Semaphore Greek Fest & Gum Tree

Cam and I went to Semaphore, a suburb to the north in Adelaide for a Greek festival. We parked near the 1880 water tower, seen below. He was practicing architectural terms in preparation for his upcoming class.



The Greeks had a BBQ that included corn on the cob, lamb, chicken, and various other meats. Cam was excited at all the lamb. Check out a volunteer putting on another spit.

 

 

We also got a bunch of "honey balls" that were fried dough smothered in honey & cinnamon. Sticky but yummy!

Here's a shot of me at the festival with the stage in the background. We listened to a few songs and watched some kids dancing. It was pretty good fun, especially because we had been out on a hike during the day. Neither of us had to cook, which was fantastic.

 

 

One day recently, we finally made it to the "old gum tree" near-by our place in Glenelg. This tree was a bent gum under which the earliest settlers declared SA a colony of Britain in 1836. Its not alive any more, but it is pretty cool that they've built a shelter over it to mimic its curve.

Next posts will get back to Christmas I think!

New Year around Adelaide

I'm a bit behind on the blog, but alas the New Year is here & more updates & photos will be posted for your viewing pleasure. Here's a shot of my fav Christmas present from Cam:

Trust me when I say that this photo doesn't do it justice.

 We have been returning to the historic gold fields in Para Wirra, which is really, really dry. You can see where the water in this dam normally is so deep that you barely see the large tree in the green slime. We have been at the park when the wall is completely buried under water. The dam is huge, but dry right now because it is summer. Temps have been in the 100s.

Cam is standing on this small foundation that we found next to a path this weekend. Its great to get out in the fresh air & have a walk. This will be it until well after "McGurk" can travel a bit easier into the field.

Finally wanted to post this shot of Cam, McGurky Bubbles and me. We got McGury Bubbles as a wedding shower gift over Christmas. More on that to come.

New South Wales Christmas

 Cam & I headed to Sydney to hang out with his family for Christmas. We had such a relaxing time, it was amazing...loosing track of what day it was, what time it was, and not having to be anywhere. I completely forgot about work, as did everyone. We began the trip with a walk along the harbor, just C, me & MacGurkey (check out the bump in my belly, don't worry, there will be closer photos).

 After lunch with Cam's mom, MaryEd, we headed to Bowral to visit Nick and Cam's cousins. Here's Amelia feeding their new pet lamb.

 I wanted to go to the park with them, so we mounted up on scooters & took a picnic. It was a fair walk and we were gone for 1.5 hrs. Just enough time for a Christmas delivery and Prue to wrap some presents at home. Here's the gang on the way there.

 Some of my favorite childhood games involve lots of imagination and can easily be adapted for different age groups. I introduced "statues" where a shopkeeper tries to sell to one player a variety of statues that come to life when touched. It can be very comical, depending on the shopkeeper and the statues. Roles rotate as statues are purchased. Only challenge: 5 player minimum.

We stopped overnight in Bowral and had a wonderful evening and next day with the family. Then we drove on down to the farm where we spent the majority of Christmas. Next post will be a lead up to Santa. Stayed tuned & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Speaking of the new year, C & I spent ours putting together a photo book of our honeymoon. We know how to rock the night/year away!

Thanksgiving 2012

 Blogger refuses to put this photo right side up, so you must twist your head. We transformed the apartment into a formal dining room with a lounge out the back.

Here is the lounge complete with a Chinese decor, flowers, and grapes. Our neighbor, Maurene, made us appetizers of prawns (shrimp but larger) and sausage rolls. Most folks saved themselves for dinner.

We had 11 guests plus ourselves and the table was full of side dishes that everyone brought. This year was much easier to prepare, but the turkeys didn't cooperate. It takes much longer with the type of oven we have to cook two birds. Lucky for us, Maurene allowed us to use her oven too.

Cam had a carving station in the corner as if we were at a 5 star restaurant. Lets face it, we were all fancy with our matching plates and cloth napkins. Everyone had a fabulous time and really enjoyed the tradition of mentioning what they were thankful for...including their new house, vacuum cleaner, pets, Harvey Norman, and dual control fans in a car.

Para Wirra - Gold Mining Adventure

Cam and I have been visiting Para Wirra, a gold mining landscape north of Adelaide for close to a year. I think I've posted on this before, but have some photos that are backed up. Here I am next to a small lake. It was a beautiful day a few months back.

