Staying at Julia's Shack

Annaliese's friend Julia had booked her family's shack by the beach at Carrickalinga this weekend. So Annaliese and I came over and joined her and her sister Liz, Guy, and Anna. And Julia's dog Baya.

This is Julia hard at work on some marking - she's a Biology teacher.

I went for a drive with Annaliese, Guy and Anna. We drove to a couple of coves at Second Valley and Rapid Bay.

Here is a dinkum aussie boozer bird

We stayed the night at the Shack and went for a walk with Baya in the morning before taking Guy and Anna back to the airport for their flight back to Melbourne.

Boogie boarding at Moana beach

This weekend Annaliese and I met up with a couple of Annaliese's friends -Tony and Skye. We saw Adam Hills - a stand up comic and tv star - at the Thebarton theatre, then went for a drink. The next day we decided to chill out so walked down to Moana beach.

We had a tent with us that springs into shape when you take it out of the bag, useful as a wind and sun shade. This is what it looks like looking out.

Later on Greg and Keryn joined us.

Here Greg showing me how to hold the boogie board.

And here are some shots Keryn took of us using the boogie boards. Note, I'm the one in the water, not the one riding the wave.

Clipsal 500 and the Adelaide Fringe Festival

On Friday I went into Adelaide to go to the Clipsal 500 racing event. This opens the V8 supercar series by turning the streets of Adelaide into a racetrack. Adelaidians will point out with a degree of bitterness that the formula one grand prix used to be held in Adelaide in the same way - before Melbourne stole the event from them.

As well as the V8 touring cars there were older cars, street cars, and classic motorbikes racing round the track.

I only had general admission tickets but there was still good access to some of the supercars in the paddock.


The Australian airforce put on a show and there were lots of classic racing cars to look at.

When Annaliese had finished work I left the Clipsal 500 and met her at a popular meeting point. This is a sculpture in Rundle Mall that is known as the "malls balls" for obvious reasons.

It was the last couple of days of the Adelaide Fringe Festival, where there are lots of live music and comedy events to see. So we went to the garden of unearthly delights and saw some live music.

We then decided to go and see some live comedy before catching the train home.

Ping Pong and Grape Vines

Last week Jeff and Brenda flew back to Canberra where they live. Before they left they came round to say goodbye with Dorothy. We ended up getting the table tennis table out in the garage and Dorothy showed me where the sporty genes come from in the family by beating me at a game of table tennis.

I went for another bike ride last week. This time I cycled all the way to Willunga, through the Mclaren Vale wine region. Most of the cycle path was built on top of an old abandoned railway line. So there were no cars in sight as I followed the track that weaved through the countryside.

At Mclaren Vale the main road is lined with the signs of all the different wine producers, there are some nice restaurants further along the road and just as you head back off into the countryside there are a couple of old railway cariages that have been converted into a cafe.

When I reached the end of the cycle track I rewarded myself with a packet of Burger Rings, which are crisps that taste like beef burgers, then cycled back to Moana.