Boxing Day and Beyond

It's the Boxing Day holiday which means the beginning of the Boxing Day test from the MCG in Melbourne from 1000 to 1800 and a Big Bash Twenty20 match after that. A full day of cricket on the telly and a day of virtual rest.

Our second period with a car begins the day after Boxing Day.  We've been upgraded again, and to the same monster soccer mom Toyota people mover.  Don't these folks know that you don't give monster vehicles to folks from whom right-hand driving isn't natural!

First stop is The Cube.

It is the creation of the winemaker at d'Arenberg and is every bit as bizarre as Chester. Sited on one of the highest points in McLaren Vale, from the top there are great views such as this one looking out on Gulf St. Vincent.

The biggest disappointment is that the wine sampling has become a commercial zoo and is no longer personal, where the people pouring get a sense of the customer.  At the original cellar door, once it became obvious we we're interested in the dozen's of entry offerings, we used to get older versions of the good stuff; and used to walk off with bottles of them.

It's now more a tourist attraction than cellar door.  You have to pay 10AUD for entry.  The weird bathrooms are touted as an attraction. Difficult to figure out how to get into them and even more difficult trying to determine how to exit (the bathroom).

 

They even have life-like statues of Chester and d'Arry.

Today being a hot one, Phil organizes for us to have a light cheeseboard lunch at Gemtree Winery, an organic and biodynamic vineyard and winery along with a tasting of their wines. We spend a nice afternoon with Phil and Lauren.

 

We pass by Samuel's Gorge to purchase a few bottles. They have upgraded a bit, but have generally kept the rustic nature of their cellar door which is consistent with its location.

By the time we return to the city it's time for dinner and we search Peel and Leigh streets for a restaurant. We return to Udaberri. Carol has an incredible gin & tonic, CJ a refreshing cider spritz and we dine on a marvelous octopus dish and a prawns & chorizo.

Christmas Day

There is a special and delicious (obviously) jelly we've been using for years.  Coincidentally it's made by someone named Carol.

We make a number of Christmas morning phone calls to the US.  It's only Christmas Eve in the US but we'll be sleeping through their Christmas morning and day.

Carol is cooking the second batch of deserts for today's Christmas dinner.  While she's doing that CJ takes a long exercise walk.  It's 95F when he leaves on the walk. It's 98F at his return. It's a long walk along the Riverwalk to the zoo, a trek across the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, and a return up the eerily deserted Rundle St and Rundle Mall. The return walk was mostly conducted in shade.

A small lake in the Adelaide Botanical Gardens.

What amounts to Christmas decorations along Adelaide's main shopping street.

It's not often the Rundle Mall pigs can be viewed without crowds. Is Adelaide a sister city of Smithfield?  They should be since they already have the pigs.

We're at James and Jackie's for Christmas Dinner. Over the years James has talked about mossies (mosquitos) so often, for Christmas we get him a gift pack of every anti-mosquito remedy known to man.

We enjoy a fine Christmas turkey and French cannelés.  It's been a fine Christmas, indeed.

 

Christmas Eve

We take a morning tram two stops to Rundle Mall where we celebrate Christmas Smithfield style, with the pigs. We have no idea why they have them but there are four bronze full size pig statues, one eating out of a garbage bin.

Another two-stop tram ride delivers us to the ACM.  While there we have lunch at the Asian food court, Chinatown Plaza.  Until last year this place was a dump; a group of vendors surrounding a center of long community tables.  They've upgraded it including moving Dumpling King in from it's burnt out location a few hundred feet down the alley in Chinatown. The kitchens now randomly occupy the interior with tables scattered about including a few beneath Asian gazebos.

 

We went in expecting lunch at Dumpling King and had great difficulty selecting the vendor. We decided on Thai.  We both had our usual, Carol had a mountain of Pad Thai (enough for two more meals) and CJ a magnificent bowl of Thai Green Curry.  The taste was as good as Thailand with it only missing those darling tiny Thai eggplants.

 

With ingredients now in hand, Carol gets down to making desert.  Panic sets in.  The oven in the apartment is old and the markings for the control knobs are rubbed off from use. Look ma, no markings! The rental manager emails a user manual and also sends our favorite handyman, Steve.
We've known him since last year and will miss him when he retires in two days.

CJ completes Neil's birthday present.  It's a sign for the room in their outbuilding used mostly by Tom and Louie and their mates for parties; but part of it doubles as our storage area when we're not in country.

Neil picks us up for Christmas Eve dinner. Carol and Neil begin with a special gin concoction. After exchanging presents, Neil takes us to see his new blue baby.

This 1956 Thunderbird is gorgeous. 

Now that is what is called a "proper" automobile engine!

After a fine dinner beginning with a cucumber soup and followed by salmon and roasted potatoes, we're on to the canneles. The molds were purchased following our search throughout France and carried over here.  Carol will make three batches to serve with three friends.

Twas the usual fun Christmas Eve evening with Bronwyn and Neil.

Strikers Home Opener

The day has finally arrived.  Today the Striker's begin their home defense of their 2017 Big Bash League championship. They have a win at Brisbane under their belt.  When in town, the team stays in our hotel/apartment building.

But first CJ takes a bike ride.  Today's route is North Terrace and Port Rd to Bonython Park on the far side of Adelaide Gaol, through the tunnel under the rail lines, up the river path, across the Weir and all the way to the Adelaide Zoo where he turns around and returns down the other side of the river passing by the Weir and retraces his entrance route.

Along the ride, CJ passes some iconic styled South Australian buildings: the corner pub and a New Orleans style building.

 

Today's match is a doubleheader with the Lady Strikers in the early match.  CJ arrives midway through the ladies match as is able to get a good seat in the Bodyline Bar; the most comfortable seats at the Oval that aren't in corporate boxes.

 He's managed a seat with a view of the scoreboard and the pitch.  When the windows are opened his unobstructed view is through window openings.  Great seat!

 

The Strikers batted first. They started slow and finished fast setting what appeared to be an impossible total to overcome. CJ walked home to watch the end of the match and by the time he arrived, it was a disaster in the making.  Somehow the Strikers lost in spite of Carol's favorite player doing his part.