Autumn in Adelaide

 Today is Mother's Day and my family surprised me by all of them meeting us for Brunch in the Adelaide Hills.

We don't always get all the grandchildren together in one place as they have part time jobs and sport so it was wonderful for us all to be together. They probably don't know just how much it means to me.

After our family left to visit their other grandparents we went the long way home for a drive through the hills. 

A short walk through the Mount Lofty Gardens and then to a roadside stand selling great icecream. A perfect end to my Mother's day.

Wishing my blogger mothers a Happy Mother's day and for all the mothers that are not with us. 

I miss my mother and think of her often and are very grateful for her love and encouragement.

Amazing April

 We had a few days without any commitments so took the caravan up to Booleroo Centre, a 3 hour drive from Adelaide,  for the Steam & Traction Rally which was great, especially for OH as he loves things mechanical and noisy!  I enjoyed the day too, but only spent 1 day there while OH went back a second day and I stayed back at the van and did some painting so we both had some time doing what we love.

My watercolour painting done while away in the caravan

Booleroo Centre derives its name from the Aboriginal meaning "place of mud", which on other visits there has lived up to the name but on this visit the weather was nice and sunny and no mud.

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Windmills on display

I have noticed on our more recent trips into the rural areas that there are not so many windmills in the paddocks, so it was good to see a collection of them at Booleroo Centre. Solar pumps are now seen on many farms as they require less maintenance than the windmills.

As the weather was good, we decided to go further north to Quorn in the southern Flinders Ranges, about an hour's drive. Quorn is a beautiful old historic town with many old buildings and the Pichi Richi Railway which is a major tourist attraction but unfortunately the train was not  operating while we were there but we enjoyed the beautiful old town buildings and scenery.

Quorn Railway Station

The railway yards in the town

Old water tank in railway yard

Eagle sculpture on one of our walks

Sunset view from railway yard

Quorn Town Hall built 1890

Warren Gorge

Driving through Warren Gorge

Quandong Cafe in Quorn is one of the first cafes in town

Sculptures were by Queensland artist Ivan Lovett. Note that each sculpture was able to be lit at night and have more impact.

Sculptures in the park

Our next stop was Port Germein, another small coastal town with the longest jetty in South Australia.

A walk on the Port Broughton jetty

View of the ocean from our caravan site at Port Broughton

Port Broughton Hotel

Port Broughton jetty

First pelican to see this trip

We met a beautiful Alaskan Malamute in Port Broughton

A few Galahs we disturbed

So that's our short holiday done, and we got home safely which is always good as there is a lot of traffic on the roads now.  

Happy Easter and stay safe and enjoy whatever you do.

Chihuly Glass Sculptures

We had a lovely  day out at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens to see the Chihuly Glass Artwork Exhibition.  The weather today was absolutely perfect considering we have had many really hot days here in Adelaide, but today was only about 28C, and the Gardens have many shady paths and trees and we enjoyed being outside getting some exercise.

The sculptures were really amazing and the sunshine added to their brightness and the background of the gardens made it really beautiful.  We were surprised at the size of the sculptures and wondered how they were transported and displayed in the garden setting as they were huge.  The display is also open at night and is meant to be even better than in the day so we might go again.  There is an entry fee at night but I think it is reasonable and probably well worth the  experience.

Polyvitro Chandelier 2006

Glacier Ice and Lapis Chandelier 2024

Palm  House

The Adelaide Botanic Garden Palm House is a rare example of the larger iron and glass botanical houses of the mid-late 19th Century,

Ethereal Spring Persians 2022

The Sun, 2014

Vivid Lime Icicle Tower 2022

We didn't get around to all of the sculptures so hopefully we'll get back another day and I'll take my other camera to get some better shots as I have trouble seeing the screen on the phone in the bright sun.