Welcome to Adelaide

The train arrived in Adelaide at 7am, ahead of schedule so the Fremantle fans travelling up the back could catch their connecting buses and trains to Melbourne for the AFL Grand Final. I can only imagine that it was a journey filled with unprecedented excitement and anticipation surpassed only by the degree disappointment and heartache on the excruciatingly long journey home.

Kids, I said, I'll go get the hire car. I grabbed a cab and headed in to town. Three minutes later I was there but the office didn't open until 8am. I sat on the concrete stairs and waited while Geoff and the kids sat at the station and waited. Finally I got the car, plugged the station into my phone GPS and was off. Now I love GPS - when it's on the money, but I could see from the map it wasn't quite right. After an 8 kilometre lap of Adelaide, taking in the same sights I saw first time round, I finally pulled over and asked a cab driver. I'd missed the road into the station by about 10 metres - ahhhhh!!! So 2 hours after setting off, we were finally reunited. First stop, the zoo.

Adelaide has a great zoo and the only pandas in Australia that they pay a million bucks a year for the privilege, so they'd want to be bloody cute!!! And they were.

On arrival, we were met by a zoo rep who was selling animal encounters. It as $30 each to get up close to the giant tortoises - so $120 for all of us. Outrageous - but I guess they need to pay for those pandas. We passed. But when we got around to the tortoises, one was so close to the fence that I got the shot we would have paid $120 for and the girls (and all the other people there) could just reach over and give him (or her?) a little scratch. I think they need to rethink that deal. Or train the tortoise not give away what they can get people to pay for!!

It's a really lovely zoo, beautiful gardens, happy looking residents so if you're there, it's worth a visit, even though it probably takes a good three minutes to get there from the centre of town (yes, three minutes).

Mum and Dad had come to Adelaide and met us at the zoo. Geoff popped back to put more money in the meter but too late - we got a parking fine. But only $45 which is cheap compared to Melbourne.

The next morning, Geoff trotted out of our hotel early to top up the parking metre - he was 20 minutes late and yes, another $45 parking fine. Welcome to Adelaide!

It was the day of the AFL grand final so we headed down to Glenelg on the tram (such a novelty when you're from Melbourne - not!). We took a family selfie on the pier and then Mum suggested we find the Oyster Bar. Good plan, Mum. It wasn't quite lunch time but hey, we were on holiday!

Then back to the folks' fancy hotel to drink red wine and order a cheese platter and watch the footy. I'm not really into footy but I really did feel for all those Fremantle fans who'd been in the less luxurious Red Class of the train and then an eight hour bus ride - all at great expense to witness THAT.

Anyway....there was a baby Spiegel tent in the park over from said fancy hotel that had free 15 minute shows. We queued up for the first and it was so good we rushed around twice more and saw three before dinner. Adelaide does arts so well! So a quick dinner in the closest pub and another great day in Adelaide was over.

Daphne, a performer in Adelaide pouring a wine while hoola hooping.

Quinoa's ancient ancestor, Barley.

I just came across this and had to share!!

This is the amazing work of Melbourne photographic artist, Bill Gekas that's recently featured on Yellow Trace.

It reminded me so much of Quinoa! Aren't they just adorable!!!

Check out the Yellow Trace article here or go straight to Bill's website here.

The Train

Yes, where have I been....

Actually, on holiday as you know with crap weather, but we are now home.

One of the anticipated highlights was the trip across the Nullarbor on the Indian Pacific train. By comparison to our train travel in Vietnam and Egypt, this was truly civilized. There were clean sheets, en suites and even..... toilet paper. Wow. You might recall after two consecutive nights on the trains in Vietnam, enthusiasm for train travel was waning, so it was quite remarkable that I managed to convince the crew to get on another one. Oh that's right, I didn't ask them, I just booked it.

We arrived at the train station in Perth and it was like pensioner's day at the pokies. I'd joked that Geoff and I would drag down the average age by 20 years - but it was true. It was us, two other families and 200 people aged over 70.  'Don't think it'll be rowdy' I quipped on FB. 'Just wait til bingo!" responded my friend Deb. But there was no bingo.

Having boarded the train just before noon, we sorted out our cabins and set off for the lounge and dining car. And that's where we found everyone - in the bar - and drinks are included! And it's not the cheap stuff either - I kicked off with a glass of Vasse Felix bubbles and pretty much took it from there. We played Scrabble, Uno, dominoes and Connect Four. (Geoff asked what the point of that game was. Elle and I thought it was pretty apparent, but apparently not.) We read books, napped, ate and drank - and then did it all again.

The train pulled in to Kalgoorlie about 10pm and those of us who'd stayed up late (many of the oldies had indeed gone to bed) piled onto buses for a town tour - which was surprisingly good - or maybe it was that I was kinda relaxed on the Vasse Felix! We saw the gold mine that runs 24/7 and climbed into one of the huge trucks they use to transport the dirt to the extraction plant. And of course we had a quick look at Hay Street where the ladies of the night still run a reasonable trade, despite the population shift away from being mostly blokes and at least one brothel now being a 'romantic' bed and breakfast.

