UniSA

Today it was time to start getting organized, I found out today that our first class is on Friday and it's an all day class. We went to the university to get our student ID's, schedules and a few other small things had to be looked after.

This is all so surreal, don't anybody pinch me just encase I am dreaming!

This is where we'll be studying at, it's the Magill campus and it's beautiful! On Sunday when we went out with a few of the ladies on staff in the social work department, one of them told us that this building here was someone's house at one time. The house and surrounding land was left to the education department and the main house is now home to human resources.

We went inside trying to figure out where we were supposed to be and it's beautiful! I told my roommate that it smelled like we should be super intelligent to be in that house... we laughed and found where we were supposed to be. 

All is well in my world.

Way Too Cool

I talked to my granddaughter this afternoon on Skype, that was way too cool. She looks like such a big girl now, she's sure growing. I can't even imagine how much will change in her young precious life within the next 4 months; all I know is tonight I'm going to thank God for modern technology!

This afternoon it was time to go out and look after some business and pick up food. We were walking through the mall and I first heard this beautiful music, I looked to see where it was coming from.  There was this guy playing a flute, he was amazing... the music was so beautiful and ... well here, see for yourself. 

The sun is shining right on his arm, yup, he's got the tattoos and all. Never judge a book by its cover eh? Now if this isn't way too cool, I don't know what is!

One last way too cool thing which happened today, I've got a new buddy...

Isn't he just way too cool? :-)

The Crush Festival

My roomie and myself were invited by some of the staff from the Uni to attend the Crush Festival today, what an amazing day!  We stopped off at three different events, the photos pretty much say it all. I'll try to limit myself tonight and not get too carried away with posting photos; between the new lens and the amazing scenery it's hard to stop snapping away!

The Crush Festival is a wine tasting event, you buy a glass at the first place you stop at and your wine glass travels from place to place with you. I can't comment on the wines as I don't consume alcohol; the day was a blast just the same. The ladies from the Uni sure know how to have a good time!

So here goes... the first wine tasting place we stopped off at was Mt. Lofty House, an extraordinary house I must say. 

The view from the top of the hill (I think they called it the hills), this is the highest peak in the hills according to our hosts. 

I was amazed by this view, I've only ever seen something like this in the movies! 

The next stop involved food...

There were a few interesting dishes, this was a beef pate, or something like it. 

On the way to our next destination we stopped off for petro, there were a few bikers there and somehow I told the ladies I was going to get a photo of an Australian biker... so that I did! He even told me to make it quick, well that is until I told him that Australian bikers put Sons of Anarchy to shame. ;-)

Again, there was some amazing scenery at our final destination...

Then I spotted it, a real classic! I only wish I had this to drive while I'm here. 

The music from place to place changed, the first stop it was live classical, the second stop it was lively dj music and at this final stop there was a live band crooning out 50's and 60's old rock and roll tunes.

And to end the story of my day, on the drive home we spotted a Koala, it was on the side of the road; they are so darned cute. This was a moment I only wish I had my camera in my hand. No dramas, there'll be other opportunities I'm sure. 

The Market

Today my roommates ... right my roommate has finally arrived! Anyways, her friend who has lived here for a year and a half showed us where the Central Market is. This is a fantastic place to shop, a bit aggressive, but tons of fun nonetheless.  

 Saturday afternoon around 2pm is the best time to shop, the vendors don't want to have to pack things up to take home so they start selling it off. There's a few vendors in the streets cooking up some delicacies, I tried a chicken skewer and it was delicious. 

There's a yoghurt shop in this market and I thought I'd try some strawberry rhubarb for something unique and different.

I tucked this away in the fridge when I got home and remembered it a few hours later. I had one taste and trust me when I say it was hard to put back in the fridge. This is by far the absolute best yoghurt I have ever tasted, it's low fat as well. Sure it's on the expensive side... but I'm worth it!  :-)

If you're ever in Adelaide, the Central Market is a must. I was just reading online that there's over 80 stalls. You won't leave empty handed, that's almost a guarantee.

Glenelg

Finally we took a trip to the beach! We got on a tram...

the ride lasted about 20 minutes (we didn't get lost... woohooo!) and when I stepped off the tram I got peoplebumps (formerly known as goosebumps), this is what I saw...

We had arrived at paradise, or a place what I dream to be very similar to...

The water...

 the sand...

the seagulls

... it was all real, I wasn't dreaming.

Never look back , behind me is in the past...

what matters in life is the here and the now.


I don't know what's on that horizon, one day I may. I choose today to live like there was no tomorrow, love deeply and laugh from the depths of my soul. 


Cheers from Glenelg, SA.

