Rainy afternoon
Door: Devils Uncle
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Paul
21 Februari 2011 | Australië, Adelaide
On Thursday I booked my tickets for my solo trip to Adelaide, Melbourne and then back to Adelaide to return at latest on the 11th May. So the next day I had to catch the Premier Stateliner bus that would bring me to the capital of South Australia. Anne didn't want me to, Tom wanted to get on the bus as well when he saw it.
The bus trip was a 6 hour journey with a lot of scenery, only not today. The weird thing was that the closer I got to Adelaide the more it was raining. I almost thought I was back in Europe. But it appeared to be raining the whole afternoon in Whyalla as well so that was a good thought.
Adelaide doesn't look like a city that has a population of 1,3 million and I have to say that is a good thing. Although I have to say Cannon Street Backpackers was in the CBD (Capital Business District) which is the city centre. It does have a lot of heritage and it has more than enough shopping opportunities as well enough interesting places to visit. But that just isn't necessary if the Adelaide Fringe is on. It's a month long theatre and music festival that has much to offer as well.
Anyway once I arrived at the Bus Terminal I had to walk to the hostel and according to the map in the Backpackers Accommodation booklet I had I was up for a few minutes walk only to figure out that it was just across the street. I checked myself in and while I entered my dorm the first question was where I was from. Turned out I shared my dorm with 2 Belgian girls, 1 Dutch guy, 2 British guys, 1 Polish girl and a girl from Papua New Guinea. So making remarks in Dutch would be hard if I didn't want any other to understand them.
After a quick stop at the supermarket and a quick dinner we all went of the city to go to see some live music and drink a beer. Good choice it was as there were some good bands and artists playing. Highlights were the Shaolin Afronauts, a jazzy jam orchestra and the DJ/VJ Mr. Nice. All in all a good night out with great company.
The next day I returned to the city with one of the Belgians. Our plan was to visit Tandanya, the Aboriginal Arst Centre, but as we couldn't find it and the Information Centre was closed as well we just strolled around watching the architecture and some of the buskers doing their performance on the street. Once we strolled around long enough we headed back to the Backpackers and then agreed to go for a pizza just around the corner. Apparently it turned out Andy (the Brit) was eating for 2 as he finished a family sized one where the others shared 2 same sized pizzas with the 4 of them and weren't able to finish it. Myself I took a normal size all meat pizza, one which I just can't find in the Netherlands. Just meat on top of a layer of barbecue sauce instead of the tomato sauce. It was sure we had a good filled stomach before we headed of for the pub crawl. Which was great fun as it only did cost $10,- for 5 drinks in 5 different bars, although bars which I probably wouldn't visit easily. Well, maybe the last one if it was less crowded. Leo (NL), Myrthe en Birgit (both B) and I all agreed there were just to many Dutch people in the group, even from Boekel of all places. In the end we said that if there is a pub crawl wherever in the world there are probably only Brits and Dutchies joining.
Enough about the pub crawl. The next day (Sunday that is) I found a brochure for Tandanya so walked straight to it only to find out it was closed for the Spirit Festival which was held just around the corner in the park so I headed that way. The Spirit Festival is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders arts festival where you can find all kinds arts. From traditional dance and music (choirs) to contemporary dance and music all performed by the indigenous people of Australia. Beside the performance arts you could find crafts, bushfood and all kind of social projects. And to complete the day I had a nice living necklace around my neck at the reptile and common animals stand. A nice huge snake. It was more than a satisfying afternoon at the festival. After I left the festival I headed back to the hostel while watching some street performers, where I got part of one of them as the busker needed a few people to hold his mono-cycle strait up so he could get on the saddle about 4 meters higher. As he saw I was carrying a small backpack he thought to make a joke about selling drugs, then it is a bit ironic he picked a Dutch person from the crowd.
