Out and About or Out on a boat (both sound the same here)

There was a long weekend in Australia-(A good time to do bugger all) The Queen's Birthday has national status.

 It is quite interesting  to consider the parallels and huge differences in the way the US and AU have related to  Britain since the 1700's. Why was the US so determined to break from England (I know the textbooks in junior high taught it was a matter of worship, taxes, speedy trial, oppression and cruelty . .) when AU has followed the Monarchy so closely? Were we so different? You would have thought that since modern Australia began with Penal Colonies its populace would have risen against the English. The US had its share of prisoners, sometimes under the guise of indentured servants. Then why do Australians have morning tea, high tea, crumpets, meat pies, sausage rolls, beans on toast and celebrate the Queen's Birthday? Did we take such different paths simply because of one tea party in Boston? I am sure historians have a clear explanation for the radically opposite directions both took, but it does make me ponder. 

Alas, back to the Queen's Birthday being a national holiday:

Because of the national holiday we had Monday off work and so the South Australian Teacher's Exchange League (SATEL)  hosted (thanks Cecilia and Alan) a houseboat trip up the Murray River.
The Riverlands is a short trip from Stirling (but Candice, Heather and I added on some extra time when taking a few washboarded remote incorrect roads). 

It was a lazy weekend  m       de
                                     ean      ri n 
                                                         g 
up the river birdwatching, soaking in sun, reading, sketching, analyzing some pros and cons of the AU school systems, eating and overeating. 

sunrise

 The sunrises lasted just a blink, but each sunset lingered for what seemed like hours. Can anyone explain that phenomena? 

The water was still, silent and dark.

The dusk and dawn light were spectacular.

The pelicans forever entertaining

The docking created some challenges

We even had the excitement of having to get towed back to the marina-
the Misty Dawn was not called Old Reliable for a reason.

The bush telly

evening walks and firewood gathering with amber
fluid, throw downs, tallies, but not a schooie since
room had to be left for plonk and turps

Not quite a trip to the back of beyond but it was a nice weekend with friends and new landscapes.

 Glossary:
lazy: bugger all
camp fire: bush telly
beer: amber fluid
small bottle of beer: throw down
can of beer: tinny
schooner of beer: schooie
wine: Plonk
strong alcohol: turps, also short for turpentine
back of beyond: out in the country; rural

Hallett Cove: Geologists' Heaven

Adelaide, the only place I know where you can grow citrus and apples, avocados and grapes, strawberries and sapodilla, black sapote, mangoes and pomegranates:

Great apple picking in Summerville
with Kate and Angela

 Winter begins on the first of each 3 months. Makes it easy. June first begins winter. Sept first is spring. December first summer arrives. March one is the first of Autumn. You don't easily forget season changes here. So it is winter in the S. Hemisphere. I currently live in the driest state on the driest continent and have been totally soaked due to miscalculated walks and bike rides. Stirling got a bucket full of rain the other day which neighbors measured at 60 mm. It doesn't sound like much, but the ducks were blissful and the street-side gullies became rivers for more than a day. Once I leave my "mountain" I drop into a totally different climate zone. At work friends look at me like I am a "damp squib" or as if I ate "the Darling Pea" when I pronounce the immense downpours to the east.

Southern Hemisphere geology is pretty significant around Hellett Cove. Glacial striations are obvious along the exposed silt stones of the coastal cliff tops. They were made by the ice sheet that covered much of Gondwana, the Southern Hemisphere supercontinent.



Hallett Cove contains rocks and sediments ranging in age from about 600 million years to the present day, that were formed within four major time periods. These rocks are piled on top of each other like a gigantic layer cake


The sandstone is overlying glacial sediments. The upper part of the Amphitheatre is capped with limestone overlaying alluvial silt and clay deposited a couple of million years ago. Erosion has produced the Badlands-like landscape. (Thanks Kate and Cathy for the first walk and to Denise and Chris for the second)

amazing boardwalk-the coast to the left Sugarloaf on the right

Adelaide's beaches

a seal's flipper

 the walk from Hallett Cove to Seaview is about 3 hours

Glossary:

For Melissa, a fan

Damp squib someone who is not thinking to well, a bit of a dub (squib was a small firecracker, a damp squib is one that doesn't go off) so I guess they saying means that you are not firing well.

he's got the Darling pea :behave strangely (it's a plant that causes some strange behavior mainly in animals that eat it)

Sapodilla

Fruit look like potatoes but have light brown soft very sweet flesh. Flesh is sometimes gritty and contains black seeds. Ripe fruit taste like sweetened cooked pear. Very hardy Subtropical fruit tree.

Black Sapote

Closely related to the Persimmon this attractive glossy foliaged tree produces a fruit often called the 'Chocolate Pudding Fruit'. Delicious when eaten as a desert with cream and a touch of Rum or vanilla.

Up next: The Great Murray- Houseboat Loungin'