Anstey Hill... Adeventures Of A Dinsosaur Hunter

Today was a beautiful Winter's Day in Adelaide... though it only reached 15 degrees (or thereabouts). It was fine, and not even a breeze. Well, as we'd all been cooped up inside for too long, we decided to go out for the afternoon. And to my surprise, L-kun wanted to go bush-walking.  I decided we'd have a look at Anstey Hill Recreation Park, one that we'd not been to before. So off we went... looking for adventure.

The park itself can be found at the end of Lower North East Road and Grand Junction Roads, in the foothills of the North East suburbs, about 18km from the city centre.

View Larger Map

There are a number of lookouts, and the view towards the city is good... though from this vantage point you might actually suspect that Adelaide was a city of trees, with the city centre perched far into the distance.

Now, whilst you can grab information from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (see link above), there's not much of a map that goes with it. The Park is about 380 hectares, and much of it used to be either quarry or (of all things) a nursery, as well as semi-rural land. It's been turned into a Recreation Park to ensure that it doesn't get developed and eventually returns to something like it's natural state. Not having been to the park before, I though the "Geological Hike" sounded interesting for L-kun... even though it was rated as a moderate bush walk... this can be reached from Gate 9 on the SW corner of the park.

Scanned imaged from Department of Environment and Natural Resources

The Park itself is quite nice, though quite different from the other parks in/around Adelaide. It has a feel of a slowly evolving rural landscape... and is a good mix of open land, and bushland, with a range of hills and valleys.

And even though the Winter's been wet, and the drought an increasingly distant memory, every where there are signs of it.

But also of the new life returning to the landscape.

For reasons I'll explain shortly, it was difficult to take photos today, and the wild-flowers hadn't really appeared in all their glory yet.

But it was still a very pleasant environment, and not at all like the thick scrub we would often walk through.

The great thing about the Geological Hike is the fact that there's a mix of views of the city, the old "gun emplacement" and the quarries to walk through. The rocks in the quarry are old - as they say - as the Hills. About 450million years ago the sands were turned into a mountain... and the park also spans the Eden-Burnside fault line which marks the transition from Adelaide Plains to Mt Lofty Ranges.

And the quarries are fun to walk around, observing through the cut in the mountainside, the history of Adelaide through a geologists eyes.

Actually, one of the unexpected things that happened during the day was that L-kun decided that he'd go Dinosaur Bone hunting/ I think he'd taken to heart a dinosaur show he'd seen on tv a while back, and all of a sudden everything he saw on the ground was a dinosaur bone. And I mean everything!

As for myself, I got into the act.... but you can also see that this wasn't the only thing that I was concerned about. I was the official baby carrier for our bushwalk adventure, and this was the first time we'd tried out the baby carrier with C-chan. So I wasn't really able to enjoy the freedom to photograph as I would like, but I like to think that it was a shared compromise, and a shared moment of peaceful togetherness. Especially as C-chan fell asleep through most of it.

We had a great time - and L-kun brought back a bag (yes, I mean a big bag) of "dinosaur bones". I don't have the heart to tell him that they were just rocks, but I figure, what do I know... somewhere in that bag was the remains of our deep deep past. Whether it was bones of long-gone animals or the bones of our world. Either way, I loved that he was so excited about it, and it certainly made for a more interesting walk.

Tour Down Under 2012... Adelaide in Hot Pants

I've actually been struggling a little of late to dedicate time to the blogs... not least of all due to preparing our house (and lives) for the arrival of our new baby. However, life isn't all about babies. Still, it's hard to get time to not only do blogging, but also do things to blog about. One thing about Adelaide is that whilst it's a relatively small city, come the warmer months of Jan - March in particular, there's lots of things to see and do. One of those things is the Santos Tour Down Under. For those that aren't into cycling, I should perhaps explain a little.

The Tour Down Under is the first (Australian) leg of the UCI World Cycling Tour... It started in 1999 - not long after Adelaide lost the Grand Prix, and since that time has grown from strength to strength, and has become the biggest cycling event in the Southern Hemisphere. That sounds impressive, but the reality is that the world tour remains dominated by the European countries.

