SOME DISCOVERIES DURING MY FIRST WEEK in my home city where I was schooled, completed two undergraduate degrees , did Seminary and so on.
Once again I was amazed in the experience of opening the case I had packed and left here almost a year ago.. Who was this person who packed these things? What could have been in his mind at the time? And amost, Was this really me? A little like Rip vanWinkle waking up after an eleven-month sleep or a seaman after a yearlong voyage around the world. Note to Robert: next time, write down everything you pack and leave behind!
Luckily, my week of organizing myself included being able to watch the third CricketTestMatch between South Africa and Australia. Astonishing and puzzling as I know this to be for North Americans, these tests last for several days. No doubt at all but that cricket is a brutal and elegant game and no wonder it is played by 106 nations. Ony the major tests are so long, most games are much shorter, down to a day, The first two Tests resulted in draws but this time, the South African soundly trounced us, confirming their place as the top cricketing nation at the current time.
I have also discovered that we South Aussies have now caught up with West Australians as the most obese in the nation, threatening even the US, at about 61% of the population being outside the healthy weight range. But this may be related to the overall urban sprawl and poor public transport system that appears to require 81% of folk to drive to their workplace. Inevitably, I compare Adelaide with my other most favorite city (Portland, Ore), of a similar populaton but the only western US city to have contained its size as population grew.
For me, public transport in this city works really well but I do not have to travel to work each day. Like all Adelaidians, I love this city (more of us love our city than in any other city of Australia) and this has much to do with the charm of the central ciy which is one mile square and surrounded by parklands. Designed by an uban planning genius, William Light, it has broad streets and five spacious squares within one of which the founder is buried (guess the name of this square? Light Square!).
Broad streets mean wide sidewalks with plenty of room for restaurants a la terrace. Given the enormous racial mix of Aussies, this means one can dine on just about any cuisine from every part of the world. Oh yes, and then there is that delightful Aussie custom of the BYO (Bring Your Own wine or beer). The waiter will open the bottle for a very small charge, or even none at all. And wait for it...NO TIPPING!
Speaking of wine and beer, Adelaide has some great breweries...my favorite beer being Cooper's. As for wine, there are thousands of acres to the North and South of the urban sprawl that vintage according to many persuasions. chiefly German and Italian. I think it to be a fact that 70% of red wine produced in Australia is grown here...now tht is a lot of wine! The whites are excellent also and with all this sun, finish out very dry or can be transmuted to wonderful dessert wines
What I like about this time of the year is the flowering of the thousands of jacarandah trees so I have included photos of the streets, off which my daughter and her family live.
Well, you can see I am proud of my home city. It has amazing charm and is quite unlike the big cities like Melbourne and Sydney or even Perth to the West. However, it has to be admitted that the Summers are dry and very hot; this is a sunburnt country and land of sweeping plains, after all. To compensate, we have hills bounding the city to the East and wonderful, long sandy beaches to the West so that, in many respects it is like San Francisco, only pretty flat, with a climate almost an exact match. Only, no Bay and no Bridge.
Were I to remain after mid-January I might not be so gung-ho arount the weather as it really warms up as we go into February. Autumn and Spring are the best times to come, I'll bet that if you first came to Sydney and then on to Adelaide (not a bad idea as Adelaide is a gateway to Asia), Adelaide is the city that would be on your repeat list.
But I am not the tourist. This is a time to see my grandchildren and older family, to ensure maintenance on my sister's home (looks like I will really complete the three year maintenance targets I have set for her house), to cycle, walk about, and, this year for sure, do the beach, and just enjoy the company of the pleasant folk who live in this town and seem to be the happiest, friendliest, and most friendly folk for whom one might wish.
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