Will AFL Be Played At Adelaide Oval?

Tuesday 3rd May, 2011

Last night a historic vote was taken in Adelaide.  The members of the Adelaide Oval (SACA) had to decide whether AFL (Aussie Rules) will be played at the Oval and if the decision is 'yes', the Government will put in around half a billion dollars to upgrade it.

At the moment football is played at Aami Stadium in West Lakes.  The crowds are not attending matches there as some say that the Stadium is not suitable anymore for football.  Millions of dollars have been spent upgrading that Stadium.

Last year Tony was given tickets to attend a football game.  Well, thank god for the big screen there.  Where we sat, the players looked like ants and you could hardly make out who the players were.  At least we could watch the game on the big screen.   I would rather sit at home and watch it in the comfort of my living room than go and sit in the wind, rain and cold.

The people for the 'yes' vote say that more people will come to Adelaide Oval as public transport is easier to be able to get there, and they (the government) have promised to upgrade the Torrens River precinct.  Also when the footy is finished, they believe people will go onto the casino, nightclubs and restaurants.

The people for the 'no' vote believe that the Oval will lose its character.  Also it will take away some of the parklands, car parking will be harder to find plus the 'snobs' of North Adelaide don't want it......it might interfere with their lifestyle.

At the moment cricket is played at Adelaide Oval.  The State cricket may attract 1,000 people, we have two One Day Internationals where it may get capacity crowds, depending on whose playing, and we have one Test Match.  The Oval is also used, maybe, once a year for a concert, Rugby 7's was played there and a soccer match once a year.  Apart from that they do play local club (SANFL) football there, but not every week.  

Admittedly the Oval is a picturesque place to go with the cathedral at one end, the city at the other end, to the east the hills and to the west the sea.  If I was a member my vote would be a definite 'yes' but here in Adelaide we have too many 'tree huggers' who do not like to see progress.

We have often been called a backwater city and no wonder.  Admittedly we have a very laid back lifestyle, not the hustle and bustle like other cities but whatever plans get put forward to advance this city there is always a small minority that knocks it on the head.

Thank goodness for the determination of Premier Rann.  Several years ago he decided to extend the tram line from Victoria Square down King William Street onto North Terrace and out along Port Road to the Entertainment Centre.  There were thousands of protests against it happening, but try and get on a tram now, especially during peak hour.  The trams are jammed pack, not even any standing room left.

Well the votes are in and have been counted.  The decision is........



YES

Yaaaayyyyyyy the members have spoken!!!

From the Lens..........

Can The World Breathe A Little Easier Now?

Monday 2nd May, 2011

What an historic day!!  Osama Bin Laden is DEAD!!!  Barack Obama, the President of USA, has just held a press conference (1.00pm Adelaide time) announcing that Bin Laden was dead, they have his body and DNA has confirmed it is him.  He was killed in Islamabad in Pakistan by American soldiers.

10 years ago on September 11th, 2001 the most horrific events the world has seen, happened.  Two planes flew into Twin Towers in New York, a plane flew into The Pentagon in Washington and a plane carrying passengers was blown up.

Who can ever forget these images

Due to these events the world changed forever.  Travel became more security conscious, people were more suspicious of others and also of any items that were left unattended.  We all became a lot more concerned for our safety.

Bin Laden, being the leader of Al Quaeda, was behind these terrorist attacks and George Bush, who was President at the time vowed to track him down and capture/kill him.

Since 9/11 there have been numerous terrorist attacks in various parts of the world and all of these have been blamed on Al Quaeda.  Let's hope his death does not incite a new wave of terrorist attacks.

From the Lens............The world's most hated man

                                        pic courtesy of Adelaide Now

May Day

Sunday 1st May, 2011

Today is May Day.  All I can remember about May Day is when I was at school we used to do Maypole dancing.  In later years I remember the Unions used to march because it had something to do with the workforce and International Workers' Day. 

It is also the day for the recognition of the Eight Hour Day.  We don't have the Public Holiday for Labour Day until October.

The weather was much the same as yesterday, cold and wet.  We stayed in for the day just chilling out.  Got all the laundry finished.  I just hung the sheets and towels on the line and they can stay there as they say we will get showers to at least Thursday.  All the other washing either got put in the clothes dryer or hung up around the house.

While checking out the News page today I read a story about the Barefoot Bushman, Robert Bredl.  He comes from Renmark and his father set up Bredl's Reptile Park which was across the road from where I used to live when I was much younger. 

When I was at High School he was in the same class as me and I remember one day he took some snakes to school.  During one of the lesssons he let one of the snakes go.  All the girls in the class started screaming, jumping on the chairs and the desks. 

Our teacher, Mr Small, got some order back into the class and he made each one of us girls go out to the front of the class and we had to hold the snake.  It was my first and only time I have ever had a close encounter with a snake. 

Well today they reported that he is going to close the reptile park at Renmark unless a buyer comes forward.  They said it could be closed within the week.  His father set it up over 50 years ago.

Also I read that a baby rhinoceros was born at the Monarto Zoo last Monday.  I know where we are going next weekend......weather permitting.  It is not named yet, I assume they will have a competition to name him (it was a boy).

From the Lens............

                                   Photo courtesy of Adelaide Now

123 Days Until Spring

Saturday 30th April, 2011

Another month gone, one more month to go and then we will be into Winter and soon it will be Spring again.  123 days to be exact........Yaayyyyy!!!!

