Let me tell you that I lurve you and I think about you all the time :o)
The recent trip to Adelaide was completed in excellent weather. No storms sneaking up and no nasty surprised lurking over
The Lower Flinders Ranges from Highway 1
hills. I made directly for Bunnings at Para Hills. I like Bunnings – different from most run-of-the-mill hardware stores. There is always an excellent range of stock and I can generally get things that I want and that are not stocked at home. They alsdo have a good garden center.
Provided the weather is good (and it was) the drive on Highway 1 is quite relaxing. The change in the vegetation is very noticeable the further south you drive – it becomes softer and you can find this strange green stuff, which I am told is called Grass. We had this in Scotland, but I had forgotten it.
We do not have the great multi-lane highways and intersections that are normal in the populous parts of Australia – Sydney – Brisbane – Melbourne and driving through Adelaide, although busy and frustrating at times, is not a patch on Sydney. What you see is the major highway linking the north of the state from the south. It carries on across the top of the state and links South Australia with Western Australia. You have, no doubt, noticed the distinct lack of transport – other road users – this is fairly normal. In our little world if we see more than four cars in a row, we wonder where the funeral is. There is not much in the way of wildlife either. People die on this road because it is long, little or no traffic, and minds tend to wander. I do not travel this road at night. I used to but it’s not a great experience – major trucks tend to travel at night. The one advantage of Highway 1 is the 4 klm long passing lanes. They occur every 10 klms, so the longest you are ever stuck behind a caravan or truck is about 20 minutes to half an hour. On the way down (or up from) to Adelaide is the “Tin Man” a BP Service Station and the Crossroads of South Australia for anyone traveling north or south. This is where I generally stop for coffee and a snack both going do0wn and coming back. You meet all sorts of people there – even family :o)
Highway 1 – the road behindHighway 1 – The way ahead.
Apart from a Football Match (Australian Rules) I have now discovered another reason for staying out of the City – International OZ-Comi-Con is being held at the Showgrounds. This is annoying because I wanted to go to that this year. My son went last year and bought me a Warehouse 13 T Shirt and had photographs taken with Richard Dean Anderson. However, I have to be at a conference on Saturday morning and be back in time for a Barbecue. However, with these two events, the place will be packed and although I do have to do one thing in town, I might not be able to if I can’t get parked. I will probably drive into town, judge things and either try to park or drive back out again. I might get away with it on Friday morning but certainly not Saturday, although I wont be in town on Saturday anyway. I’ll be navigating the South Road. Joy! I was asked to go to Karrulta Park on Friday which works out good for me. I can pick up the ANZAC Highway which runs into West Terrace and puts me on the side of the road that I wanted to be in. Well ok, Adelaide is not the world biggest metropolis, but coming into West Terrace from any other end means cutting across 10 lanes of traffic to get where I want to be – South Terrace, North Terrace, ANZAC Highway and Sir Donald Bradman Drive all converge in West Terrace. From there I can head up to Salisbury. This is also a busy place, but far enough away from Adelaide to miss the crowds.
I do not really get irritated with many things but one of the things that does irritate me is the way comments (awaiting moderation) just vanish into cyberspace. This happens on a couple of sites so I’m not really sure if I should continue with these sites, or just go. Of course, this could be a roundabout way of telling me to go anyway :o)
The drive to Adelaide was uneventful – thankfully. A lovely day and a good drive down. I I did turn off the by-pass onto
Sturt Desert Rose
the South Road and I have to say that I am impressed. No detours and the elevated roadway was all but completed – just some cosmetic finishing touches. A super road – but then it’s cost enough so it should be. Well, that’s that section finished, now the fight starts about where the government is going to borrow the money to start work on the next section. My one criticism is that because of the cosmetic work being undertaken, traffic on the new 8 lane (4×4) roadway was restricted to 60kph – less stress, no detours, but not all that faster in getting to Kurralta Park. I did manage to get the last photograph for my report at West Terrace before heading off to Salisbury. After the conference on Saturday I decided to make a detour that would see me back on the South Road and the
Lovely Day!! (38c)
new highway again. This was amazing because the South Road Highway now blends into the Salisbury Highway, which then joins the Port Wakefield Road and a direct run home on Highway 1. Bonus… I was home in plenty of time to feed the dogs and get us over to my son’s place for the Barbecue.
