When I left New Zealand I had a new plan. That was to go to Melbourne with a view to getting a job for a month before moving on to Sydney and back up the East Coast. My orginal plan was to get on a plane to Adelaide the very next day to spend a couple of days with a friend of my mother's from university. Which is what I did. And then, when I discovered how much I like it here, I postponed my flight out for another week. That week is now coming to a close and I will be returning to Melbourne tomorrow.
I arrived in Adelaide about midday and having found my way to MPH architects I dropped off my rucksack at my mum's friend's husband's work and went out to explore the area. The first thing I noticed was a very large, multicoloured inflatable structure in the park over the road. Naturally, being attracted by bright colours and things which look like bouncy castles, I investigated further. It cost me $2 to investigate fully and what I discovered was bizarre. Amococo: what I imagine being inside the circulatory system is like. It turned out that I had chosen to come to Adelaide at the best time the year. They call it "Mad March" because every single annual event which occurs in Adelaide, happens to occur over March, and more specfically the weekend which I was here for. I'll run through a list of things which ha been going on while I've been here to give you a sense of the hub-bub around town at the minute; The Adelaide Festival, The Adelaide Fringe Festival, Writers' Week, The Street Theatre Festival, WOMADelaide, The Adelaide Cup and of course The Clipsal 500 Adelaide V8 Supercar race.
Quite happy to avoid some of the madness for a while, I chose to spend my first day at the beach. Glenelg beach, in fact. Some of you will know that Glenelg is a small Scottish town opposite the Isle of Skye and made famous (a little bit) by its appearance in Made of Honour. This Glenelg isn't like that, it's very touristy - but quite fun. And it has a tram service all the way into town. That evening I tagged along with Helen's son Callum and a couple of his friends to one of the Fringe shows; Violet Rapscallion. It was an amateur cabaret production and really good fun to watch. The music, all written by another of Callum's friends and was brilliant and lyrically very witty. On the Thursday I was introduced to Helen's daughter Jess who showed me round the Central Markets and to one of the lesser known galleries which had some of her friend's photography on display. We headed down to the river to see what was going on at Writers' Week and ended up listening to a couple of authors which was all very interesting.
Friday was the beginning of WOMAD which I had managed to secure a 3day pass for. I won't list all the bands and artists I saw but for those of you who are interested and have either the time and or the inclination, these might be worth looking having a look at; YAMATO, Mamadou Diabate, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Babylon Circus, Grrilla Step, Fyah Walk, The Cholmondeleys & The Featherstonehaughs. It's a festival of World Music, Arts and Dance so these are all quite different but nevertheless, interesting and possibly something you'd never have thought to seek out.
Ready for another break from the festival fun, I headed to Cleland Wildlife Park to spot myself a couple of koalas and to cuddle a kangaroo. I did both of these and saw plenty of other animals too :) Now at least I can return home safe in the knowledge that I haven't missed any of the natives! From Cleland I climbed up the hill to Mount Lofty to admire the views. Naturally, it was cloudy - but still, I could see out to the coast and all of the city stretching out below me.
I couldn't keep out of the city for long though and yesterday saw me seek out a more cultural exerience in the form of the South Australian Museum and the Art Gallery of South Australia. I learnt a lot about Aboriginal art and the stories behind it, which are just fascinating!
Today I ventured into Stirling, one of the small towns in the Adelaide Hills where I have been staying. Following that I made use of the public transport and went into the city to meet up with one of the girls who I travelled with in New Zealand. She's been busy going to lots of theatre productions and she had even auditioned for one of the plays which is on at the Fringe!
So tomorrow I'm back to Melbourne. I'll admit that my first impressions of the city weren't brilliant but I will give it a second chance - though not for another week as on Sunday I will be taking myself off to the Kadampa Meditation Centre - a Buddhist retreat just outside Melbourne. This may come as a surprise to some of you who know about my aversion to Buddhism, but there we go, I'll face my fear. And who knows? - maybe I'll come out converted!
