Item From the Past: Summertime Oz

January 2, 1992

An image taken in southwestern Western Australia, overlooking the Indian Ocean. One reason (among several) for going to that part of the country was to see the Indian Ocean for the first time.

Up late and drove south from Myalup [Western Australia]. Wandered around the coast for awhile and arrived at Jewel Cave in time for a tour led by a pleasant blonde Australian. Impressive cave, especially the straw stalactite. Late in the afternoon, we came to the Lenton Brae Winery and looked around its Spanish-style "pressed earth" building, tasted a few wines and bought a few bottles ('90 Graves for me).

Went to a second winery, Wildwood, which wasn't as interesting, despite -- or maybe because of -- the attached trendy brasserie. Swam in the late afternoon in the ocean, until warned of stingrays in the area. Such warnings need to be taken seriously in Australia. Dinner at a Mexican restaurant in ________. Not bad, but mainly distinctive as the furthest south I'm ever likely to eat Mexican food.

January 6, 1992

I took this picture somewhere in Adelaide on that day, struck by the oddity created by two small handbills pasted over a larger poster, but especially by pleading and nonpunctuated upper one.

Good day tooling around Adelaide. In the morning I walked in the general direction of North Terrace, which is a row of museums. Was distracted on the way by bookstores. Among other things, looked at length at an enormous Macquarie Dictionary, which I plan to buy in Sydney as my largest souvenir. Spent time at the Rundle Mall, a fine fussgängerplatz in the middle of the city's grid. Lots of shops and people and street musicians on this fine summer day.

Lunch at a Malaysian storefront, Twain's. Chicken curry, rice, modest price. Made it to museum row and wandered into the Art Gallery of South Australia. Nice collection, chronologically organized, of Australian art -- by which they mean of white settlers and their descendants, starting in the early 1800s in South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania, but more nationwide in more recent times. A collection of Aboriginal art is in the nearby natural history museum; draw your own conclusions from that. Among other works, saw "A Holiday at Mentone" by Charles Conder and "Persecuted Lovers" by Arthur Boyd.

January 10, 1992

If you see a bridge you can cross, cross it. On foot, ideally. And I don't mean this metaphorically. I'm talking about literal bridges. This pic was taken on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Up late; got out of the house at about 1:30. Went down to Circular Quay and caught the ferry to Manly. Nice ride in a stiff warm wind. Returned after lunch in Manly -- another gyro -- and proceeded to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and walked across it, south to north. Matt pointed out the places he'd climbed on the structure as a reckless adolescent.

We rode a train back across the bridge and on to Darling Harbour, site of extensive waterside redevelopment: conference center, shopping and entertainment. We did no shopping, but we did confer at a pub, outdoors, and entertained ourselves by drinking Cascade beer. At one point, a 10-man bicycle passed by. Each one of the ten men was dressed like members of a barbershop quartet -- though I suppose that would be a barbershop dectet -- except for the bike helmets they were wearing. Instead of singing, each one played an instrument, so it was a small brass band on a 10-man bicycle.