People of Singapore

Whether they are working on a construction site high up in the city, cooking up a storm, waiting for a meal, having a smoko break, just walking down the street or resting after a hard day in the saddle; they make very interesting and diverse pictures don't they?

Wordless Wednesday

Old houses and buildings in the Adelaide Hills

I recently took a road trip around the Adelaide Hills. I came across some amazing old buildings, some still habitable, some not and some, I am not quite sure, but all of them with character.

Right in the middle of the supposedly fastest growing town in South Australia, Mt Barker, was a strangely majestic sandstone building which looked to me as if it had once been a stable, or perhaps even partly living quarters.

It sat high on the hill, with an aura of authority as it looked down on the town, knowingly watching it grow. If only those wall could speak … the stories they could tell. Sitting beside it was an old rusted plough … amazing feeling about the place. I would have loved to walk inside and feel the aura; but the barbed wire fence surrounding it made it reasonably clear that that would not be welcome.
I do, however, intend to check it out again next visit. It sits on the hill in a large paddock, in the middle of a new subdivision on the outskirts of Mt Barker - Mt Barker Heights? - in splendid isolation definitely oozing authority. Below and around it are many modern homes and even the odd McMansion, but it has not an air of being threatened. And I hope it stays that way.
Bit of history …

What is today known as Mount Barker was first sighted by Captain Sturt from Lake Alexandrina in February 1830, though Sturt believed he was looking at Mount Lofty, which Flinders had discovered in 1802. Captain Collett Barker rectified this error when he undertook a survey of the district in 1831. Sturt renamed the mountain in honour of Captain Barker who was killed by Aborigines while exploring near the mouth of the River Murray later that year.

When I first drove through Mt Barker I decided that it may be a town with a long and venerable history. From memory, the sign at the beginning of the main street said “Historic Gawler Street” – that was a fair warning! The town centre has many historic buildings nestled beside modern ones, including the inevitable Maccas (it’s not exactly nestled, rather standing out there on it’s own with a surrounding carpark!) and new shopping centres. Historic Gawler Street does, however, have some old time buildings that work and blend well.

Captain Sturt reported favourably on the agricultural potential of the area, with rich soils and luxuriant native pastures of the surrounding undulating hills and plains, but it was not until the late 1830s that this area was explored further. The first Special Survey of the Mount Barker District was opened to prospective buyers in March, 1840. Land was cleared and the rich agricultural land was developed for grazing and crop production. In February 1840 the proposed layout of the township of Mount Barker was announced.

Moving into the closer suburbs you will come across a large number of mostly, well kept and renovated old homes. These vary from tiny workmen’s cottages to large estate homes.

Driving out of town towards the Laratinga Wetlands, I glanced left at an empty block and there sat what in it’s youth would have been a stately home. It took me a few dead ends to try and find my way, through the new developments, to the rear of the home, to discover that serious renovation was taking place there. I returned to the original viewing position and discovered that a closer look showed me that the main roof had already been replaced and that the bull-nosed iron on the verandah would be next in line as that is part of what was being done at the rear. I wonder if the vacant land in front of that beautiful old house will become a new subdivision soon.

That cappuccino I had planned for at Hahndorf would have to wait until the next day, because I had taken too long looking at “just down the next street.” I did however get one in Mt Barker at Giovanni Pizza.

Next day I was travelling along the (old) Princes Highway, near Nairne in the Hills, and right there on the side of the road was another old sandstone building. After turning around and returning to the safer, other side of the road and pulling off to a safe parking spot, I took some photos of another building from the past.
More barbed wire to keep the adventurous out, some reinforcement to prevent further deterioration and there was a sign above what was probably, in its heyday, the front door.

St James School 1848. Could this one’s walls tell some stories!

Nairne was one of South Australia's earliest settlements, founded by Matthew Smillie, who named the town after the maiden name of his wife Elizabeth Corse Nairne. Established in 1839, it is only three years younger than the state of South Australia.

So this old building was there almost at the beginning.

Back in the car and not much further on some buildings once again caught my eye.



Hardly any room at all to get off the road, so pictures were captured hurriedly.

An old farmhouse, which has obviously had some reasonably recent additions, in the form of pine lattice work. There is character in those, what would appear to some to be absolutely ramshackle, buildings. It gets quite cold in that part of the world. I could almost feel that lazy wind whistling past there in the middle of winter. Brrrr!

Can you also notice how dry the paddocks beyond are? It is still drought in that part of the country.

Adelaide

Adelaide is a well set out city.

The Bicentennial Conservatory in the Adelaide Botanical Gardens

South Australia was proclaimed in December 1836, and in 1837 Col Light in his plan of Adelaide showed an area set aside for a botanic garden. In April 1855, George Francis was appointed Superintendent, and the garden was opened to the public in 1857. In planning the layout, Francis is said to have been influenced by those at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in England and Versailles in France, together with certain German and Dutch stylistic influences. Even today, the Adelaide Botanic Garden has a northern European style, also reflected in its nineteenth century buildings.

Even in the present time of drought it is a 30-hectare garden oasis in the cosmopolitan heart of Adelaide city.

Built to celebrate Australia’s Bicentenary, in1988, is the largest single span conservatory in the southern hemisphere. Designed by South Australian architect Guy Maron, the building is curvilinear in shape, 100 metres long, 47 metres wide and 27 metres high. An elegant steel superstructure supports the 2434 square metres of toughened glass which forms the roof, walls and doors. Its glistening and distinctive shape is a landmark particularly for visitors flying into Adelaide.

