February and March are Festival months in Adelaide. And one of the most popular festivals is the Adelaide Fringe Festival (started in 1960 as an alternative to the more establishment Adelaide Festival of Arts). This used to be one of my favourite times of year, but alas work and family (and the overall lack of funds due to saving up for our upcoming trip to Japan) all have precluded us from enjoying it.
One of the exceptions to this is the Garden of Unearthly Delights.... a somewhat colourfully named addendum to the festival that has become both a focus for family fun during the day, and a full-on venue for all sorts of delights in the evening.
Now today I wasn't going to post about the Festival Fringe... but I do encourage you to go if you get to Adelaide around this time of year. No... I had much more mundane things to write about. My fear of heights. I've become increasingly stressed by heights over the last few years - but I've come to realise just how debilitating that is when you have children. Case in point. Last year we went to the Garden of Unearthly Delights and there was an old clunker of a ferris wheel that L-kun just couldn't stop raving about. Unfortunately - and this gives you a hint of one of the sources of my phobia - all I could see was the countless holes that my then 3yo could fall out of. Unfortunately he missed out on riding the ferris wheel... though Daddy was a little relieved. Phobia's generally relate back to anxiety at it's root - the anxiety of losing something, including control. And I have to admit that I'm kind of an anxious parent. And yes, I know it's not a good thing - especially if you impart that anxiety onto your child. Hence this challenge...
This year that old clunker was going to be defeated, and the monkey was coming off my back.
With a small wait, L-kun and Daddy jumped on board... I was kinda curious to see how L-kun would react. Would he be afraid... would he be laughing? Would he decide to get up and jump about (giving Daddy a heart-attack). Luckily there was none of that. He took it all in his step - but did manage to say to Daddy, "Don't step off Daddy, that would hurt". Thanks L-kun. Advice heeded. And in the end, the ride was a piece of cake. Actually - the funny thing is that I'm not at all scared of heights... I guess I'm just scared of falling. Having avoided falling, everything was good. ?;-)
So having bested the Wheel of Death (really - it's a baby ferris wheel), L-kun and I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the park. It's not the ideal place for kids - although there are a few attractions of older kids there. It's mostly a place to hang out, have something to eat, see a show, and have a few drinks whilst waiting for the evening entertainment to start. Still, it was fun, and L-kun and I enjoyed a go on the Dodgem Cars... though he didn't particularly enjoy the impression he was doing of a bobble-head.
So if you're in Adelaide over February or March, see a show, and if you've got kids, taken them to the Garden and have a bit of fun. Hopefully next year will be better weather (this was the best couple of days for quite a while). It's definitely more mainstream these days, and indeed a lot more commercial (and expensive). Thankfully however it's a good free afternoon in the city.
And the days are counting down before T-chan and L-kun head off for Japan... and we're all getting a little stressed about how poorly prepared we are. Still. Gotta make the most of the remaining time. Which kinda explains why my posts have been drying up of late. Gomen ne!
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