Australia Day - Part 2

For those who might have missed my last post, I posted about Australia day. I have way to many photos to share them all and I'm having problems deciding which ones to post so I split up the posting so that one post didn't take forever to load. 

... now where was I? Oh right, I was at the parade! 

There were some amazing vehicles which went through the parade, I'll post a few for car enthusiasts.

Something old

Something new[ly] restored

Something borrowed

Something blue

and if you don't like this shade of blue, how about this shade?

I was darn near lying on the pavement, when I seen this next one coming at me through my lens I hoped they had brakes! 

After the parade there was a huge festival in the park, approximately 30,000 people where in attendance. The music was good, the weather was fantastic and the city was generous, it was a free concert. 

The performer here is Stan Walker, the other performer was Ricki-Lee. There were a few too many people for my liking so I walked across the water... not literally, but I went over a bridge, down a path and found some amazing spots for photos. 

It started to get dark enough for some nice reflections, I only wish I would have packed my tripod but next time I know to take things out of my suitcase and bring it, clothes are over rated in this heat anyways! 

And this is how I chose to spend Australia Day, my 4th day in this beautiful city. 

To any of my blogger friends who are Australian and celebrated this day, I hope you had half the fun I did and enjoyed each moment of your day. You live in an amazing country, one I'm looking forward to seeing and experiencing plenty more of. 

Australia Day

I've had a really hard time deciding what to post for Australia's special day, what I'm going to do is split up this event as I had an amazing jam packed day. If I post it all on one it would take 5 hours to upload a single post from me... I won't do that to any of you!

Hmmm what do I start with here? That's the one problem of taking soooo many photos... well here goes. 

This morning I got up and went out to the patio, at 7:30 in the morning people were still partying from the night before. (Red I thought of you when I shot this photo, not for the partying aspect, for the name. :-))

 I think that I just clued in to something, it's cooler at night so maybe this is why people are out all night long... they must sleep half the day away when it's so hot out. That's my theory. 

So from the leftover people from the night before who started the celebration early, it was off to the mall area where there were performers, there were some amazing shows! 

This young lady is off to Romania later this year to compete, from what I witnessed she's a sure bet! 

A powerful performance! 

There were others, but as I mentioned it was a full day and I have way to many photos to choose from. Next it was off to watch the parade... oops, on my way to the parade I finally got a photo of myself!

That would be me in the orange with the camera...just encase you didn't notice that! lol 

Now the parade which has something for everyone to see... 

beautiful ladies

to bagpipes. 

adorable children

and the young at heart...

the bold

and the beautiful

and what's a parade without the horses? 

There's so many more amazing shots I got, this post will be continued! 

Have a g'day!

The Apartment

This is a good one, I'm going to talk about my apartment and area and I haven't even shot photos of my apartment yet... anyways, yesterday after shopping and getting myself good and lost I managed to find my place after a few hours.

Today I got up with the birds, literally...

The apartment is right downtown Adelaide, it's quite the area, but thankfully we're on the 5th floor so the noise in the area is down to a dull roar. We have a common area on the 7th floor with a huge patio and I've discovered it's a great to take photos from. The reason I got up so early is I wanted to capture a sunrise and I figured I'd be alone on the huge patio.  I was right, the young 'uns must have all still been in bed. 

I'd almost forgotten how much I love early mornings, while the world still sleeps it's so peaceful.  There was very little movement as I looked at the streets below, however, there was movement above.

Looking to the right and down this is what I spotted. What I thought of my apartment was put into a different perspective all of a sudden. 

I wonder where this road leads to, another adventure for another day. 

Chess anyone? 

... and I ventured back to my room, to start my day. Looking out my bedroom window and down this is my view. I don't think that I'll be wistfully daydreaming out the window, soon it's going to be time to hit the books... not quite yet, but soon enough. 

 

This view will help me to stay focused, I hope.

The Journey

I'm so confused time wise with this trip, I left Edmonton on January 21st at 1:15pm. I flew to Vancouver and had a 4 hour layover. I then boarded Air New Zealand, we left at 6:45pm. It was a long flight, but seeing this sunrise was amazing. This was at the Auckland NZ airport.

I was back on the plane in no time at all, the sun was shining and this flight was amazing. There was no turbulence, not like the previous flight where most of my tea was on my tray. 

After a few hours, there it was, I was seeing Australia for the first time. 

The feeling was surreal, I've always dreamed of visiting Australia and here I was looking down on my home away from home for the next 4 1/2  months. 

I was getting so close... and when it seemed like the wing of the plane was going to touch that water as it turned to land in Adelaide I almost freaked out, I couldn't be this close just to never arrive!

Thankfully the pilot knew what he was doing and we arrived without incident... to be continued.