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A VISIT

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I had been invited to Melbourne to run a strategic planning session for an arts company but they cancelled at the last minute. However, flights had been booked, theatre tickets arranged, dates with friends confirmed so I decided to go anyway. It was only the equivalent of a long weekend but I did manage to fit in two theatre productions, two restaurant dinners, two cafe lunches, two home-cooked meals and a morning tea plus a film. I'm lucky to still have kind and inviting friends in Melbourne. The first MTC show was Do Not Pass Go by Jean Tong. Remember that phrase from Monopoly? It is set in a (cleverly designed) factory where two workers do repetitive tasks. They are new to each other and have qualities that feel very contemporary - one is a mother who may have undiagnosed ADHD and the other is a trans person, saving up for surgery. Each part was beautiful performed by Belinda McClory and Ella Prince. I don't know the latter actor but Belinda is wonderful performer so it was ...
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SCULPTURE BY THE SEA

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I've always enjoyed seeing sculptures set amongst seascapes and this year, one such display is back at Cottesloe Beach . I have to confess that there few objects per se that particularly inspired me but it was wonderful to see so many people, including hordes of school children, meandering around, taking in the sights.  I enjoyed Evi and Tania Ferrier's Sun Dial . Tania is known for her " angry underwear " series of challenging painted bras and pants. The original exhibition in Perth was closed briefly because of "obscenity and inappropriate use of government funding. I bought one one of her bras back in the day called The Treasure Chest. Of course it no longer fits but I do still have it on display. Other pieces that appealed included: Love U by Jason Hirst - large hearts on which you could add your name The Ghost of Van Eileen by Tim Haynes  - a life sized installation of a food van that used to be at Cottelsoe Beach. Someone, and it wasn't clear whether it...
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PETER'S POOL

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Once they moved to Cottesloe, Alan and Betty made Peter's Pool their favourite beach. It's a beach that doesn't appear on Google Maps. It's at the end of Napier St, between Eric St and Cottesloe Beach. It's surrounded by a small reef so as long as there's not a rip, it's a safe and delightful spot to swim albeit you have to head down stairs to get there. The look of calm can be deceiving and over the years, we have had to rescue people who were out of their depth, sometimes just hauling them out and sometimes racing up the sand to get the surf life savers. Even when I'd moved out of home, I would come to Peter's Pool on a Sunday morning and join Alan and Betty and their friends, for a swim. It's a spot that's full of warm, relaxing memories so I'm somewhat surprised that it's taken Susan and me over 12 months to visit it. Of course, it was the days before mobile phones and one rarely took a camera to the beach but I have discovered on...
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THE REST OF ADELAIDE

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In between buying cars and attending a graduation and festival and fringe shows, we fitted in some other activities. They ranged from weeding and mulching Sebastian's overgrown and somewhat unloved rose garden to catching up with friends and exploring the Biennale at the Art Gallery of SA plus visits to other loved places (the Jam Factory, T'Arts in Adelaide Arcade, the Space Theatre) and visiting new places such as MOD and Carrick Hill. The 2026 Adelaide Beinnial of Australian Art: Yield Strength wasn't particularly to my taste. "Yield Strength" is the "the stress level at which a material begins to deform plastically, meaning it stops stretching elastically (snapping back) and starts to permanently change shape." I confess (as is often the case for me when it comes to contemporary art) I just didn't quite get it. Why for example were there a number of Prudence Flint's works there amongst metal and videos? I have always loved her work so it was ...
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GRADUATION DAY

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  The reason for our trip to Adelaide was Sebastian's Graduation ceremony on Wednesday 18 March for his Degree in Doctor of Philosophy on the topic of "Investigating the scope and drivers of the global exotic pet trade in endemic Australian repitles and amphibians." He is now the best educated member of the family because I've never had the capacity to do what's required for a PhD: concentrate on one single topic for years.  He looked glorious in his black floppy hat with gold tassels and his shiny red silk array over a black academic gown in his procession through Bonython Hall at the University of Adelaide. Making his mother and his aunt very proud. It was also great to see him being congratuled by students he had taught and his peers. It was interesting to think back to past graduations. I missed my undergraduate ceremony as I was working in Canberra but I did attend my arts management post-graduate course one in Adelaide. All I remember of that event is being ...
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BIG WHITE CARS and smaller plasma yellow ones

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Why is it that when we don’t want a big white car to hire, we end up with one? On our last few trips to Adelaide to visit Sebastian, we have wanted something large enough for 3 people, 3 big suitcases, and a cat and all its accoutrements for our adventures into rural South Australia. But this time, on a visit for Sebastian’s graduation, we were only going to be pottering around the city so we specifically booked a small car. But no. We were upgraded to the large Haval SUV. Its only advantage is that it’s a hybrid so we’re not burning up too much fuel. Why do people buy these massive cars for commuting in the city?  It’s a weekend of cars. Sebastian had a bingle in his 20 year old jeep (no humans damaged) and his insurance company have written it off so he and Susan went off traipsing around the car yards of Adelaide looking for a replacement. I didn’t volunteer to join them because my track record of buying second handcars is abysmal right up until my current one. There was th...
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SINGALONG

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Although Susan and I arrived in Adelaide at the tale end of the Fringe and the Festival, we did manage to squeeze in some musical events that appealed to everyone’s taste - albeit very different shows. The first was the Victorian band Bush Gothic. A trio of talented multi-skilled musicians, they create interesting arrangements of both traditional Australian/Irish folk songs such as Black Velvet Band and Blood on the Wattle but also variations of contemporary songs such as John Williamson’s True Blue.  Usually, their arrangements are beautiful to listen to but not easy to sing to but they did get us on board for Great Southern Land.  I love the way they describe themselves: “Bush Gothic wander through the dankest, weirdest corners of the trad song books and emerge as post modern slash anti establishment slash folk feminists.”  We then wandered to the other side of Adelaide, to Gluttony in Rymill Park, and saw a very different show: Broadway off Broadway. Initially, the per...
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