We have been spoilt with some perfect weather lately, but then all good things must come to an end.  This morning we woke up to grey, overcast skies.  About mid morning the rain came, mainly drizzle, and the temperature dropped.   Brrr it got cold!!!  We have had the heater on since early afternoon.

I made those Florentines.   I used Special K, 99% fat free condensed milk, pineapple pieces, pawpaw pieces and mango pieces and some crushed walnuts.  They are soooo yummy! 

When they cooled I drizzled some white chocolate on them.
The quantities I used were all guess work but it seems it all worked out.  Will definitely be making them again.

From the Lens............

A Royal Wedding

Friday 29th April, 2011

Can I say I'm excited?  Today is the Royal Wedding and I get to sit in front of the TV for about 6 hours to watch it and all the pomp and ceremony that only England can do.

Before that though I have to go shopping.  Tony said that he would cook another bar-b-que for tea, which would let me watch the telly uninterrupted.  Love you Tone!!!

After going up to the Village we also ended up going out to Elizabeth Shopping Centre as I wanted to go to Charlesworth Nuts to get some fruit pieces.  I want to make some Florentines. 

Yesterday while at Tanunda, I bought a home made packet of Tropical Florentines and they were so yummy.  They were made with corn flakes and condensed milk with some fruit and nuts.  Look so easy to do so I am going to have a go.

Well, William and Kate are now husband and wife.  She looked stunning (at times she looked a bit like Princess Mary, who is married to Prince Frederik of Denmark).  Loved the ceremony, simple and to the point.  Adored her dress and the gorgeous lace and her sister looked just as beautiful.

William was handsome in his outfit and I felt sad that his mother, Diana, was not there to see him on this day.  She would have been so proud.  One can see a lot of Diana in William, especially the shyness.

Now onto what I didn't like.  Firstly the Queen could have chosen a colour other than yellow.  It made her look too wishy washy. 

Catherine's mother could have done something with her hair, her dress was lovely but her hair looked very ordinary.

Elton John looked as if he wasn't well, to me he looked as if he had trouble walking.

And what was with those hats, the ones that sat on the forehead.  The only one I liked was Victoria Beckhams'.  Perhaps she could wear hers better than the others.  

Princess Beatrice's hat looked as if hers was a bubble blower.  I suppose these type of 'hats' will now take over the fascinators.

The authorities estimated the crowd that lined the route was around one million people.  Kate said it all when she and William walked out onto the balcony and she exclaimed, "Wow!".

I took most of these photos from the TV screen.   It was just like being there in person.  I hope that they have a more successful marriage than his parents did and that the paparazzi leave them alone and let them get on with their lives.

From the Lens............what the world was waiting for

Barossa Valley Vintage Festival

Thursday 28th April, 2011

This morning we decided to go to the Barossa Vintage Festival.  Today was Tanunda's turn.  The Festival is held  every couple of years and it marks the end of the grape harvest. 

The Barossa Valley is a well known grape growing region in South Australia, only about an hours drive from Adelaide, and home to some of the world's most famous wine labels.  There's Penfolds, Jacobs Creek, Seppelts, Lehmann Wines, and Orlando to name a few.

We called into Robyn and Bob's and they came along as well.  Tanunda was going to host a street fair and so we thought we would go and have a look.  It has been more than 20 years since we last attended a festival.  Maybe it's because I'm not a wine drinker.

Another reason I wanted to go was because the local businesses, the residents and the vineyards put up scarecrows.  Well, what a disappointment!!!  There were no scarecrows in the vineyards, a few in peoples front yards and a few in front of the local businesses. 

One resident in Tanunda went all out and decorated their front yard.  It was awesome!!!  We were allowed to wander in the yard and take photos.  It's a shame more residents didn't follow.

As for the wineries, they were a big disappointment too.  We only saw one winery that made any effort, Jacobs Creek.  Oh well, the other wineries wouldn't get any of our business if we were going wine tasting (which we didn't).

We enjoyed walking along the street looking at all the different handicrafts, produce and food on offer.  Listened to a few bands and some street theatre and watched some grape crushing.  We had lunch at the local hotel.  After lunch we went for a drive to Nuriootpa then onto Angaston and to Bethany looking for scarecrows.......found the most on the Bethany road.

Grape crushing

It was after 5.00pm when we dropped Robyn and Bob back home and after a coffee we came home.  The weather again was perfect and we all had a fun time.

From the Lens...........

The Public Holidays Have Flown By

Wednesday 27th April, 2011

I can't believe where the last five days have gone.  We have just had a five day break due to Easter and Anzac Day holiday and the days have flown by.  I am not really complaining, we have had the perfect weather to get out and about. 

Tony has got the next three days off.  He decided to take holidays seeing this week is a short week.  We have got nothing planned, just to have some quiet time at home and take things as each day comes.

Later on we have to go out and get in some supplies to replenish the pantry and fridge.  I've got a laundry full of washing so I will have to make a start on that.  They say the weather is going to get a bit cooler around Saturday and we may get some rain.

The service stations have been kind to us.  Each week they 'discount' the petrol and then one of the days during the week they put the price up.  It only lasts a day or so and the price comes down again.  If you want cheaper petrol you have to try and guess when it is going to go up and fill up the car before it does. 

Normally whenever there is a Public Holiday they always put up the price of petrol.  This time they didn't.  The price of petrol has been about the same for the last fortnight.  Good for us, the car owners! 

Because the market is mostly governed by Woolworths(Caltex) and Coles (Shell), most of the smaller and Independant service stations have to try and compete and so they have their petrol prices at around the same price.  It's just a matter of time before they are squeezed out of the market.

From the Lens...........