That was about it from Adelaide, next stop Melbourne. And what about Tandaya? I will visit that centre in the weekend when I return in Adelaide. After all I have to pick up my first ever bought piece of visual arts. It's a dot painting for about $150,- which I bought at the Spirit Festival. I already wanted to buy such a painting and having seen the prices at a souvenir shop I knew this piece of art was just a very good buy, and I know for sure this one is a unique original painting, about the ones in a souvenir shop I'm not so sure.
https://picasaweb.google.com/paulvanderwielen/RainyAfternoon#
The bus trip was a 6 hour journey with a lot of scenery, only not today. The weird thing was that the closer I got to Adelaide the more it was raining. I almost thought I was back in Europe. But it appeared to be raining the whole afternoon in Whyalla as well so that was a good thought.
Adelaide doesn't look like a city that has a population of 1,3 million and I have to say that is a good thing. Although I have to say Cannon Street Backpackers was in the CBD (Capital Business District) which is the city centre. It does have a lot of heritage and it has more than enough shopping opportunities as well enough interesting places to visit. But that just isn't necessary if the Adelaide Fringe is on. It's a month long theatre and music festival that has much to offer as well.
Anyway once I arrived at the Bus Terminal I had to walk to the hostel and according to the map in the Backpackers Accommodation booklet I had I was up for a few minutes walk only to figure out that it was just across the street. I checked myself in and while I entered my dorm the first question was where I was from. Turned out I shared my dorm with 2 Belgian girls, 1 Dutch guy, 2 British guys, 1 Polish girl and a girl from Papua New Guinea. So making remarks in Dutch would be hard if I didn't want any other to understand them.
After a quick stop at the supermarket and a quick dinner we all went of the city to go to see some live music and drink a beer. Good choice it was as there were some good bands and artists playing. Highlights were the Shaolin Afronauts, a jazzy jam orchestra and the DJ/VJ Mr. Nice. All in all a good night out with great company.
The next day I returned to the city with one of the Belgians. Our plan was to visit Tandanya, the Aboriginal Arst Centre, but as we couldn't find it and the Information Centre was closed as well we just strolled around watching the architecture and some of the buskers doing their performance on the street. Once we strolled around long enough we headed back to the Backpackers and then agreed to go for a pizza just around the corner. Apparently it turned out Andy (the Brit) was eating for 2 as he finished a family sized one where the others shared 2 same sized pizzas with the 4 of them and weren't able to finish it. Myself I took a normal size all meat pizza, one which I just can't find in the Netherlands. Just meat on top of a layer of barbecue sauce instead of the tomato sauce. It was sure we had a good filled stomach before we headed of for the pub crawl. Which was great fun as it only did cost $10,- for 5 drinks in 5 different bars, although bars which I probably wouldn't visit easily. Well, maybe the last one if it was less crowded. Leo (NL), Myrthe en Birgit (both B) and I all agreed there were just to many Dutch people in the group, even from Boekel of all places. In the end we said that if there is a pub crawl wherever in the world there are probably only Brits and Dutchies joining.
Enough about the pub crawl. The next day (Sunday that is) I found a brochure for Tandanya so walked straight to it only to find out it was closed for the Spirit Festival which was held just around the corner in the park so I headed that way. The Spirit Festival is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders arts festival where you can find all kinds arts. From traditional dance and music (choirs) to contemporary dance and music all performed by the indigenous people of Australia. Beside the performance arts you could find crafts, bushfood and all kind of social projects. And to complete the day I had a nice living necklace around my neck at the reptile and common animals stand. A nice huge snake. It was more than a satisfying afternoon at the festival. After I left the festival I headed back to the hostel while watching some street performers, where I got part of one of them as the busker needed a few people to hold his mono-cycle strait up so he could get on the saddle about 4 meters higher. As he saw I was carrying a small backpack he thought to make a joke about selling drugs, then it is a bit ironic he picked a Dutch person from the crowd.
That was about it from Adelaide, next stop Melbourne. And what about Tandaya? I will visit that centre in the weekend when I return in Adelaide. After all I have to pick up my first ever bought piece of visual arts. It's a dot painting for about $150,- which I bought at the Spirit Festival. I already wanted to buy such a painting and having seen the prices at a souvenir shop I knew this piece of art was just a very good buy, and I know for sure this one is a unique original painting, about the ones in a souvenir shop I'm not so sure.
https://picasaweb.google.com/paulvanderwielen/RainyAfternoon#
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
