Saturday, 17 March 2018

St Patrick’s Day in Adelaide.

Quite often when on a cruise you need to alter your watches to ensure you are on local time whilst ashore, but we were surprised to learn last night that Adelaide time is half an hour behind Melbourne time. Generally time zones go in hour increments but the Australians obviously like a different approach.

Opening the balcony door at 7.00 this morning we were welcomed into the Port of Adelaide by a local band playing “Black Velvet Band”, an ideal start to St Patrick’s Day. The port itself is located about a 40 minute train ride away from the centre, but we were expertly guided to the station and the ticket buying process by a band of volunteers. Once at the station others pointed out the best sights to see and how to get there, an excellent welcome to the city.

Walking up King William Road towards Victoria Square and the Central Market, today’s first port of call, we passed the town hall and its interesting homage to The Beatles.

I can recognise John, Paul and George but I’m not sure who was drumming with them on this tour as the fourth person looks nothing like Ringo!

The market contained a nice selection of fish, vegetables and fruit and was clearly influenced by German heritage as there were a number of sausage stalls. Talking of sausages, we thought that these might be good for your next barbeque, Thai......

......apparently the hump in the middle stops them rolling off the grill!!

We were a little unsure of where to go next.......

.......but decided to head to the Rundle Mall for a little retail therapy and a cup of coffee. The mall is a long pedestrian street full of retail outlet, with interesting sculptures and street entertainers.

A number of arcades lead from the main street and it was in one of these we stopped for a mid-morning drink and a slice of banana cake, delicious!

Suitably refreshed we next walked across the river bridge towards St Peter’s Cathedral......

......and the second test cricket ground of the trip, the Adelaide Oval.

Although not quite as impressive as the MCG a couple of days ago, this newly built ground has everything you would expect from a major test venue.

No visit around the ground today because all the entertainment was on the outside, with a full blown St Patrick’s Day celebration including dancers and singers. With a plentyful supply of Guiness, Irish spirits were riding high.

The weather today in Adelaide was warm and overcast, but as we sat down for dinner with Win and Jim lightening filled the sky. We could be in for a rough night!!

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