The kookaburra was singing in the tree right on que at 6am, and right outside my window as always. It's a nice way to wake up, a kookaburra's call...But it's new years day and a sleep in would have been nice. I turned over, clamped a pillow on my head and went back to sleep...
My eyes opened again at 8am and I felt more with it and more capable of rising and getting after the day in whatever fashion Faith and I decided.
It's 2021 day one, I thought to myself and as I sat up in bed I looked around to see if it looked or felt any different...Nope, just another day.
A little later over breakfast Faith and I discussed what we were going to do and we agreed upon a drive to a popular seaside suburb for a walk and some lunch; The weather was nice, a warm thirty three degrees celsius, and one of her cousins and his family were staying there on holiday so we'd visit at the same time.
Glenelg, South Australia
I could go into detailed historical facts and tell you that it was settled in 1836, South Australia's first mainland European settlement, and that it was named after Lord Glenelg, Britain's Secretary of State for War and Colonies, that it sits on the shore of Holdfast Bay in the Gulf of St Vincent and so on...But I figure I'll just show you some pictures and tell you a little about our day instead.
We parked over on Aldelphi Terrace and walked past the river marina and Holdfast Shores marina's then along the foreshore path towards Moseley Square; It's named after Henry Mosely who built and ran the Pier Hotel opened in 1856. The hotel is gone now, replaced by a more modern building and site of the Stamford Grand Adelaide...Ok, sorry, that was history.
The image above looks west from Moseley Square with the jetty right behind the Ferris wheel. From here the old Pier Hotel would have been on our left.
We were surprised at the lack of people. It's a tourist attraction and magnet to Adelaide locals alike and there's always people here, we just would have thought there'd be more. It was fine though, less people works well.
We headed south towards Brighton but stopped right in front of the Stamford Grand to grab the shot above. This was at about 10:30am and you can see there's not many people. It may have something to do with all the shark sightings we've been having and just after this shot was taken the lifesaving rescue helicopter flew by, very low, on shark-watch. Oddly it circled an area for five minutes and hovered a little but there was no shark siren and people stayed in the water.
Faith and I did a one hour return walk along the beach then headed back to Moseley Square for some lunch and to meet with her cousins family.
Mosely Square sits at the end of Jetty Road, the shopping precinct for the area, between the road and the beach. It is surrounded by cafe's, pubs and eateries and is mostly packed with people. The image above shows the water fountain area that the kids love and on days like today they can be found frolicking in the water jets, laughing and screaming with enjoyment. Loudly!
It was here we found a nice shaded table and connected by text message with Faith's cousin. The family live three hundred kilometres away and were down here for a few days break. Before long they walked over and there was hand shakes, hugs and back slapping.
In true G-dog style I decided I wanted fish and chips so off Faith went to arrange it from that shop you see above left. I was left to guard the table with one of her cousins kids while the rest scattered in every direction to get food. We ended up with Mexican, Greek and Italian food on the table, plus Faith's and my fish and chips...A multicultural meal for sure.
Glenelg has transformed since I first started coming here as a little kid with my parents. There used to be a little amusement park with a few rides and games, dodgem cars and things...But now there's massive complexes with huge water slides, mini-golf and all manner of playground equipment, not to mention food outlets, cafe's, bars and, as always, the beach as an attraction...There's no wonder it is so popular.
Part of the rejuvenation and modernisation of the area was the addition of hotels and high-end apartment buildings. Fortunately they haven't permitted apartment towers but there's many very expensive properties around the place, all looking over the ocean or the marina's. Of course, where there's a marina there's boats and there's a few beauties around here. Nothing like Cannes, Antibes and Nice on the C么te d'Azur of course, but nice enough to make me want one.
A property around these parts is going to cost a person between $1.5 and $2.5 million dollars, but you get a berth for your power launch so...Good value! 馃榿
After lunch we took a stroll around the place and chatted as we went. We ended up at the Holdfast Shore marina, part of which you can see above. It was here that my hankering for an ice cream struck and, supported by the imploring please, please please's from the two lads of Faith's cousin, we headed to the gelataria to get some gelati. (I had vanilla and mango if you're wondering).
We then watched a few boats come and go including that big one above which I'd say at a guesstimate is about $2 million dollars worth of boat. It's pretty big and plush, my photo probably doesn't show it well though.
Eventually we walked around the back of the marina, past vast open-space grassed, public BBQ and playground areas towards Aldephi Terrace passing the inner marina on the river which is where the image below is taken. For reference the Holdfast Shore marina is to the left of this image.
From here we said our farewells and headed to the car and home.
We had a nice day at Glenelg today...On nice-weather-days like today it's an absolute joy to be down there. Couples, friends-groups and families all wander about about looking for enjoyment and finding plenty. A nice sea breeze comes off the gulf and there's always lot's of good food and drinks on offer. Of course, being out on one of those boats would be nice too, but spending time at Glenelg is a nice substitute and I hope some day you all get to check it out for yourselves.
There's three hundred and sixty five days in this year, minus one for today of course, and I hope they're all as enjoyable as today was.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised.
Be well
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