Indeed, for a town that's less than 30,000 strong, 26 pubs, many bragging 'skimpies' (girls clad in not much), does seem a tad excessive and not quite as 'family' as they now like to think they are.

The next day was again filled with eating and drinking and views of the desert. Here's a picture.

And here's another.

And one with a filter.

Get the picture?

In fact, the name Nullarbor is Latin (not aboriginal as sometimes thought) and very obvious. 'Null' as in none/nothing and 'arbor' as in trees (as in arborists the tree doctors or arboreal animals, meaning tree-dwelling).

Just before (or after - I can't remember!) pre-lunch drinks on day two, we pulled into Cook, a tiny town just inside the South Australian border. I actually did this same train journey in reverse when I was about 13 and Cook was a highlight. The kids from the school were so excited to see people from the train. But these days, the school is closed, the pool is filled with dirt, the tennis courts are decaying. the jails are empty and the population is a staggeringly tiny four.

At one stage, Cook boasted a hospital which they viewed as their salvation as the privatisation of the rail system threatened the town's continuance. And someone should have been in advertising!

Back on the train for a bite of lunch and a glass of very lovely red (or two) before yet another nap. Then it was time for pre-dinner drinks and dinner and bed. It was extremely relaxing! 

The train arrived in Adelaide at just after 7am where we disembarked for a weekend of more wineries and touring.

Quinoa

Have you caught up with Tiffany Beverage's Pintrest board called My Imaginary Well-Dressed Toddler Daughter? As the mother of, she confesses, two ordinarily dressed boys, she started this board as a bit of joke but it's taken off and she's about to launch the book. (Oh to have a MWW's book!!!)

Anyway, back to Tiff. I don't know her BTW, she's American and I just stumbled on her on Pintrest. She's called her imaginary daughter Quinoa and in essence, she pins these crazy (and ethically questionable) vogue-like shots of young kids on her board with some very sassy editorial. Here are a few of my favourites.

     

But really, once I start, I just can't stop! It's addictive! You have been warned.

I love it so much that on this holiday, I've taken to calling Sass Quinoa - especially when she's having a Quinoa moment - and texting them to my poor business partner Mandy (who also loves a bit of MIWDTD).

Oh looking nonchalant can
be so much work.

 

Quinoa enjoyed a glass of
sparkling water in her late morning bath.

Fed up with the on-going bad weather on her
holiday, Quinoa felt she had no choice but to
don her daisy chain wreath & pale blue
fingerless wrist warmer to complete her preppy
look and SHOP!

Exhautsed after yet another hectic day of
wineries in Margaret River, Quinoa settled into
the back of the Beemer for a nap on the way back
to her 5-star resort

And our friends who we were with us in Margaret River emailed us this greeting card - which reads (in case it's too small) Which part of 'I want a pony' didn't you understand?

What do you think??

Touring in Margaret River

We're in Margaret River for a few days and the weather is apparently 'unseasonal'. In other words, blowing a gale and raining frequently. Knowing it's unseasonal isn't actually much consolation but we're here wth some friends and there's plenty to do so we're not complaining.


We're staying at a beautiful resort smack
on the beach and in 'seasonal' weather it
would apparently look like this. (I took it from the brochure.)










But it looks like this. ( I took this after breakfast.)

So we've done a few tours. The first was a winery tour which was good, but the stand out was arriving at Knotting Hill as another group were leaving, only to hear this woman screaming like a banshee "LOUIE!!! GET OUTTA THERE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! COME ON!!" Someone's in trouble, we muttered to ourselves expecting some recalcitrant kid to emerge. But no, out slinks a grown man in a zip up tracksuit, sunglasses and a beanie - head bowed in submission. All afternoon we thought of poor Louie.

The next day we'd booked a Heritage & Cave Canoe trip on the Margaret River. We drove the hour to the meeting point and arrived just as it began to pour with rain. Paul, our guide, said to get back in our cars (phew) and drive down to the river mouth where we'd meet everyone else. As we all arrived, my friend Penny pointed... 'Isn't that Louie??' And indeed it was!

Thankfully it had stopped raining and as we launched the canoes, Paul gave us the drill, despite admitting he'd only been guiding these tours for a couple of weeks. So what did we learn? Well, pretty much everything about Paul. Including, but not limited to:

• His wife loves roses and orchids and always has fresh flowers in the house
• He loves gardening and is also fond of flowers
• His daughters are 12 (going on 26) and 9 (going on attitude - boom, boom)
• His oldest daughter loves horse riding and is, in fact, 'a bit of a jill-a-roo for those of you who know what that means'
• He's a huge fan of his Thermo-Mix
• His wife is a school teacher
• How much he got paid working FIFO (Fly In Fly Out) on a mining rail road (over $100k) but he missed his family too much so threw it in - it just wasn't worth it
• How much he weighs, the fact he's about 11kg over what he'd like to be for his favoured past time - mountain bike riding
• How he snapped a mountain bike but the manufacturer (Giant) replaced the frame - from America no less
• That he'd like to be riding '1000k' a month but just isn't getting the time

Getting the drift?? If you'd like to know more about Paul, do drop me a line.

