The Tour Returns

[This is most definitely a blog for cycling fans only! Steve rolls his eyes at the mere mention of the race and I know that many friends are puzzled as to why I get so excited about it.] 

The Tour Down Under returned to South Australia after a Covid-caused hiatus of two years. This was the fifth time I've been to watch it. Unlike the time when Kate and Kim visited in 2018 and the temperature soared to 43°C, today, grey clouds scudded across the sky, a fierce wind whipped the trees into a frenzy, the sun was sulking, and the temperature had dropped alarmingly and I had to venture into the winter wardrobe for a jumper. 

My friend Sandy and I had arranged to go together, and the day before, we poured over a map of the route to see the best place to view the race. Luckily for us, not far from her house was a roundabout around which the cyclists would go and then, an hour later, emerge a little further up the road and back round the roundabout and into town. So we would see them twice - the only section of the entire 159km route when this would occur. We decided to forgo the finish line (and the crowds) and reckoned seeing them twice was a bonus.

So we both started watching the race on television at our homes. 

The race started in Brighton then turned towards the coast, through part of the McLaren Vale wine region, then headed south. Armchair watching was great. Spectators lined the route, with everyone trying to spot the best place to be to catch the action. A friend of Steve's from the South Coast Camera Club decided that watching the cyclists cross the Myponga dam wall was a good a place as any, and here is his spectacular shot. I've inserted it here because I love the photo. 

Thanks to Gary Davies, South Coast Camera Club

And then he got very creative, and as my photos are not nearly as exciting I've included this one too. 

Anyway, after watching the race on television for a couple of hours I arrived at Sandy's house at the pre-arranged time of 1:45, and off we went accompanied by her husband to the roundabout just down the road. Once there we established ourselves by the side of the road. But after a lot of thought we decided to move from our initial spot because we thought that over the road gave us a better view. I hoped we were right.

Two excited spectators.

The crowds were beginning to gather.

 

This road would soon be wall-to-wall with cyclists.

Excitement grew as the caravan of sponsors' cars went by. How could you not smile at these papier-maché figures?

Anticipation mounted as the scheduled time for the cyclists' arrival came and went.  And suddenly, police cars whizzed by, sirens sounding. Tour Down Under official cars swept by. Finally, the drone of the helicopter signalled that the peleton was finally approaching. 

And here they come. Could we get any more excited??? And how do those photographers manage while hanging off the back of the motorbike with the camera on their shoulders and holding a microphone? 

The cyclists don't even lose speed as they gracefully navigate the curve, their wheels whirring like a buzzing swarm of bees. Camera at the ready, I aim and press the button.

These guys are certainly concentrating on what's ahead of them.

Still they come. They sure are speeding. While the camera freeze-frames them, they are actually hurtling along. At that speed it's hard to pick an individual out and I didn't really recognise anyone, but afterwards I identified that the cyclist on the far right in the yellow and black colours was Rohan Dennis, the eventual winner (and an Adelaide boy!). 

Here's the last of them, followed by another cameraman you can just see poking up behind them in his orange vest.

And then they were gone - it took all of 5 seconds. 

Gathering our belongings, we headed across the road to find a suitable spot for 'Viewing Number 2'. We had at least an hour while the riders tackled Nettle Hill before they headed back our way towards Victor Harbor and the finish line. We couldn't believe how quickly the time had gone when, amazingly, we heard the police car and sirens and then the helicopter. People across the way who could see down the road were suddenly on full alert so we knew the peleton was very close.

Five riders sweep past before I have my camera ready.

But not long after, the main peleton arrives. 

We were pretty sure there were more to come. And yes - two more bunches of riders a few minutes apart. Nettle Hill had split the peleton with the best climbers out in front; the five leading riders I missed were the eventual place getters. So we now had seen four groups pass by.

We were pretty sure there must be some stragglers as the police had not opened the road, and sure enough after 3 or 4 minutes, the last of the peleton passed us, on their way to the finish line in Victor Harbor. 

And it was homeward bound for us. Until next year ...

My friend Fred was at the finishing line and presentation marquee and shared these photos with me. Thanks Fred!!! 

Celebrations

Happy New Year to everyone, especially my loyal readers - Maggie, Lorraine and Colin, Renee, Kim, and Lynda plus everyone else who reads it when I prompt them to. I'm hoping that this year will be freer and healthier than the last one. And please -  some normal seasonal weather.  I reckon last year's summer morphed into a winter that lasted well into December, bypassing autumn and spring entirely! 