We walked through the woods looking for and documenting small pits or former buildings. Since we have been doing this in so many seasons, we've come across some beautiful plants. Check this flower out that turns from pink to blueish-purple. 

  

Cam paused just long enough for this photo. It has been beautiful weather, as evidence in this image.

  

This past weekend we were out with our friend Jo. We were trying to follow a former road through the woods, which proved to be more difficult than we had hoped. You can probably tell that I'm over 5 months pregnant in this shot and am sporting some nice looking pants...at least MacGurkey was mellow the whole time.

Just as we were leaving, we stopped to snap this shot in the former schoolhouse. My feet are tired, but Cam has just downloaded the points from our GPS and wants to label photos.

Kicking off from England

 Our trip was excellent and really fun. Of course what trip to England would be complete without some castles. I don't remember exactly where this was, but I believe we were in Oxford in one of the colleges. Cam & him Mom taking a break on our walk.

 We also went to Blenheim Palace, another castle in my book. There was a fantastic, wicked maze that everyone enjoyed. I managed to break out ahead to snap this shot with the top of Tony's head, Cam running to hide from MaryEd, and ME trying to keep up. It was comical.

 
 At the center of the maze was "BLENHEIM" spelled out in bushes. Giving me the opportunity for this shot.

With Tony & MaryEd on their way to China to visit another son & his family, we took the rental car down to visit Colin in Bristol. On the way back, we stopped at the Queen's castle, but she wasn't in. Instead, we had to just have that statue in the background.

One of the most exciting parts of the trip was the A380 airplane that we flew home in for the first leg from Heathrow to Singapore. We had an awesome seat, and Cam was really excited. It was the first time for us on one of those "JUMBO" jets & let me tell you it was huge! Lots of head room when you were standing at your seat. I didn't like the way the chairs reclined because the seat part moved forward, which banged my knees.

I suppose the other slight discomfort was my belly. Our flight was even more memorable because that was the first time we felt McGirkey kick! Yep, Cam & I are expecting to expand our family of 2 to be one larger in March. Cam couldn't decide if he was more excited about the baby's kick or the plane. I've had an uneventful pregnancy so far, but am heading out shopping now because most of my pants no longer fit.

The First Bridge of Iron

Cam & I made a pilgrimage to Ironbridge Gorge & it was all I had thought it would be and more. With 10 different museums, we wish we could have spent more time in the geologically amazing valley. The beauty of English countryside has always been usurped in my mind by its industry. (If you are wondering why I made that statement, just look at the profile.)

 Here's a shot with me and THE Iron Bridge. Because the gorge is so young & the bridge is only from 1779, it has buckled up in its center. The area was well known for its iron production with deposits of iron ore and coal. The first smelted iron and wrought iron using coal as a fuel was made possible by the Darby family.

I mentioned the fact that there were 10 museums in the little area, each that focused on another, smaller industry than iron. One was a tile works. I've dabbled a bit in ceramics, but not tiles. This bar was one of the highlights of a series of rooms that used tiles. Pretty special, huh?

Another small museum was the Tar Tunnel. It is exactly what it sounds like. In trying to dig a passage to a canal, they ran into a natural bituminous tar deposit. Instead of using the tunnel for its original purpose, people started to harvest the tar for boats. It was super sticky.

 

The Darby furnace was really remarkable to see. Like I said, a bit of a pilgrimage for us and worth every minute. The furnace was expanded several times, hence the four iron bars that brace and helped to hold up the body of the furnace. Darby reused an unused furnace to experiment with the coal and iron.

 We had the opportunity to dress up in period clothing worn by Quakers like the Darcy family. It was pretty fun, and lets be honest. Cam's beard fits perfectly for this shot. its just the jeans sticking out that look strange.

 Another shot that adds to our collection of face cut-outs. There was a huge exhibit about the great exhibition and all the ironwork made by the Darcy company.

In visiting dozens of industrial communities, I love trying to pick one or two things that are not really seen elsewhere. For Ironbridge, that was its iron curbing. Many small communities use local material at the edges of its streets, but for me this was a first. 

 Finally as our trip draws to a close and we start heading home, just thought I'd leave you with this shot. The road has been torn up so much and constantly requires replacement that the local government decided to use wood. The gorge is very young, and constantly moves. Pretty crazy huh?