A jetty with a history and a heritage.

What a treat to spend on a day at Glenelg - the popular beach-side suburb of the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Located on the shore of Holdfast Bay in Gulf St Vincent, it has become a popular tourist destination due to its beach and many attractions, home to several hotels and dozens of restaurants.

Established in 1836, it is the oldest European settlement on mainland South Australia, with the proclamation of the colony of South Australia.



Glenelg Luna Park 1859



Glenelg Water Slides 2014


GLENELG JETTY
In August 1857, construction of Glenelg's first jetty commenced; it was opened on 25 April 1859. Costing over £31,000 to build, the structure was 381 metres long. The jetty was used not only by fishermen but also to accept cargo from ships, including a mail service.

The entire jetty was destroyed by a freak cyclone in 1948, most of the structure washed away. A new jetty and construction was completed in 1969. The new structure was just 215 metres long, less than two-thirds of the original jetty. The second jetty continues to stand today, and that is where we found it, at the end of Jetty Road.

Between the ribs of the jetty;
if you can't run, walk; if you can't walk, crawl.

JETTY ROAD
Looking for some retail therapy, great food and wine, entertainment and over 350 specialty shops? Jetty Road, Glenelg has it all.

The plain where Jetty Road originate.

https://www.facebook.com/jettyroadglenelg

A score of 6 @ the oval!

Ten days ago I was a guest at the Adelaide Oval in South Australia. It is located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide (where I stayed for a week).

 

The Oval has been headquarters to the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) since 1871 and South Australian National Football League (SANFL) since 2014.

The oval dates back to 1871, and before its redevelopment in 2012 it was considered to be one of the most picturesque test cricket grounds in the world.

The ground is mostly used for cricket and football, but plays host to other sports such as Rugby League and Soccer, and is also used as an entertainment venue for performances expecting large attendance. The current structure house 32 conference rooms.

In 2006, prior to redevelopment, it had a seating capacity of 34 000. However at a football final the maximum crowd was 62 543 (1965).  A $575 (or R5750) million redevelopment increasing the stadium's seating capacity to 50,083.

What impressed me most was the atmosphere of excitement that filled The Oval complex, even on a match-less night, with only replays on the big screens and the roars of recorded cheers.

For sure, this visit scored a six!
With both the old and new score-boards in the back.

 

Bushsong about swagmen, sundowners or tussockers

 The Outback, the vast, remote, arid area of Australia, is a remarkable place, well as the history of its exploration and settlement that provides Australians with a culturally valued backdrop, and stories of swagmen (swaggie, sundowner or tussocker are an old Australian term describing an underclass of transient temporary workers), squatters, and bushrangers are central to the national ethos. The song "Waltzing Matilda", which is about a swagman and squatters, is probably Australia's best internationally known and best-loved song.

 

Australian swaggie

The Jolly Swagmen in Winton; the town made famous by the Waltzing Matilda-song.

"Waltzing Matilda" is Australia's most widely known bush ballad. A folk song, the song has been referred to as "the unofficial national anthem of Australia". The Australian poet Banjo Paterson wrote the words to "Waltzing Matilda" in January 1895.

There are no "official" lyrics to "Waltzing Matilda" and slight variations can be found in different sources. This version incorporates the famous "You'll never catch me alive said he" variation. Paterson's original lyrics referred to "drowning himself 'neath the coolibah tree".


The original manuscript of "Waltzing Matilda" (1895).



Waltzing Matilda
Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong

Under the shade of a coolibah tree,

And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled:

"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me?"



Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda

You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me

And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled:

"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."



Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong.

Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee.

And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag:

"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."



Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda

"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me",

And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag:

"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."



Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred.

Down came the troopers, one, two, and three.

"Whose is that

jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?

You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."



Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda

"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me",

"Whose is that jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?

You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."



Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong.

"You'll never take me alive!" said he

And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong:

"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me?"



Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda

"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me",

And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong:

"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me?"

The Outback local that I gladly fastied*

* Australian slag for dodged

Queensland's outback is a place where characters share a yarn (a long or rambling story, especially one that is implausible) and people say g’day. I love the Ozzies and their easy-going attitudes and can relate to their culture.

A land of the dreamtime, recorded on rock faces and cave walls is ancient Aboriginal culture and where evidence of the dinosaurs reign over the earth can still be found

Once part of a 'Great Inland Sea' that left the region rich in fossils, and on Australia’s Dinosaur Trail. We visited the prehistoric creatures that roamed the land around 100 million years ago.

However, I am glad that I missed one particular Ozzie. . .
Two weeks before I arrived, a three meter slocal feasted on a crocodile in full sight of weekenders at Lake Moondarra, just outside Mt Isa. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l56K8eAtCig

These pictures were all taken within a few meters of the where the video was recorded and where we regularly picnicked, swam and rubber-ducked over the past four years

Machtild, Emmy & Michael . . .

Emmy & Christo with me . . .

Emmy & me next to the bank where the snake feasted

The snake-restaurant in the background.

and so traveled and traveled and traveled

There is no place like the Australian Outback; it is surprising in every way.

Owing to the low and erratic rainfall over most of the outback, combined with soils which are usually not very fertile, inland Australia is relatively sparsely settled. 

The outback and the history of its exploration and settlement provides Australians with a culturally valued backdrop, and stories of swagmen (swaggie, sundowner or tussocker are an old Australian term describing an underclass of transient temporary workers), squatters, and bushrangers are central to the national ethos. The song "Waltzing Matilda", which is about a swagman and squatters, is probably Australia's best internationally known and best-loved song.

The Outback - or more specifically, a sheep station Gillanbone, near Drogheda - is also the backdrop of The Thorn Birds, a 1977 best selling novel by Colleen McCullough, an Australian author.