ink marks on a blank page Mon 20th April

I haven't looked through all of the old blogs( ink marks) to ascertain if at some time or other there was some waxing lyrical about where chez robbi is situated (Adelaiode, South OZ). Perhaps there is, but if so then it is back in the annals of and I shall refresh the memory buds anyway.Y'all just knew I'd say that now didn't you, ego tripper that I am. Adelaide being what and where it is folk who live here just mostly accept their lot. We live in a temperate clime, not enough rainfall at the moment but that might change. The city is ringed by hills, faces like most OZ cities, the sea. A great coastline as we are at the top end of a gulf (St.Vincent) plenty of great fishing ,water sports galore couple that with good weather with a smallish population then the recipe is set for a good mix. The population stands at about 1.2mill in the city/suburbs with around 800k living in the country.We have our unique problems of course, any homogenous lot do, but in the main we tend to get along with ourselves and others pretty well.

Adelaide was different in that it was specifically laid out by a surveyor,one Col.Light, settled by free men, plus land was divided up by a title which was unique in the world for its time. The Torrens title, named after the designer, gave unfettered access to a parcel of land in a suburb/subdivision, to the registered owner of that piece of land inviolate to be included on a Government register with the sole purpose of creating one title to ownership. This meant that it became a simple process to but sell or transfer land in one transaction and without re-surveying each time the land was sold. Boring? useful though.

Apart from this great method of flogging land we are reasonably well known for the wine we make, some of the best reds in the world and getting up there with the reds, lots of great whites too. To go with all this fantastic drinkable stuff there are about 800 or so pretty good restaurants in the city and suburbs with lots out in the country as well, especially in the wine region of the Barossa valley, Mc Claren flat,Limestone coast ,not to forget the Clare Valley. Not only do we make great wine, South Australia was the first to give women the vote, forward thinking lot are we not?

I have travelled over a lot of OZ, not all ,but a rather large portion.My own state of South Australia I have covered many times, lived in some of the really remote places. Even survived getting lost in the outback on a couple of occasions, so I know, admire,love it well. I have also been to many many countires all over the globe and will readily admit to being an Anglophile but whenever I return here just the smell of the place brings my legs to quiver. There is just something about Eucalypts that brings out the tears in me, which I suppose is why I live where I live.

Where I live is right on what is quaintly called the Linear Park at Paradise. My front door opens to the garden, a smallish road then the park, so on a water rushing day I can actually hear the river gushing along singing its song. The Linear Park starts at Athelstone right on the Hills Face and follows the Torrens River all the way down to the sea at Henley Beach, some 37kms of park. One reason it is called Linear is perhaps because the Park itself at the widest point would only be 750mtrs and on either side is a cement/bitumen path just wide enough for maintenance vehicles. As befits even the smallest of rivers such as the Torrens it trickles around gracefully with plenty of meander so there is actually a plethora of paths and parks for picnics,lovers to spoon,trysts to make and children to play. Funny quirky little things like a fully functioning suspension bridge such as one would see in a Tarzan movie and of course lots of Billy Goat Gruff bridges for children to look at trolls. We shifted from the farm then across to a Hills village then down here, so folk who knew us were at first horrified to think we would shift back to the suburbs after 30yrs of living like real people, until they saw the place that is. We ride our bikes on several different 5km rides each week, each morning at 0630 I walk up to the big road bridge on Darley rd and back, that takes about 35mins unless I get waylaid by taking pictures. Please don't think that I paint this word pic of my suburb because I want you to believe this is the creme de la creme of living , not at all , just suits me well really. I'm going to put a few pictures that I have taken this week up, you can judge for yourselves.

Oh Hortense I do know that not everything is perfect in Paradise. Look at all the trouble Mr Tom Koutsankanis got himself into as the Roads Safety Minister. Someone found out he had something like 58 tickets for speeding and running red lights etc and then told the newspapers. To make matters worse Horty he went on talk-back radio and said that he was speeding because he was very busy going to important meetings and the like. Tut Tut Hortense, very busy just didn't cut it at all with the good folk of Adelaide so he had to resign that portfolio. Shame isn't it that the honest people who actiually paid their fines, unlike him, they didn't get any reward as Tom did they, $148k per annum plus a driver , not bad for a young chap eh? We finishe the day off well did we not, took the g/kids off to Cocolat for some of their fine Gelato and that lovely young Barista chappie Thanth, made us a super little coffee. A great day !!