Celebrations were put on hold early December when I came down with the flu after my Melbourne trip, and had to cancel a few Christmas lunches. Decorations went up and I use that term loosely - not for us the flashing lights, Christmas wreaths and huge Christmas tree. Instead, we have a slim artificial table-top tree that stands about 60 cms from the base to the holy koala that sits atop and which I bought in Fitzroy, making it almost 25 years old. 

In the entrance hall I threw a few silver beads across the table and arranged my collection of Father Christmases. I especially love the bakelite Santa in his sleigh that mum always put on top of the Christmas cake she faithfully baked each year in November. Hmmm - a tradition sadly no more in our household. But I celebrate by placing this decoration front and centre.  It must be at least 60 years old if not more.  And that's it for decorations.

We had friends around for a Christmas Eve drink in the afternoon and that put us in the mood for the evening's performance - our FaceTimed concert with Sharon in Perth and Kate and Kim in Melbourne with Steve and me in South Australia. It's an annual affair that always has its surprises. 

This year, I played Oh Christmas Tree on the recorder and it is a truism that you simply cannot laugh and play at the same time - a result of the laughter I distinctly heard coming from Perth and Melbourne. Steve played Go Tell it on the Mountain on the clarinet - a bravura performance as he had only practised a few times. Kate and Kim sang Oh What a Beautiful Morning from Oklahoma as they tugged on pretend reins and looked around them at the imaginary countryside. And, in what I thought was an amazing coincidence, Sharon sang Oklahoma in front of the videos she had taken of all the wheatfields she had passed when she was in the wheatbelt for work during the year. Kate did a veritable tour de force dressed in a crepe paper outfit and toting a furled umbrella (gun) as she sang You Cain't Get a Man with a Gun from Annie Get Your Gun.  After all this merriment, the evening's talent collapsed into a karaoke session that lasted for another hour! We were all exhausted but happy, fuelled no doubt by the cocktails we had drunk. 

Sharon and Kim enthralled by my performance.

I'm reciting a poem and Sharon and Kate join in.

And so to Christmas Day. A quiet affair with just Steve and me. Present opening showed us how wonderful friends and family are when they give you such thoughtful presents (books, liquor, face creams, body creams, hand creams, an apron, favourite sweets - and a hedger!). Lunch was crayfish, prawns and salads. The afternoon was spent in a walk to the beach and a nap. Dinner was leftovers.

Looking festive though Steve refused to put his sandals on.

Putting my hedger to work on Boxing Day. 

A couple of days of rest and then it was celebratory time once more. My birthday. Let's forget the number and concentrate on the fun. I had lots of phone calls from friends and family and then we headed off to our favourite restaurant Thai Days in Goolwa. Always lovely food. Steve had asked for a window seat when he booked, saying it was for my birthday. But it was a lovely surprise when, at the end of our meal, they delivered a champagne glass of icecream, cream and strawberry syrup to me, saying 'Happy Birthday from us'.  

My birthday photo - at least Steve has his shoes on! 

Massaman curry - so tasty.

A delicious surprise.

And now to New Years Eve. Our celebrations were so low-key as to be almost non-existent. I made a mojito cocktail, we had a roast chicken and I made a Norwegian Meringue Cake that has to be the sickliest (though incredibly yummy) dessert I have ever made - think two layers of a meringue topped slab cake smothered in a honey, cinnamon and cream custard then drizzled over with more custard, honey and almond flakes. I will never make it again.  We were asleep by 11 o'clock. 

Terrific but calorific.

You may have noticed a preponderance of photos of Steve and me together in this blog, something we rarely have. I decided to get out the tiny tripod and attach it to my camera, set the timer, and race over to position myself next to Steve before the camera clicked. I always think the photos never look that natural, but, you work with what you've got!  Here's our New Year's photo.

So, Happy New Year. Let's hope there's more travelling in 2023. I'm already planning on another Melbourne visit to celebrate Kate's 50th birthday in September.  Stay tuned.

Melbourne Meals, Memories and Mayhem

Off to Melbourne

Back in August I booked a trip on The Overland train to Melbourne for November. I hadn't visited Kate or Kim for over three years so was looking forward to it immensely. I picked up the train in Murray Bridge (just over an hour from home ) taking a couple of hours off the almost 11-hour journey from Adelaide. [I have cheated with this photo from Wikipedia as it shows the train chugging out of Adelaide]. At Murray Bridge the train pulled into the station, an attendant jumped out, called the name of each of the six passengers who were getting on with me, gave us a seat number and took our luggage. How easy was that! 

