What a fabulous location for a New Year house sit.
Barry and I were lucky enough to be able to take 10 glorious days off work after Christmas and were lucky enough to spend it at Mount Eliza, on the Mornington Peninsula.
I loved cycling in the Barossa Valley. Smooth, off-road bike paths traversing the countryside and weaving alongside and even through vineyards, makes me a happy cyclist.
I hadn’t been to Adelaide since I was about 13 years old and my strongest memory of that trip was seeing a lot of VW beetles driving around. This resulted in a lot of ‘punch buggy’ hits from my sisters (I was the middle child so had to sit in the middle, getting it from both sides) and my dad banning the game.
A lot has changed in one or two years (or maybe just a few more). There aren’t so many punch buggies around. I think Adelaide is a really pretty city. It’s peaceful and slow paced, there’s nothing frantic about this city. My uncle described it as a big country town and that’s probably pretty accurate.
That’s not to say there’s no life about the place. There was an Asia Fest going on while we were there. And, of course, the Australian Nationals Ultimate Frisbee. The pedestrianised Rundle Mall is a hub of buskers, shoppers and a mix of historic and modern buildings. I was fascinated with taking photos of the silver mirror balls in the middle of the mall.
I love a good train journey. Barry does too but I was still surprised that it didn’t take me long to convince him that taking The Overland train, a 10 hour journey from Melbourne to Adelaide, for his Frisbee tournament was a good idea. It probably helped that you can take your bike for free. Also, we went for more than the tournament weekend. When Frisbee in Adelaide runs over three days you should go for 10.
One of the best things about house sitting is exploring neighbourhoods you might never have had a reason for ever venturing to. This can be especially true of your home city and is definitely true of Melbourne. Many of Melbourne’s suburbs are like contained little villages with pubs, bars, restaurants, all within its small boundaries. There’s often so much going on that it’s hard to find a reason to get on a tram or train.
Barry and I found this happening to us while living with my sister in Hawthorn, one of Melbourne’s trendy inner suburbs. The colder and darker days of autumn and winter were not particularly inspiring either.