It's run over 7 days (the first day being a warm-up act on the first Sunday). Each day there's a different leg that features beautiful Adelaide countryside, and also some harsh Adelaide weather. The race features:

• Day 0 - 51 km  (East End)
• Day 1 - 149km (Clare)
• Day 2 - 148 km (Adelaide Hills)
• Day 3 - 134.5 km (Victor Harbour)
• Day 4 - 134 km (Barossa Valley)
• Day 6 - 151km (McLaren Vale)
• Day 7 - 90 km (North Adelaide)

A Total of 857.5km over 7 days, or approximately 120 km per day. In the scheme of the Tour de France (which covers about 3,500km) it's only a baby event... but what it lacks in distance, or alps, it makes up in temperatures... with some riders experiencing 50+ degrees on the roads.

But I don't get a chance to watch much cycling these days, but I was able to pop into the city to see the last stage on Day 7 (on Sunday, the 22nd January).

It was a hot day (around 35+ degrees celsius), and the riders were initially taking it easy. In this sort of criterium racing there's little to be gained by trying to race too hard, except for points in the sprints (or if you're brave, in a breakaway). The race itself runs down King William Road, before bearing left down War Memorial Drive then up through Montifiore Road and then through North Adelaide until it returned back on to War Memorial Drive and on to the start/finish straight on King William again.

I won't discuss too much about the race, but I will say that it's a fun event with lots of people and lots of colour. Perhaps it was the heat, but this year it felt like the crowds were down a bit (and I still find it hard to believe that many of the shops in Adelaide's city centre didn't open on such a busy event day.... still, that's Adelaide for you). The good news was that this meant there were still quite a lot of good vantage points to find, though they weren't always the best for photography.

I won't write too much, but please check out the Tour's official website (linked above) to find out more...

It was good however for me to practice a different type of photography... the sports action variety. Not something that I normally do, and not something that's particularly easy to do. Very hard on cameras to focus when there's so much in frame, going so fast, and all over the shop distance wise. Still, I managed to take a couple of ok shots.

Even though riding in the peleton (the large group of cyclists that form naturally in such races) is not as difficult as it might appear averaging around 45km/hr... it's still hard work negotiating corners en-masse. 

I have to say, it was hard work out there on the bikes... and a lot of the riders were working quite hard.

And some looked like they were in real pain...

Others were doing all they could to keep it going...

And others were just gritting teeth and getting on with it.

The thing about cycling races is that it's rarely ever a solo effort. Whilst the attention almost always goes to the sprinter, or the climber, or their lead rider, it's always a team effort to get that rider where they need to be. Domestiques, or servants are there to do just that... to provide support, slip-streaming, intelligence, morale, covering breakaways, and even to use themselves like two-wheeled battering rams to clear a path to the desired place in the peloton if needed.

 In a race like the Tour Down Under, their role is less critical (than say the Tour de France), however, it remains very much a team focus. Something that can often be the difference between success and failure. But at the end of the day, it's the big guns that win tours.

And the winners, after about 2 hours of riding... well the stage was won by André Greipel (from Germany... a sprint superstar) ... but the overall general classification win, over the 6 stages, was won by Simon Gerrans of Australia in Team GreenEDGE. This is the first Australia World Tour team, and it was amazing that they should win their first tour event, at home! Well done team, and well done Simon!

Overall, it was a hot day outside, but not too bad (you could always find a shady spot), and I had a blast. You don't need to be into cycling to get sucked up by the atmosphere either. If you were in/around Adelaide at the time, I hope you enjoyed some of the racing... otherwise, there's always next year. 

Goodbye 2011 - Welcome Our New Life in 2012

New Years Eve is a big day in our family. Not just because it heralds the end of a very busy (and dramatic) year, and welcomes a new and exciting one... but also because literally it's a busy day for us. A VERY BUSY DAY. Our family - I really mean T-chan - subscribes to the Japanese tradition of oosouji (大掃除), which kinda equates to the big clean. The once a year, everything-must-go kinda clean where you start at the bottom and work your way to the top! The reasons? Well, it's meant to welcome the New Year with a clean environment... I imagine to get rid of the bad spirits from the house. It is a good idea... but believe me, when everyone else is worrying about where they're going to be partying, we're getting sweaty in the cleaning sense. By the time the evening comes, we're just about ready to relax...and sleep. Especially when T-chan is so heavily pregnant... normally she's a super-human-cleaning-machine come New Year... this year was a little more difficult when you're carrying around a bowling ball in your belly! Hubby to the rescue.