It houses a display of lowland tropical rainforest plants from northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and the nearby Pacific Islands. Many of these plants are at risk or endangered in their natural habitats.

A lower walkway winds across the undulating forest floor and an upper walkway takes visitors among the canopy of tropical trees and palms. Both walkways have full wheelchair access.

I have included some photos of the Bicentennial Conservatory.

If you visit Adelaide, try to make a visit.

Melbourne ... in a hurry

After your arrival at Melbourne (Tullamarine) airport, if the chauffeured limousine is not available today to collect you, catch a red Skybus Super Shuttle which operates a 24 hour, 7 days a week express service between the airport and the Melbourne CBD at Southern Cross Station near the corner of Little Bourke and Spencer Street. From the CBD terminal mini-buses operate between the there and over 120 hotels throughout central Melbourne.

If you just have a short time to visit, or need to park some luggage for a while, there are reasonably priced and sized luggage lockers available at Southern Cross Station, right where you get off the Skybus, or further up in the main railway concourse.

There are several ticket options available, including options with a 2 hour or daily Metcard ticket included, which you can use for public transport in the city. Check with the ticket booth for the option that suits you best. Old Fartz, check your entitlements too – ask and you may receive; don’t ask and no-one will tell you.

It is a fast and affordable transfer option, taking just 20 minutes for the journey. Buses depart every 10 - 15 minutes between 6am and 9.30pm and at 30 minute and 60 minute intervals at other times.

Melbourne is an easy city to explore. It has an excellent network of trams, buses and trains that cover the whole metropolitan area and beyond. Timetables, route maps and fares are available via the Metlink website.

http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/

The Melbourne trams are a much loved part of the city landscape. For a very modest fare visitors can spend the entire day on the trams exploring the city and inner suburbs.

National Geographic lists the 96 tram from East Brunswick to St Kilda as one of their recommended journeys; so if you have the time, travel at least some of the journey. You can join the tram just across the road from Southern Cross Station, in Bourke Street, up the hill for East Brunswick or down the hill for St Kilda is the easiest description, but ask someone to direct you if needed.

The 96 starts its travels in the northern suburb of East Brunswick, currently just about the most fashionable hipster area in the city. Stroll over to parallel Lygon Street if you want to indulge in some culinary indulgences.

On its trip southward, the 96 skims the edge of Fitzroy – previous contender for most fashionable hipster area – and if you hop off at Johnston Street you can wander through the Spanish district to its heart, Brunswick Street. Otherwise, take a look out to the right as the tram passes the Carlton Gardens, home to the disconcertingly opulent Victorian-era Exhibition Building or its contrastingly modern neighbour, the Melbourne Museum. It then travels sedately past the steps of Parliament House, and along Bourke Street, downtown’s main artery and shopping strip. I got off here for a coffee at Café Felice at 461 Bourke (nice Queensland Di Bella coffee) and a look at the Mall.

At the south end of the city centre, the 96 turns east (at Southern Cross Station) over the river and past Crown Casino, where some of your fellow passengers will alight, tempted by poker machines and cheap booze. Don’t be tempted! Stay on board and you’ll leave the city streets, past the old brick tea house and turn on to a disused rail line, a treat for public transport followers.

South Melbourne station is the stop for the South Melbourne Markets, where you can while away an hour or two tasting produce and buying ridiculously cute cupcakes.

You will rejoin street traffic at St Kilda, where you can enjoy the slightly shabby art deco buildings, take a ride on a 1912 rollercoaster at Luna Park

or have a paddle at St Kilda beach, and terminates at Acland Street, home to some of the city’s cafe and cake establishments.

Do NOT Despair

The new buzz term for old fartz goes something like this:


Fabulous, fit and fifty.


But under no circumstances forget the next one - svelte, sexy and sixty

Joys of Local Language Skills

Having skills in another language is both good and not so good.

I have vivid memories of screwing up over over the words for “wind” and “dog” in bahasa indonesian while still a beginner in the language .......it translated as “the dog coming through the window” when it should have been “the wind” an anjing [ dog] rather than “angin” [wind].

But being back on Bintan Island where Indonesian is widely spoken by the staff at the hotels, and with my now reasonably competent Indonesian language skills has great opportunities for rapport with the staff. That sort of rapport does help.

Indonesians generally seem to mix and enjoy interacting with Australians at the direct personal level. They enjoy a laugh and a joke, as well as a bit of repartee, even taking the mickey out of one another. That was quite a common theme when working in the country with my direct work contact staff.

But even at the hotel, a smile, local language exchange and they accept you more readily.

I guess the theme applies more widely, across many countries.

But Indonesia and Australia have definitely not always been such great buddies historically over the past 50 years. Yet in a wider historical context, there has been contact between Makassan traders and north Australia for about 400 plus years. The aboriginal word for white man is mostly “balanda”, a term thought to have come from the Makassans, who used it to refer to the white skinned Dutch.

But for travel around the region, Indonesian language which can substitue mostly for Malay as well, covers maybe 300 million people. A lot more than Australia.

It has been a useful skill to have acquired.......and getting a chance to practice is a lot of fun too, especially with the travel.