How I love train travel. The rhythm of the rails rocked me gently into a restful repose as we passed by the bloated Murray River, through rain-soaked pastures and onto the Victorian border. We sped up. I ate my picnic lunch. I read. I closed my eyes for a brief nap. And then... a thunderstorm. We slowed down to a crawl. And then... a lightening strike that took out all the oncoming signals. We stopped - for an hour. Gone was my feeling of contentment and the joy of watching the countryside roll past. Finally on our way again, passing through Nhill, Dimboola, Horsham, Stawell, Ararat and finally Geelong. I arrived almost 90 minutes behind schedule, but luckily daylight saving meant it was still light at 8 o'clock. Time for a yummy meal at Kate and Kim's local Taiwanese restaurant.

At home with Kate and Kim

Staying with Kate and Kim was a delight. Their Art Deco apartment is comfortable and tastefully decorated. 

Dinner in the courtyard was a suitably delicious meal. 

Out and about

The next day it was off to the Prahan Markets. What fun we had. 

I became addicted to a Turkish flatbready-y item called gozleme and a Greek custard slice. 

Here is the lady in the process of making the gozleme. 

And here it is - a lamb and herb gozleme with a cashew and pumpkin salad. (No sighting of the Greek custard slice because it didn't stick around long enough to pose for a photo!) 

I always buy a jam when I'm away and wasted no time in picking up a Rhubarb and Cinnamon one I spotted. Then it was off to Essential Ingredient, an over-priced but wonderful emporium of kitchen gadgets, utensils, crockery, spices, oils, flours, and sweets! We spent hours ooh-ing and ahh-ing and buying!

On the way home we felt the need for a pick-up - especially as Kate had forgotten her keys and we had to wait for Kim to come and rescue us. Honey, cinnamon sticks and star anise were a nice touch.

Another day we trained to Coburg to the A1 Bakery where we had a delicious lunch surrounded by the gorgeous fragrant Middle Eastern bakery smells. I loved this community garden we passed on the way.

  

One day I explored my old Fitzroy haunts but some of the shops I remember had gone and, to me, there was an air of neglect about the whole place. I guess Covid has really knocked it about though the cafes and restaurants seemed to be doing ok. In the city I popped into the ever-reliable Book Grocer and bought two 1930s Golden Age of Crime Detection books from two authors I had never heard of but who were as popular as Agatha Christie back then. On Saturday afternoon I went to the movies with friend Michael. He had already seen, but knew I would love, the documentary 'Lost Melbourne',  a rather sad look at all Melbourne's gracious Victorian/goldrush buildings that were demolished in the 1950s because they looked oldfashioned. Evidently, the arrival of TV and then the Melbourne Olympics coming up made the city look dreary and they needed to modernise, so they started to knock buildings down and replace them with square glass structures.  It was great photography and commentary and ended on a positive note by showing all the buildings that had thankfully escaped the wreckers' ball.

I liked the flowers outside the Town Hall, and the toy soldier lent a festive air to the mall.

Weather Alert

And then the holiday took a turn for the worse as the temperature plummeted. It rained, the wind blew and I froze - as the forecast had been for humid and warm weather my wardrobe was understandably on the summery side. I had to make do with Kate's hoodie and tracksuit pants for the rest of my holiday. Of course Kim compensated by making me the best omelette ever and a yummy cocktail. 

And some more goodies.

The holiday ended with the purchase of a new little kitten - named Buster - a real cutie who nearly came home in my luggage.

Homeward Bound

But fate wasn't done with me yet. I arrived at the station at 7:00am with a number of other bewildered souls to discover that there was to be no train. It took ages to work out what was going on - evidently some people had been notified by the rail company that flooding had caused a derailment and the track was not repaired at this time and that we were going home by coach!!!! I had not received an email so had no idea that I could have altered my ticket and stayed a few more days. It was freezing on the platform and we were to stand around for another two hours while the rail company got organised. 

The decision was made to take everyone who was going directly to Adelaide in one coach and those who were getting off on the way (that is, me) on a second coach. And therein lay the seeds for my eventual flu. My coach stopped at every stop along the way, driving into each town, making sure there was no-one at any of the railway stations (even stopping for 20 minutes for a no-show). And then we had to stop to buy lunch then afternoon refreshments and the whole trip took simply ages. The airconditioning was freezing and all I had was a cardigan. No wonder I shivered. The only bright spot was that no-one sat next to me. Poor old Steve had been patiently waiting for me at the station for over 2 hours. The returned traveller was tired, cold, exhausted and annoyed. Hmmm. I will not be doing that again anytime soon. And then I was struck down with the flu and am still recovering! Bah humbug. 

Kate sent me a photo of Buster yesterday. What a sweetie.