27th January, 2007 - Adelaide

Sean and Jodie had organised to go visit their grandfather; I figured I'd use the day to do a bit of exploring, not wishing to be the third wheel. They dropped me off at a clothing store, as I wanted to get some new jeans (I'd only brought shorts with me). After finding a pair I liked, I walked up to the Roman Catholic Cathedral; it was one place I hadn't had the chance to visit on my numerous trips to Adelaide, so was quite looking forward to it.

Unfortunately there was a wedding about to take place, so I walked around the outside of the building instead. I then jumped on the free City Loop bus, making my acquaintance with a rather nice couple, who told me where to get off in order to walk to St Peter's, Adelaide's Anglican cathedral. Before that, though, I thought a quick visit to the Adelaide Library would be in order, to see if they had any scores I could pilfer and republish. Nothing though, so I made my way to the cathedral. I purchased a photo permit (for the princely sum of $2 - I think they should charge more!).

Here are some of the results:


West End


The beautiful West Rose Window


The Hill, Norman & Beard 4 manual organ


Looking down the central aisle to the West Door


Detail of the reredos

After spending 20 minutes talking to the lovely verger-ladies, and purchasing a copy of the choir's new CD, I made my way back to the CBD. When purchasing the jeans earlier that morning, I decided that a new belt wouldn't be a bad thing. So, the eternal quest to find the perfect belt began, lasting 4 hours and 25 clothing shops later, I had it! Ever on the hunt for interesting CDs, I went to one of those discount shops that sell everything for $10; I came away with a recording of Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé Suite, and selections from his score for Romeo and Juliet - good stuff! I also bought Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, as it was something that I've been meaning to buy for quite a number of years, but somehow hadn't. Time for a beer, and then I was collected by Sean and Jodie. The visit went reasonably well, and Sean was a bit happier that he'd got to chat to his grandad, after 2 days before being half a world away (quite literally!).

We collected Juliet, Jodie's girlfriend, from her work (she works in this awesome pet store - its huge!), and made our way to Sean's Mum's place for a barbecue dinner that they'd organised for us. It was great to catch up with his Mum and Terry (her partner). It'd be nice to see more of them, but given the distance between Adelaide and Sydney, its not as though one can just drop round to say Hi!