A ghostly site.......

Since leaving Ballarat we have been gently making our way towards Adelaide, we had a few days to kill as our accommodation was not available till the next week. We've pitched our rig on three sites, the first on a bush camp by a river, and apart from a group of men on a guys weekend away from their wives, this was their eleventh year at the same spot doing the same weekend away.

The second site was on the side of the Murray River, in a small town called Tailem Bend, with a lovely view over the river valley from our tent. That however was the only thing to recommend it- we were close to the main road, and even closer to the railway, so we had very little sleep that night. Some of the trains stopped just outside the camp, and clattered for ages before moving on, many of the heavy wagons used their engine brakes as the passed down the hill beside us. We don't hear that in the UK, but here they use them all the time. Then to cap it all was some of the permanent residents,  whose conduct left a little to be desired.
Well we can't win them all!




But the third was an enigma, we had been turned away from a site just a few miles away as they were full, but we came across a pleasant site in Hahndorf. We checked in, and set up, and wondered why there was hardly anyone on the site. We had one caravan occupied next to us, and a tent the other side which while we were there no one came to.









A van up the field was the same. And a large caravan, with a large tent, a boat and a car seemed to be deserted also.Occasionally we would see the odd person coming down the hill to the toilets, but other wise it seemed deserted. We kept expecting the ghosts to walk that night!

As we approached Adelaide we climbed Mount Lofty to take in the view. It was a good clear day, very hot at around 35c, (95f) and we could see the city laid out before us. The Central Business District is completely surrounded by parks, which makes it very visible, and is one of the things that we like about Adelaide, our favourite state capital in Australia.
Form the summit we could see Kangaroo Island in the south, and the Eyre Peninsula in the West, both of which we visited last year.

The site was chosen in 1836 over many similar sites around the state.It had a safe harbour and plentiful fresh water, as well as timber for boat repair.

The city itself has some wonderful old buildings in the CBD, this one in Rundle Street, and the civic and state buildings from the late 19th century are quite majestic, as I shall show on another day.
Below is a highly decorated confectioner's shop we spotted as we were walking around the town.


But we are here for the fringe, avid readers will remember that we came last year and enjoyed it so much we decided to come back.
Last night, our first, we went to see PianoDivalicious, a lady who played the piano (of course!) and sang, and told humorous stories about her life. She was very good, but unfortunately not well attended with just four of us to enjoy her act. And we think we were the only ones who paid, as the other two we think were complimentaries! It's a pity, because she was good, maybe in the wrong venue.

Later we saw an Australian Comedienne, she was Ok but nothing to write home about, we reckon we enjoy just fifty percent of the acts we choose, some very unexpectedly good, others that we are looking forward to turn out to be very poor. Well, we can't win them all!.
I'll leave you with a couple of sights from Adelaide, we are here for five nights so there will be more later.