Judy & Brian Tour Oz

Adelaide March 30 2015 Ah, a rest day. Didn't bother getting up until late. Ate a  late breakfast, wandered down to Brighton and wandered around the pier and beach and coffee shops (they have about 20 that we could see in the near vicinity). Had a nice coffee and an uninspiring bun with apple init. Judy reckons her Vanilla slice was ok, not quite Beechworth standard but okay nonetheless. From the pier we could see a big boat on the horizon, just coming out of Port Adelaide, which must be 20km north. It has to be the QM2. Pier. Brighton SA Pier. Brighton SA Sculptures.  Brighton SA Later on after we had driven further down south to look at the beaches such as Seaford and Moana, we could see it much closer on the horizon, so i zoomed in and grabbed a few snaps. I had to digitally zoom in on these to get the picture shown, and isn't it odd, it looks like a mirage at sea, the row of lifeboats appears to be mirrored and the boat looks as if its above...

We have just come out of the Rod Stewart concert in Adelaide, and i have only 1 thing to say about that.... It was bloody brilliant!!!! make no mistake, this was a really really good show. None of that soppy American Songbook stuff, just full-on rock and roll, high energy, high volume, 100% effort and entertainment I know my children will be sniggering behind their hands as they read this, but let's be honest, you have to stand up and applaud talent and showmanship when you see it, and following right on the heels of an abysmal Australian support act, you can just tell that this was the real deal. He was scheduled to come on at 9pm. He came on at 10 to 9 and belted it out for 2 solid hours, one hit after another. Fabulous. Included three costume changes and a cast of 17 support stars. Perhaps the highlight of the night was Forever Young, which included the usual showcases of the other talent on stage while he took a wee break and changed costume. While he was off-stage t...

Adelaide SA March 29, 2015 Another early start and a transport section through to Adelaide via Tailem Bend where we stopped for a drink but found absolutely nothing open except the toilet, which we made use of. Made it into the Big4 at West Beach and grabbed our spot. looks like the kiddies are on holidays and they have all come to the beach. Can't blame them really, can you? We had to make a bee-line for IKEA after lunch to grab our drawers that they don't have in Sydney anymore. Judy has been on tender hooks for weeks: they had 30 when we left home, 15 two days ago and 11 according to their website this morning. We found only 3 left, so we grabbed our two and headed for the door, after a lap or two of the store, of course. Time now to spruce ourselves up for our big night out with Rod, Stewart that is.

Today the car was due at Stillwell Ford for it's 15,000km service. We turned up about 930, left the car  for their attention and took advantage of the courtesy car into town. We walked up and down Rundle Mall, checking out some of the large and glossy department stores before walking down King William Street to Victoria Square and thence into the Central Markets. One thing for sure, the howling wind was glacial and we both froze our chops off before gratefully turning into the marketplace itself. These markets are quite similar to the Vic Markets in Melbourne but with more emphasis on fresh food and goodies and almost none of the tat that makes up a lot of the Vic. We took coffee and a yummy Portuguese Tart and a Lemon Flan at Lucia's, not the only coffee shop there but probably the best that we saw. After marching up and down all the aisles and back and forth across all the rows, we  went back up toward Rundle Mall looking for lunch and perhaps a visit to the SA Museum. ...

Just after we left Port Augusta, heading east toward Adelaide, we came across a novel experience; a road down which we had not travelled! Last time we came her we came in via the Quorn road, so now here we are on a 'new' road. And a fine road it is as well, smooth and fast. We took a detour to Crystal Brook where surprise, surprise, the Crystal Brook Show was on. We went in and gave it the once over, stopping to evaluate the usual offerings of craft and hand made jams and sauces and other assorted tat. Outside we were fascinated by the judging of the strong-wool rams (my, but they are well endowed!) and then the Seniors shearing competition. In the ring there was a large collection of older, classic type cars and a bunch of current utes on show. A quick run through sideshow alley confirmed that nothing's changed ($5 for two shots at the duck shoot, $9 for a dodgem car ride) and they were as quite as they were in Darwin and Proserpine and wherever else we have seen them (I...