Category Archive: AUSTRALIANIA
Back to the Future
Glenelg v North Adelaide, 13 May 2023 (John Sandland Cup) It was a very pleasant autumn afternoon, starting with a 104 point win to the Tigers Reserves, and then, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of The Greatest Game Ever Played, surviving members (or next of kin) of the 1973 Premiership Team paraded on to the ground, led by Captain Peter Marker. The Sacred Heart School Drummers gave all of them a fine volley of percussion. It was a lovely trip down Amnesia Lane to catch up with the Greats from that Greatest of Great Days, including Neville Caldwell, Peter…
Continue Reading →Vale Barry Humphries
(17 February 1934 – 22 April 2023) On Saturday night (22/4/23) TVC went to see the very funny Jimmy Carr. Later on, we saw his tweet: “A bit bittersweet doing gigs in Australia this evening, Barry Humphries has passed and no one will ever be as good at crowd work again.” Whilst something of a polymath, Humphries’ great legacy was established on the boards. His one-man, multi-character work in the theatre is unmatched. Most famous is his Housewife Gigastar, Dame Edna Everage. Caroline Overington, in the Sydney Morning Herald, described Dame Edna as “a perfect parody of a modern, vainglorious…
Continue Reading →Dark Side of Parkside
Walking Tour (Adelaide Fringe Festival, 2 March 2023) Parkside, an old suburb just to the south of the Parklands which encircle the Adelaide CBD, is famous for one of the most well-known of all Adelaide’s infamous homicides – the one known as “the body-in-the-freezer murder”. But, while those of us who knew someone involved in this macabre crime, or who worked in the odd building which housed the freezer, are familiar indeed with the gory details, there are some – particularly people born this century – who must have only a vague notion of the events, if any notion at…
Continue Reading →Grey Masts
Beach House, 36-38 Smillie Street, Robe, South Australia (February 2023) South to Robe, a 337 kilometre drive from Adelaide, for a weekend conference, TVC stayed at Grey Masts, a 3 bedroom beach house in the heart of town. Described as a “Charming Drinking Village with a Fishing Problem,” Robe was founded in the 1840s and now survives less as a port than a tourist attraction. Grey Masts is 3 minutes walk from Robe’s beautiful beach, where the Robe Motel sits; 1 minute from the Caledonian Inn, an 1850s English-style pub, which is over the road (you get to hear the…
Continue Reading →The Cube
d’Arenberg winery, October 2022 d’Arenberg Cube is a five-storey, double-tempered glass building situated within the Mourvèdre vines of d’Arenberg winery in the little town of McLaren Vale, itself a great stop and gateway to South Australia’s famous Fleurieu Peninsula. The design concept for the Cube came from d’Arenberg’s Chief Winemaker, Chester Osborn, by way of inspiration from Toyo Ito’s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London and Ernõ Rubik’s famous puzzle. Built in 2014/17 at a reputed cost of $15 million to $16 million Australian dollars, it rises, or ‘floats’ above gently rolling hills and vines, in no way creating an eyesore. You…
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