Adelaide

   Doortje and I set off for Adelaide on Wednesday, 30th February, to spend time catching up with John and Sue at Hawthorndene and Circosis at the Adelaide Fringe Festival.  We spent a night at Naracoorte and arrived at John's on Thursday afternoon.

   John and Sue arranged for us to go to the Wittunga Under the Stars event in nearby Blackwood on Friday night.

 

   The stage was set among gum trees and we took folding chairs to listen to the various groups.  I liked the trad jazz ensemble and the youthful quartet, The Bearded Gypsy, who featured violin and nice guitar.

We enjoyed a glass of red as the sun began to set...

...but the absolute highlight of the evening was the fantastic pasties that John had made specially for the occasion.  We ate them cold and the flavour and pastry were superb.

   On Saturday, we continued to enjoy the bird life on the back deck and Jan and Ebony, down from Port Pirie, came for a visit.  In the late afternoon, we all joined up with Jason, Deb and Brooke at the Bakehouse Theatre in the city to see Andrew and Sarah's final performance of A Circus Affair.

   In Thursday's Adelaide Advertiser, a centre spread about the Fringe had as its centrepiece a Circosis photo and a review with three stars.  Andrew and Sarah were tickled pink and the Saturday night was a sell-out!  We all enjoyed the show immensely and were very proud.

   After the show, we went to Alfonso's in Hutt Street, quite near the theatre, for a meal together, the South Australian branch of Cookmob, plus Circosis and the "roadies" Baba and Ilsa. 

   On Sunday, we all met up again at Andrew and Sarah's digs on the beachfront at West Beach, and then went off to lunch at the nearby Ramsgate Hotel.  In this pic are Jason, Deb, Sue, Ebony and Andrew.

   Seated for lunch at the Ramsgate, proud parents talking to Andrew and Sarah, Deb and Jason at the end, then Ebony and Jan, and Sue in the foreground, photo taken by John.

   On Sunday night, Doortje and I were able to stay in the house at West Beach with Andrew and Sarah, since Baba and Ilsa left on the Ghan to Alice at mid-day and their bedroom was spare.  This was the view of the foreshore from the bedroom window.  

   With Andrew and Sarah, we went into the city to see a couple of fringe shows - Leo, rated five stars, and Benny B, a friend of Andrew and Sarah, whose show was Snarp!  Later we had a nice meal, which included goat, at a Henley Beach Indian restaurant.

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   We started the homeward trek on Monday, travelling via Victor Harbour and Goolwa, where we had lunch near the bridge to Hindmarsh Island.  Before it was built, the proposed bridge caused extreme friction between Indigenous groups and became a political football involving sacred sites and pro-development politicians.  Look who won!

   We crossed the Murray on the Wellington punt, drove along the Coorong (now full of water) got past some Limestone Coast wineries, and then went across country to Horsham, where all motels were fully booked for the Horsham Field Days.  We drove on to Stawell.  Same story, but after driving around in circles in the dark, we were told there was a vacancy at the Magdala Motel back on the western outskirts.  They were so obliging they cooked us a meal at 8.45pm!

   And so, on Tuesday we arrived home after a few marvellous days.  Thanks to John and Sue for great hospitality,  Jason, Deb and Brooke, Jan and Ebony, for joining us to make the weekend memorable, and Andrew and Sarah for a wonderful show.

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