So what did we learn about Heritage? Not much. There was a family who built a house on the banks of Margaret River and moved in.... in eighteen seventy - ..... Paul was struggling to remember what year. Trying to helpful, I said '1874? Seriously Paul, none of us know - just pick a year.' 'No, no, no,' he insisted 'I need to get this right. 1876!' Phew - what a relief.

We walked up from the river to explore the cave where those of our party who were feeling brave could crawl on their stomachs, combat style, through water and dirt in a claustrophobic passageway that led from the main chamber.... back to the main chamber. Paul explained that there has been a shipwreck in the 1800s and a group of 30 or 40 people lived in this cave for 6 months to 7 years. (Yes, I didn't understand that either - maybe some left after 6 months and maybe some left after 7 years??). Penny had the audacity to ask a question; what nationality were they? Paul didn't know, but he was quite sure they were Caucasian - not European. And believe it or not people, for once in my life I did not pipe up to correct him. I was quite proud of myself. And anyway, he was doing a fine job all on his own.

Yes, I could put this review on Trip Advisor but I do feel that would spoil the surprise for the next lot of unsuspecting guests!!

We're headed to Perth tomorrow for a few days before we catch the Indian Pacific train across the Nullabor to Adelaide so stay tuned.

Farewell My Van

My van was picked up by its new owners yesterday. No more sliding doors for me! You may recall I have posted about it before. I've never loved it but it certainly served its purpose.

We got it 5 years ago when Jaz had scoliosis surgery and we weren't allowed to pick her up for fear that the rods in her back could dislodge. She had to be hoisted in a sling and stay in her wheelchair until they were sure it had fully healed. So it was farewell to the Pajero - which I was very fond of - and hello to the van. I always thought if I had to drive a van, this was definitely the pick of them. Fortunately, Mercedes was a client of the agency I worked for at the time and helped me out by finding an ex-demo that I could actually afford.

We also then had a hydraulic lift fitted. None of this is a secret - I did tell the new owners who thought the bracket to hold the lift's remote control was a bottle opener! We had the lift taken out less than a year later when Jazzy died.

It was then handy for George's wheelchair too, as it was easy enough to fling in the back behind the third row of seats where there was still plenty of room and a surprisingly low floor.

But I do have some great memories:

• The Cubs loved it when I was with Scouts. 'What happens in the van, stays in the van,' they'd say (ie eating lollies I'd bought them at the petrol station.)

• I had a whole routine for Sass and her friends:
   'Welcome aboard flight Mother Who Works, destination school. Please ensure your seat belt is firmly fastened, your seat upright, table stowed and all hand luggage secured. In the unlikely event of an incident, please follow the instructions of the flight crew. Should we lose cabin pressure, a mask will drop from the compartment above. Place it over your nose and mouth and breath normally.... blah, blah, blah. Estimated time of the flight, approximately five minutes. Thank you for choosing to fly with Mother Who Works."
  The kids thought it was hilarious - even when it was repeated again and again and again. 

• I loved that 'Don't make me come back there!' was never an idle threat
• I've driven Elle and her friends to parties and collected an entire van full of them in the middle of the night
• We've been camping with a trailer hitched on the back and the canoe and tables on the roof
• Around the neighbourhood, everyone knew the van and when we were out and about
• It's trucked teams of advertising peeps around town (many who think they're rock stars requiring a van!!) and served as the mobile office on many an occasion

But with just the two girls now, we don't need it and I'm not sad to say goodbye. I think it could almost drive from our house to The Royal Children's Hospital on auto-pilot. And the family who bought it are just lovely, so I'm glad it's gone to a happy home. 

My new (second hand) car is a black 4WD with a black interior and seats a mere five. Not even any flip out seats. Just five. And it feels so zippy!! But I can't change the radio station or work the heater and I keep setting off the windscreen wipers. I've even managed to immobilise it when we were late for a meeting...ahhhhh!!!

So it's so long to my van and hello to a whole new, annoying learning curve....

It's Official

I hope you can read this - it's gold. And I had to share. Click on it and you should be able to see it on a black background - much clearer.

If it's a bit tricky, here's a highlight:
"One woman had to be rushed to the hospital after her assistant shredded important company tax documents instead of copying them."

I think I worked with that assistant once.

A friend who runs a busy cafe assures me common sense isn't that common. When told to just empty the water bottles from the tables down the drain, she found her new, university-educated waiter on the floor in the kitchen tipping them down the drain alright - the one in the floor in the corner. 'I meant the drain in the sink...' she suggested.

I worked on a fashion account briefly and in one meeting a model was asked to step out and just take off what she had on underneath the big, furryjacket she was wearng (a shirt of some description as I recall). She came back, naked but for the jacket. Eeek!! And was rushed from the board room a second time to put her pants back on.

Seriously kids, like the ads on TV say, if you not sure, ask!