Hope in Adelaide III

For any lingering doubters out there I offer 2 more pieces of evidence that Adelaide is indeed struggling for its own identity and is copying the superior state to it's east.

1. Flinders St. Yep. That's right. There's a Flinders St in the Adelaide CBD. Again a poor imitation of it's namesake in Melbourne.
2. At State Youth Games on the weekend we (Bordertown) be-friended a cool bunch of people from the Hawthorn Church of Christ. The people that named this place either had no imagination or, more likely had come from Victoria and were trying to emulate the awesome place they'd just visted.
   

Hope in Adelaide II

I have blogged before about the Melbournisation of Adelaide, and after living here for 2 weeks I've noticed some more signs that indeed Adelaide is confused about its own identity. Some days I wonder if I ever left the Garden Sta ergh.... Place to Be.

What else have I noticed? Names. For starters, I live in a suburb called 'Fitzroy'. That's right, Fitzroy, SA. Not to be confused with the Melbourne suburb and former AFL club of the same name. I'm fairly sure that Fitzroy in Melbourne would've been around for longer than Fitzroy in SA. I thought it slightly odd at first, but then I realised that I got off the bus some days at Victoria Square. Thats right. Adelaides most central park, just opposite the GPO is called Victoria Square. You can't miss it. It has a tram line running right through it. It's funny, because there arn't any SA parks in Melbourne. Surely these two are just co-incidence right? Perhaps, but consider this. As far as good places to eat in Adelaide go there are 3 spots to choose from: Rundle St, Glenelg & wait for it........ & no I'm not joking MELBOURNE ST! Yes that's right, one of Adelaides best eat out strips is Melbourne St. Next time you are in Melbourne, ask your friends if they wanna go eat out on 'Adelaide St' & see what response you get.

Hope in Adelaide

I was in Adelaide on the weekend for probably the last time (for the next few years anyway) as a visitor. Scary as that fact is, a brief moment of confusion would later calm my fears as I realized that maybe Adelaide won’t be so bad after all. I was confused because I was waiting for a bus on King William St, (Melbournians, think Collins or Bourke.) & lo and behold a tram rattles on past me. I got some serious déjà vu and as a tram rolls past the start of Rundle Mall. I wondered for a second if I was in Melbourne.

But alas, I was not. I was still on King William St just opposite Rundle Mall. For those who don’t know, the 1 remaining tram line in Adelaide has just recently been extended so that it runs the full length of the city, instead of half way. This was a revolutionary thing for Adelaide & the idea of tram lines in the busiest part of the city was a difficult one for many to swallow. But it is slowly being accepted. They haven’t quite mastered the art of turning right across tramlines yet, but all things in time.

This tram line may only be a small extension, but it gives me hope for the future. Any step which makes Adelaide more like Melbourne is a positive one. Perhaps, just maybe some South Aussies are starting to see the light. Today, it’s tramline extensions. But who knows? Tomorrow they may build freeways through the city, or waste large amounts of money on abstract architecture. (ala. Fed Square or ‘Southern Cross’) Adelaide may even get to host major sporting events.

Appropriate Response?

Found this article on The Age website:
Late trains spark commuter riot in Buenos Aires



Imagine if Melbournians reacted like this every time a train was delayed.....

Protests

Does anyone know what the protest up Swanston St. Melbourne was about yesterday? The tail of it was walking past just as I had to cross it. I couldn't see what they where protesting about though. My guess is either against Uranium mines (in which case it was pointless) or Industrial Relations (Again pointless, just vote Labor at the next election).

Anyways, good on them for protesting against whatever it was they didn't like about our Government. We're very lucky to have the right to disrupt daily life for thousands of people just because we have a gripe about something.

My only fear is that it fell on deaf ears.

Cricket & Trampoline

The rest of last weekend was really awesome. We(Tiarnee & I) stayed at the Melbourne Metro YHA in North Melbourne. Me in a 4-bed male dorm. Tiarnee in a 4-bed female dorm. The cricket was great, we had awesome seats and Australia won. Not that that's unusual. So yeah, it was fun. Even Tiarnee enjoyed herself a bit once Australia was batting & the Mexican Waves had started up. Two funny things that happened where: Pietersen being hit in the ribs by a McGrath bouncer. A streaker (guy with shorts only on) running to the middle of the field and causing a policeman to fall over on the pitch before getting tackled to the ground. You don't see tackles that good at a game of footy.

Ummmm Saturday was shopping, at the Queen Victoria Market & the Bourke St. Mall, before heading out to some cafe in North Melbourne for tea & then into the city to Southbank. Speaking of Southbank, TRAMPOLINE IS SO GOOD!!!!! Honestly, the Ice-Cream they serve is comparable to Cold Rock in it's awesomeness. