We had a nice relaxing time this morning around a very large, indulgent breakfast, consisting of fruit, bacon and eggs, toast and jam, and coffee… lovely! By the time we finished it was lunchtime, and we went for a drive to a place called Waterfall Gully in the Adelaide Hills.
This is us in front of it. Me, Deidre, Janet and Deidre’s dad, Norm.
From there we went to the Mt Lofty lookout, which had a lovely view of the Adelaide plains. The city centre is right there in the middle of the view.
Here’s a closeup of the city centre.
Me with Adelaide behind me.
Deidre and I.
We had an ice cream in the cafe afterwards, and here’s Deidre looking very relaxed. Yes, it’s true. No more work problems, and we’re actually on holiday!
On the way back to Deidre’s dad’s place, we went down a street that was very familiar to me. In fact, a place I worked at was on that street – Kirby.
Ahh, memories… I was surprised to see that it was empty of parked cars. It should have had a few there on a Sunday, unless it had closed down. I’ll have to check that up on the internet later, and see if they’re still in business.
I’ve been in Adelaide for only 26 hours now, and already, the memories. It’s a pretty city, but I haven’t had a chance to show you much of that yet. Tomorrow will be a different story though. Deidre and I are going into the city early in the morning, around 9:30, and will be exploring some of the city. I’m looking forward to seeing Rundle Mall and Hindley Street…
My earliest memories of my childhood include staying at a hotel on Hindley Street, back when it was almost family friendly. I remember we had dinner at some cafe, and there was an old homeless guy sifting through the few coins he had, looking for some money to buy something to eat. Thirty years ago, this was before drug addicts and victims of a welfare society. Homeless men were, in Australia, known as ‘swagmen’ ’cause they carried a swag around with them, which was a rolled up sleeping mat and waterproof blanket.
Waltzing Matilda, a great Aussie song, is about a swagman… “Once a jolly swagman, camped by a billabong, under the shade of a coolibah tree…” A billabong is a pool of water, and a coolibah tree… is a tree.
Anyway, back to the swagman in this cafe… Dad, who used to work with swagmen as he was a bit of a bushie at the time (a bushie is someone who works in the bush, on the outback), felt sorry for him and when the swagman was at the counter counting out his coins for some food, dad left a $20 note underneath the man’s packet of biscuits, and then we left.
I always remembered that, and wondered about the swagman’s reactions when he found the $20 under the biscuits, looking around the cafe and then, when no one acknowledged his startled look, wondering if an angel left him the gift.
All of us can be angels to someone else.
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