Visit to the Southern Vales

In dire need for rest and recuperation after starting a new job , I traveled down to Adelaide for a long weekend. Barbara picked me up, breakfast at the Adelaide Central Market and then a trip to Iron Bank to visit her parents. Max senior is still very unwell so it was good to chat to him again. Then we gathered up her sisters and had a great few hours visiting the Southern Vales wineries, including Tapestry,Hugo's, Chapel Hill and Wirra Wirra.



Christine's husband Stan and Joanne's Wayne,joined us for a meal at the Three Brothers Arms Hotel at Macclesfield which I have wanted to try for years.

Then a mad game of pool at Stan and Christine's




Sunday we took Max jnr. and Chloe to Glenelg.


They enjoyed riding a camel and pony respectively


On Monday before I traveled back to Adelaide we had lunch at Millies Cafe in Mt Barker. Clearly young Chloe enjoyed her sausage roll and sauce!!

and then met elder son Dave for a meal before a late night flight getting home at 3 am!

Mindil Beach Market on again

Mindil beach has fired up again. On Thursday night I took a quick look (There were 15,000 people there then!) before going to a gallery opening of an exhibition of "Imagine the Art of John Lennon" See these links for information. and another link (Paranoid about being sued by Yoko!!)
I joined Hughie there again tonight.. again busy with a large crowd and heaps of colour and photo opportunities. There was a chap who we have seen before who walks around with a Black Cockatoo and the usual busker's.

Frog goes Polo

Hugh noticed this Green Tree frog on the roof of his car tonight so I grabbed my macro lens and got a few nice shots.

Busy two days talking about the library renovations

Today was the second day of Karen and I talking with the design team for the renovations of the Casuarina Library.I invited Cecilia, the interior design consultant and her partner Phil, the architect, to join me for a meal at the Darwin Sailing Club tonight to enjoy a dry season sunset.

The Library Monitor...

Library staff were asked to check out a beast in the children's area of the Casuarina Library this week.A mum thought she saw a snake coiled up amongst the books. It was actually a goanna (although more specifically a Tree Monitor, we think.) This is Rosario our Childrens and Youth Services Librarian,who calmly managed the situation


After the photo shoot we put it in a tree in the library car park

Visitors from down south.. David and Neville

My good friend and neighbor David Parkinson from Redwood Park,


South Australia came up to Darwin this week to fish with his friend Neville Whitehair from Whyalla. They stayed with Hugh and I.


On Saturday, Marty, the partner of a workmate of mine.Marty took them out in his boat and they had a leisurely day out with some success.


On the Sunday they enjoyed as did I a trip to Fogg Dam.




On the Monday and Tuesday it was out on the charter boats with mixed success.


On a Equinox Charter, Dave caught a Black Jewfish (aka black jew; black mulloway; blotched jew; mulloway; northern mulloway; spotted croaker; spotted jew; spotted jewfish)

See this link for more on the species

Dragonfly at Fannie Bay

The lawns and bushes at the Darwin Sailing Club were teeming with dragonfly who herald mot locals will tell you, the beginning of the Dry


For more information on Dragonfly see this link