain with a good fish feed.

So we went to Glenelg Marina in search of a seafood platter.  It took us a while but we found it at a restaurant called The Wharf.  It was expensive but delicious.

Pearl knows a secret parking spot where there are always parks, plus a pleasant walk to the restaurant strip on the marina.  It was a very silver evening as we walked to the car.  We returned to the restaurant the next evening to try their beef ragout with pumpkin gnocchi.  It was a huge serve but too salty for me,

but we struggled womanfully.  And thus, after an indulgent and nostalgic week, we parted ways.  Lady Jayne back to Canberra, me off to Encounter Bay, and the Pearl finally allowed to enjoy the comfort of her own home.

Yule log

On Christmas Eve last year I drove to Devonport and boarded the ferry for Geelong.  I was in need of adventure, 2022 being a flatish year.  To avoid confusing Father Christmas, many people choose not to travel on Christmas Eve, so Spirit of Tasmania fares were discounted and I treated myself to a cabin with porthole.  Glorious.  I munched gingerbreads, chocolates and rum balls, as the lights of Devonport receded. 

Geelong hoves into view

Christmas Day was hot and I faced the forthcoming drive to Adelaide with some trepidation.  My first test was to find my way out of Geelong, home to the new ferry terminal.  As you know, I'm not very good at that stuff and it took me an hour to find the right road and, even then, I had to compromise by  driving to Ballarat because I couldn't see the turn off to Ararat.

I had promised my travelling companions that we would stop at Dadswell Bridge to  have a drink with Christmas Koala.

Bobbin and Flowers were blown away by the gargantuan beast but thankful for the shade.

Despite its imposing presence, the koala offered no succour.  The cafe was closed.  We stopped somewhere for petrol and iced coffee and drove on wishing for Christmas miracles like air conditioning and a working fuel gauge.

We arrived Chez Pearl in the evening,

hot, tired, disheveled, but thankful there was a bottle of bubbly keeping cool in the sleeping bag in the back of the car.  Pearl was away on an adventure of her own.

Flowers and Bobbin made themselves very much at home and we enjoyed a convivial evening sipping bubbles, eating cornchips with truffled triple cream brie, and opening presents.  Father Christmas had found us after all.

I awoke on Boxing Day to find Pearl's place boxed in by cars and people trudging in 40 degree heat to buy stuff at Harbor Town sales.  My day was dedicated to keeping cool, visiting Mum in the blissfully cool nursing home, and a long bath.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

 

It's the Year of the Rabbit

and I have a new origami kit.