I arrived in Adelaide about midday and having found my way to MPH architects I dropped off my rucksack at my mum's friend's husband's work and went out to explore the area. The first thing I noticed was a very large, multicoloured inflatable structure in the park over the road. Naturally, being attracted by bright colours and things which look like bouncy castles, I investigated further. It cost me $2 to investigate fully and what I discovered was bizarre. Amococo: what I imagine being inside the circulatory system is like. It turned out that I had chosen to come to Adelaide at the best time the year. They call it "Mad March" because every single annual event which occurs in Adelaide, happens to occur over March, and more specfically the weekend which I was here for. I'll run through a list of things which ha been going on while I've been here to give you a sense of the hub-bub around town at the minute; The Adelaide Festival, The Adelaide Fringe Festival, Writers' Week, The Street Theatre Festival, WOMADelaide, The Adelaide Cup and of course The Clipsal 500 Adelaide V8 Supercar race.
Quite happy to avoid some of the madness for a while, I chose to spend my first day at the beach. Glenelg beach, in fact. Some of you will know that Glenelg is a small Scottish town opposite the Isle of Skye and made famous (a little bit) by its appearance in Made of Honour. This Glenelg isn't like that, it's very touristy - but quite fun. And it has a tram service all the way into town. That evening I tagged along with Helen's son Callum and a couple of his friends to one of the Fringe shows; Violet Rapscallion. It was an amateur cabaret production and really good fun to watch. The music, all written by another of Callum's friends and was brilliant and lyrically very witty. On the Thursday I was introduced to Helen's daughter Jess who showed me round the Central Markets and to one of the lesser known galleries which had some of her friend's photography on display. We headed down to the river to see what was going on at Writers' Week and ended up listening to a couple of authors which was all very interesting.
Friday was the beginning of WOMAD which I had managed to secure a 3day pass for. I won't list all the bands and artists I saw but for those of you who are interested and have either the time and or the inclination, these might be worth looking having a look at; YAMATO, Mamadou Diabate, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Babylon Circus, Grrilla Step, Fyah Walk, The Cholmondeleys & The Featherstonehaughs. It's a festival of World Music, Arts and Dance so these are all quite different but nevertheless, interesting and possibly something you'd never have thought to seek out.
Ready for another break from the festival fun, I headed to Cleland Wildlife Park to spot myself a couple of koalas and to cuddle a kangaroo. I did both of these and saw plenty of other animals too :) Now at least I can return home safe in the knowledge that I haven't missed any of the natives! From Cleland I climbed up the hill to Mount Lofty to admire the views. Naturally, it was cloudy - but still, I could see out to the coast and all of the city stretching out below me.
I couldn't keep out of the city for long though and yesterday saw me seek out a more cultural exerience in the form of the South Australian Museum and the Art Gallery of South Australia. I learnt a lot about Aboriginal art and the stories behind it, which are just fascinating!
Today I ventured into Stirling, one of the small towns in the Adelaide Hills where I have been staying. Following that I made use of the public transport and went into the city to meet up with one of the girls who I travelled with in New Zealand. She's been busy going to lots of theatre productions and she had even auditioned for one of the plays which is on at the Fringe!
So tomorrow I'm back to Melbourne. I'll admit that my first impressions of the city weren't brilliant but I will give it a second chance - though not for another week as on Sunday I will be taking myself off to the Kadampa Meditation Centre - a Buddhist retreat just outside Melbourne. This may come as a surprise to some of you who know about my aversion to Buddhism, but there we go, I'll face my fear. And who knows? - maybe I'll come out converted!
Don't you dare!
ReplyDeleteGlenelg also made quite famous by its appearance in Boswell and Johnson's tour of the Highlands and Islands - there's a nice description of the fleabitten straw they slept in in Glenelg Inn, which incidently was the house that we rented.
I like the bouncy castle thing. xxxxx
Not to Mention connection to Gavin Maxwell
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