THE BIG TREES:
Back in Sydney my old friend Lynn's cousin Claire had mentioned to me that one of the strangest things about coming here was starting from scratch with nature. Trees are a constant delight, not least the hundreds of types of gum trees you get here. There are the ones that look as if they've been scribbled on...
The ones that look like camouflage combat trousers...
The stringy bark ones...
The ones that weep red tears...
Then there are the Norfolk Island pines, which have branches that look like upside-down Christmas trees...
There are trees that look as if they've just undressed, dropping their clothes to the floor like they're the erotic star of some kind of private show...
Finally there are Aboriginal Scar trees, which leave behind the imprint of the bark that has been sliced out to make a canoe.
THE RING OF TREES:
Adelaide's CBD is surrounded by a circle of parkland that you have to cross before you can even begin to navigate the suburbs. It's so big it incorporates a golf course and a boating pond. The city's original planners had the idea of creating a 'lung' for the city and I guess it is the main reason for the extensive urban sprawl. On a very hot day I decide to cycle over and explore this parkland. I weave in and out, find the zoo, bike alongside the river and even get a little lost in an area fenced off for a rock concert.
THE FAMILY TREE:
One of the lovely things about Adelaide is connecting with a branch of the family tree I'd never landed on before. When he heard I was going to be in Adelaide my Uncle Mick in Melbourne sent me contact details of Kit and John, who are second cousins of he and my mum. Their grandfather, Frank, was an elder brother of my grandma and now I think of it, he's one of those bespectacled men crowded around my Aunt Jo and Uncle Peter in the photographs taken on their wedding day. I send an email but it turns out Kit has changed service providers and I only discover this when I call her on the bank holiday weekend on the off chance she's there. So once she has processed who I am from this call out of the blue, Kit immediately invites me to lunch the following day. Not only that but she rustles up her daughter Ali, English husband Steve, and brother John and his wife Pam, who also pick me up from Mike and Moyra's. It's a little daunting to meet them all in one room, in one fell swoop, but Kit is a bundle of fun and both she and John share memories of my grandma, not to mention stories of her as a child that she remembers her grandfather telling her. Kit recalls hopping on a motorbike in London and driving all the way up to Glenmore Lodge in the Highlands when we were living there. Delightful to meet them all and even more delightful to feel so relaxed in their company.
I leave Adelaide with a few extra pieces of designer clobber from Surface Art, including this stylish top...
... and a dinner party that Mike and Moyra throw in my honour, inviting along a few of their favourite people together with their children. We sit out in the garden until the sun goes down, feasting, chatting and laughing. There's a definite chill in the air, though. Perhaps Autumn is coming.
Back in Sydney my old friend Lynn's cousin Claire had mentioned to me that one of the strangest things about coming here was starting from scratch with nature. Trees are a constant delight, not least the hundreds of types of gum trees you get here. There are the ones that look as if they've been scribbled on...
The ones that look like camouflage combat trousers...
The stringy bark ones...
The ones that weep red tears...
Then there are the Norfolk Island pines, which have branches that look like upside-down Christmas trees...
There are trees that look as if they've just undressed, dropping their clothes to the floor like they're the erotic star of some kind of private show...
Finally there are Aboriginal Scar trees, which leave behind the imprint of the bark that has been sliced out to make a canoe.
THE RING OF TREES:
Adelaide's CBD is surrounded by a circle of parkland that you have to cross before you can even begin to navigate the suburbs. It's so big it incorporates a golf course and a boating pond. The city's original planners had the idea of creating a 'lung' for the city and I guess it is the main reason for the extensive urban sprawl. On a very hot day I decide to cycle over and explore this parkland. I weave in and out, find the zoo, bike alongside the river and even get a little lost in an area fenced off for a rock concert.
THE FAMILY TREE:
One of the lovely things about Adelaide is connecting with a branch of the family tree I'd never landed on before. When he heard I was going to be in Adelaide my Uncle Mick in Melbourne sent me contact details of Kit and John, who are second cousins of he and my mum. Their grandfather, Frank, was an elder brother of my grandma and now I think of it, he's one of those bespectacled men crowded around my Aunt Jo and Uncle Peter in the photographs taken on their wedding day. I send an email but it turns out Kit has changed service providers and I only discover this when I call her on the bank holiday weekend on the off chance she's there. So once she has processed who I am from this call out of the blue, Kit immediately invites me to lunch the following day. Not only that but she rustles up her daughter Ali, English husband Steve, and brother John and his wife Pam, who also pick me up from Mike and Moyra's. It's a little daunting to meet them all in one room, in one fell swoop, but Kit is a bundle of fun and both she and John share memories of my grandma, not to mention stories of her as a child that she remembers her grandfather telling her. Kit recalls hopping on a motorbike in London and driving all the way up to Glenmore Lodge in the Highlands when we were living there. Delightful to meet them all and even more delightful to feel so relaxed in their company.
... and a dinner party that Mike and Moyra throw in my honour, inviting along a few of their favourite people together with their children. We sit out in the garden until the sun goes down, feasting, chatting and laughing. There's a definite chill in the air, though. Perhaps Autumn is coming.
No comments:
Post a Comment