Back to Australia October 2014 | Adelaide Market

This is agricultural land. In addition to the wine regions near here—McLaren Vale, Barossa, Adelaide Hills, Langhorne Creek—the market is packed with fresh vegetables, meats, cheeses and an assortment of other specialties. Chocolate. Olive oil. Fresh pasta. Bread shops. An olive bar. It's endless.

I stopped by the same cheese shop where Margaret and I shopped four years ago en route to the Barossa for this same conference. It’s right where it was then. I chatted with a farmer, who brings his market garden goods here daily. He’s says this is the best market east of Melbourne.

 

Alice Springs, Uluru and the “long way round” bus tour are next.

Back to Australia 2014 | Adelaide City Library

It was during my stroll through the Rundle Mall that I chanced upon City Library. Tucked away in a lane off the mall, I first noticed the bold signage high above a verdant display of spring flowers in old wooden boxes, stacked precariously behind an old bicycle. A woman in a bright orange sweater greeted me, and asked if I had come for the spring gardening workshop. I wish! They are held every Friday throughout October here in the city centre, at the library. As always, I opted for a visit.

I took the “slow way up”, by which I mean the stairs. The library occupies the 4th floor of what was once a parkade. Since Rundle is a pedestrian mall, it was re-purposed to a library. The librarian spoke proudly of this innovative concept; the old library was so busy people were lined up outside to get in, it was so small. The new library has views, she pointed out, to the ocean in one direction, and over the townscape in the other.

It’s small, but if feels spacious. Many interior walls are glass, creating openness, light, and a feeling of spaciousness. An outdoor reading space affords access to a long walkway boldly displaying quotable quotes, greenery, and the view across town. With so much natural light, lush plants grow everywhere, and the crowd that gathers for the gardening workshop fill the central core of the space. Beautiful. Sustainable.

Connectivity is either non-existent or very limited out here so the next few posts will come as and when I can get them up. It's now Wednesday here, and I'm in the central desert. Lots of catching up to do on my one hour per day of internet access!

Back to Australia October 2014 | Adelaide

It's good to be back. Don't ask why I am in Adelaide--why this city is on what is already a long trip to Alice Springs from Edmonton. But I loved it when Margaret and I came here in 2010 and today has affirmed why. It's the food! And the weather. It's a glorious 29 today, and the air is clean, as are the streets. It's a young city I think, and I am nestled into the Franklin Boutique Hotel on Franklin street, just a few minutes from Flinders University (the co-host of the conference I am headed to in Uluru), Victoria Square, the City Market (my priority stop today), and the Rundle Mall (think Stevens Avenue Mall in Calgary or Pacific Avenue without traffic not WEM).

The hotel. It sounded perfect and it is, almost.

 Obviously I like the location--across from the bus depot where the taxis queue up and the proximity to everything. After nearly 24 hours of travel I appreciated the welcome from the host/ bartender (there's your first clue) and his offer of a flat white. I plastered myself with sunscreen and with hat in hand headed for the mall in search of ...

On Tuesday, I decided I didn't have anything warm packed, just in case, and it was cooler, and I was thinking about coming home to November temps and not having set aside anything warm and comfy to travel in,  I headed to lulu lemon. See-through stretch pants are just my style, right? But when they didn't have my size and colour she offered to order them in, but of course--ever the one to leave things to the last minute--that wasn't going to work, because I was leaving THE NEXT DAY. You know where this is going, right? Yep, we just happen to have a store in Adelaide, but, with deep regret, she was unable to check the stock. But she did write down the address for me--just a block off the Rundle Mall--so that's where I headed first today. Rundle Mall has all the usual shops: lush, 9 west, Pandora, pretty much what you can find in any city these days. And no, they didn't have my size and colour, but I did have a fun conversation with a guy who worked in Canmore last winter, and just came back to Adelaide  a few months ago.  There is only one marketplace; labour is mobile.

The Franklin Boutique Hotel is also the Franklin Boutique Hotel and Public House, so the bar was full and noisy last night. But it all shuts down early, so except for needing to go out to eat to somewhere a bit quieter, it was perfect. They supply earplugs, and "Frank's gift"--a bag of candy, popcorn and other treats, a Nepresso of course, iPod dock, and lots of wall plugs to recharge electronics. It's quaint in a nice way, and handy.

I found dinner at a small cafe with a huge outdoor patio, packed to the max, and enjoyed a Clare Valley pinot gris with no nasty aftertaste, some fresh asparagus with absolutely no bitterness, olive oil from McLaren Vale (who knew!), local smoked trout, a perfectly toasted gluten free bread (with the oil of course). That's not all, but the best of the best. The party in the bar was full on when I got back to my hotel room but no problem. With so little sleep over the trip, I plugged in my iPod, turned up the volume, and drowned them out!

Gotta go. My trip to the public library next but won't have connectivity again for a couple of days I think.  And no ability to upload photos.

A fall day in Edmonton | October 2014

I'm busy preparing for departure to Australia in a couple of days, and taking advantage of the supreme fall sunshine to put away the garden. It could be cold when I get home...brrrr...so on Sunday I thought I'd stroll a bit. I have a new camera to get to know, and I thought the best way to build a lasting relationship would be take some pictures--a lot of pictures. Here's a taste of fall in Edmonton captured on my new Sony Alpha 6000. I think I can even smell it.

It was a busy day at the Muttart Conservatory with pre-Hallowe'en munchkins everywhere but I was more interested in the orchids in the feature pyramid.

 A chorus line?

  Cirque de Soleil perhaps?

 Left click on this one to open it in a new window and look for the spiders web stretched between the two flowers.

 An amazing lady slipper, but nothing like this one that follows.

I had to stand on my head to get this shot, but I got it. Isn't she a beauty--like a plum cake in fall.

Coffee time. So through the park and under Connors Road, into Mill Creek ravine to the fork in the road. This is one of my favourite walks in fall, a wonderful pathway (watch out for speedsters on wheels), leading south to Avonmore and the Velodrome, but for me it was up and over to my favourite cafe.

 It was warm enough to sit outside at Wild Earth cafe and this is October! So after a bowl of chile and slice of their oh-so-good gluten free bread and my usual cafe latte I was ready to resume my photo shoot. As  I headed back down Scona Hill I stopped for a visit with a fellow photographer out walking and looking and shooting (wiih a monopod--not a bad idea!) and we sat lazily on the bench at the bus stop, talking photography while I searched my past for a memory of this person. I recognized the face, the smile, the eyes but I could not put my finger on a place or a name ... oh now I remember. 

So, with my head in the clouds and my heart in the pit of my stomach,  I continued down Socna Road past the Old Timers Cabin.

I couldn't resist checking out the architecture along the bank of the river, and the views across to downtown. Oh to live here. Can't imagine what that might be like, looking out every night across the river to downtown, from one of those balconies.

They sold that one before I had a chance to put in an offer. It's easy to get under the low level bridge and over to Rafter's Landing from here, and that's where I found two families playing about the River Queen, their boats anchored along the bank below. Imagine. Boating  on the North Saskatchewan River in October. Where do I sign up?

 It's definitely fall, and the carpet of leaves is everywhere in the valley, and in my garden. I'm struck by the light in these photos--so fall, so not summer.
My own garden is now minus four junipers that created the perfect hedge between my home and the neighbour's house, so I'm feeling a bit naked, but come spring there will be something new there to nurture and enjoy.

A beautiful day, a slow-andante of a walk, a new travel partner to get to know. I think it's going to be fine now that I know what all the dials are for and how to find the menus.  Next stop, Adelaide Australia!