Since I came back from Adelaide it’s been raining almost constantly. It’s been good in that my 22,500 ltr water is overflowing as is the 1350 ltr. water tank. The small tank I use for watering plants – when they actually survive that is- which is not very often. The Hibiscus and the other bushes I planted have all died so we are slowly coming to the conclusion that the previous owners, who had a thing for concrete and gravel, may well have made sure that nothing will grow on the little area of soil they left. What I am thinking about is weed matting and woodchips and give up this one-sided, unequal struggle. Mother nature is bigger than me :o)
The Hibiscus that I planted the other week is doing well although I suspect the cooler weather has a lot to do with it. Still, it’s all good and I look forward to some flowers. I was informed that the Sturt’s
Stateliner Coach
Desert Pea has to be replanted each year – howeffer – it seems that my plant has re-seeded itself and after cutting all the dead wood away, it’s looking pretty healthy. I hope to get another display of flowers out of that this year. The three pines I planted out front are still very small but I hope that will develop and grow soon. They still look healthy enough. I have another bag of sand so I will probably take a run over to the Garden Center and see what I can find.—————- Goodness me ( or words to that effect) this sand has set like concrete. Very nice, it’s crushing the poor plant to death. In the morning I may have to dig it out and attempt to rescue it – if it’s not too late. That was unexpected and it worked in the video – but perhaps I missed something or perhaps it’s the wrong sand – who knows?
I have decided that I really need to go to Adelaide on Wednesday, but since I need to be back for a medical appointment for Herself on Thursday, I will go down and back by coach. Not my favourite mode of travel but needs must. We used to enjoy coach travel many years ago when Interstate Highway 1 was realigned and practically rebuilt as the Federal Government Bi-Centenary Project, but the coach company, in its infinite wisdom decided to desert the new highway, and moved to the alternate Highway with all its ups and downs, twists, turns and ruts as well and going in and out of every small town on the way down – and back. So to drive down by car takes just over four hours; the coach takes five and a half = leaves at 6am arrives Adelaide 11:30am. Once the 5am (now 6am) coach was the “Express Coach” that went directly down Highway 1, arriving in town at 10:00. There was also, once, an overnight coach that left at midnight, which was good for an early morning meeting – arrive in town, walk along North Terrace to the Royal Adelaide Hospital and have a good breakfast in the Canteen. The return journey will get me home just after midnight. Anyway the meeting is not until 2:30pm so I will have a couple of hours to spare to hit Rundle Mall :o) – It’s not all doom and gloom.
It is true that simple things can give pleasure. I have not been able to use my camera recently (Sony) because the battery died and I cannot get a replacement here.
Stationery Shop of Choice
In under 30 minutes in Adelaide I had a replacement battery and my camera working again. The other pleasure was giving away a large box of Lindt chocolates to ” Strangers”. Why?? Well last time I was in Adelaide I left my Filofax in a stationery shop – Kikki.K ( actually I think I mentioned this) Anyway, they were kind enough to post it to me, without charge, so, when I was down this time I bought a large box of chocolates and gave it to the staff (three) to say ” Thank You”. I managed to cram in a few other things before heading off to the meeting, but the battery and Kikki.K were my main concerns. I took a taxi to the meeting and at the conclusion, I still had a bit of time, and, since it was a nice day, I decided to walk to the bus terminal — OK, not perhaps the brightest idea I have come up with recently. I thought because I take the dogs out walking every night for over an hour that walking back to the bus terminal would be no problem but what I didn’t take into consideration was that with the dogs I have no timetable – not so when I have to navigate my way through the heart of the city and be on time to book in. If you have been reading you will know that not so very long ago I caused damage to the arch of my foot, (planter fasciitis ) which is still not fully recovered – so, walking back to the bus station was not my best idea. However, good me – I made it in time (barely but we wont go into that) booked in, grabbed a bottle of water from the kiosk and staggered on to the coach – which, fortunately was almost empty (12 people), and I was able to stretch out in a double seat, and yes, I did take my shoes off :o)
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