Still, we didn't quite get as much done as we would normally do... still, I think we gave it a good crack.

New Years of course means one thing - fireworks. And whilst Adelaide's fireworks would never even begin to rival Sydney (or any other large city I suspect), they are always fun and become very much an experience for the whole family. There are a number of focal points for the evening, and down by the River Torrens in Elder Park is the main one. Around 8:15pm we had finished dinner, and managed somehow to get ready and in the car. About 15 mins later we had found a park (down past St Peter's Cathedral and the Women's and Children's Hospital). Yet what was surprising was that there was still plenty of room to get some great spots... and just a little bit of time to go for a walk too.

There's always a family friendly fireworks at 9pm, followed of course by the main event at midnight. Surrounding the fireworks are a number of shows... centred on the rotunda. This year had a very multicultural feel... including a tribute to Bollywood. Don't ask me... but it was great.

But of course the real show is the fire works... and even though the skies were not yet fully dark, it was still an exciting (early) finale to the evening.... and of course here's the obligatory fireworks photos....

But that wasn't all... we stayed around for the only real touch of Japan from the whole evening... Matsuri Taiko were performing a 20 minute set that was quite fun to watch.... but like most things acoustic, were better to see live.


Actually, like Christmas this was a strange one this year. It's not that we didn't get into the spirit of things, but rather that there were many other things competing in our thoughts. So much will change in the next couple of months. 2012 will almost certainly be a year to remember!

So as they say in Japan, akimashite omedetou gozaimasu, kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu! Happy New Year, and it'll be great to work with you all next year (all 0.75 of you)!

Melbourne Series - Sculpting City Life With Art

 Now the trip was actually a work trip, so that meant that I didn't have much time to do my own thing. My evenings however were mostly my own. Mostly. So I'd walk around the city to check things out. And there's a lot to check out indeed. These fellows are famous in Melbourne (on the corner of Swantson and Bourke Street Mall)... what are they doing? I don't know. But they're truly captivating little fellas.The sculpture is called "Three Businessmen Who Brought Their Own Lunch", by Alison Weaver.

Street sculpture adds so much texture to a city - even if I'm sure they start to become invisible if you live there.  But even then I suspect it adds a lot at the subliminal level. And not that far - the other end of the Bourke Street Mall... a little bit of commercial street sculpture - though some might have thought this bad luck for the local traders. The purse being well and truly shut that is. Behind the Post Office... yet another grand old building from Melbourne's past. This sculpture is from Simon Perry and dates from 1994.

And it's not just sculpture - the city has had a wonderful development since it's founding in 1835 - yes, that's only one year before Adelaide was founded - but there's a huge difference in characters. The architecture has a good mix of European stylings, and the city has gone to lengths to make sure that the heritage is maintained, even as it has become a vibrant modern international city.

And here's yet another bit of Melbourne culture... Good ol Larry La Trobe... a wonderful bronze sculpture created by Pamela Irving in 1992.  A little known fact is that in 1995, the poor little fella went missing (thanks to some very enthusiastic supporters, with some major hardware). Actually - now keep this just between the two of us - the original statue was never found. And could indeed be sidling up to a lamp-post or hub cap near you. Larry's replacement is now a little more securely fastened.

Just down from Larry you'll find that rather grandly titled, Beyond the Ocean of Existence, by Loretta Quinn, sitting along side St Paul's Cathedral. The sculpture that has a fairy atop a rather dramatic bronze plinth is meant to be an all-things-to-all-peoples sculpture. Of course - if you're all things includes fairies. Which mine does (and no, not those sorts of fairies). It goes to show just how integrated Art is into the Melbourne landscape.

And this of course isn't a new thing - but back in the olden days (he says dropping his false teeth into a glass of water), statues were there to remind us of our glorious past, to inspire us to future greatness... or just to show that some of our most important founding fathers (to borrow an Americanism) were complete jerks. Take for example our viewpoint of Matthew Flinders - he nobly stood at the bow of his launch, whilst the poor schmucks had to to the hard work below. That was the times I suppose. We do however owe our modern coastline to Flinders - and if it wasn't for him, who knows what Australia would have looked like.

St Paul's Cathedral - by night and by day. This church was consecrated in 1891 - and sits on the site of the first Christian services in Melbourne. The gothic transitional style certainly makes for an impressive (though still subdued) feature on the famous Federation Square front, right next to Flinders Street Station. These old buildings cannot perhaps be described as 'public art' but they approach very close to it.

Flinders Street Station - it's one of the iconic locations around Melbourne's CBD. Both as an historic location, and also as the main commuter hub into the city. It's perfectly located on the edge of the city, alongside the Yarra River for an evening stroll. I understand that there's some future development due to take place here... fingers crossed they don't mess with it too much.

The one slightly disappointing thing was this evening was also the night of the Rugby World Cup - which New Zealand won on their home territory against the French (Australia came third). Even though the event was being held in New Zealand, there was a lot of interest here in Australia (of course). Following the match, there were large crowds of intoxicated youths walking the streets - and to be honest, it was a throwback to some of the less than civilised parts of Australia's drinking culture that was on display... That and it reminded me that the not-so-latent gang culture still very much exists here in Australia. As a result - Melbourne's over-worked Police force was very much on duty.

And from across the road, we see St Paul's with a new (construction) light... from Federation Square. One time site for the Occupy Melbourne movement (I suspect the world is taking a break from the whole occupy thing... and I wonder how we will view it in another 1-5 years... not that you will be reading this then).

Federation Square is very much a life-centre for Melbourne, and is the focus of many outdoor public activities. Not only do they have a lot of events here, you can also find the SBS studios (Australia's best multicultural tv station), and the National Gallery of Victoria to name a couple of things. It's also a really good place to just hang out - unless of course, you're looking for somewhere to occupy...

Interestingly, the Federation Square buildings themselves were given a rough time - being labelled as some of the ugliest buildings of all time. I for one, don't mind it's post-modernist cubist-come-camouflage look. It adds to the sense of energy to the city, and sets itself apart. 

Not far away is the Melbourne Arts Centre, with it's stylistic tower, adorned in night-sculptural lights...

It's a combination of rock and metal - lit up with light. Beautiful.

If you go for a walk off the road you'll find this wonderful sculpture - artist unknown, sorry - of a post modern tribe. Aboriginal or artistic? Still, it was nice to see the night-scape populated with art. I would very much like to know what this sculpture was for/about/crafted by.

Right next to the Art Centre is the National Gallery of Victoria... Not sure about the whole see-through shirt thing, but that was a crazy German art exhibit. I think that says it all.

However the gallery also has a wonderful water wall sculpture - and it's totally entrancing (and on all the time). It just beckons to run your fingers through the water.

Water + Light = Magic.

And when you slow it down - it just looks plain funky. Outside the gallery there's a number of fountains that just call out - fast shutter speed, fast shutter speed... but alas my hand-held technique could only go so far with the light I had.

The last sculpture I'll throw into the post is actually on the Sandridge Bridge over the Yarra river... and is called the Travellers (I've only shown a little bit here). It's an amazing steel sculpture. Part celebration of indigenous art, part celebration of migration, it's a stark but impressive sculpture by Nadim Karam.

I have to admit that I had a great pleasure in walking through the streets of Melbourne in the evenings... the weather, as is typical of Melbourne of old, was a little variable. Still, it was a fun time - and whilst I don't often get the chance to take out my camera on work trips, this was an opportunity I couldn't waste. By the way - if you're looking find what sort of public art there is in Melbourne, check out here. I wish I had something like this before. The streets of Melbourne are alive - and they also capture that life through it's sculpture. Hats off Melbourne. You are the cultural centre of Australia.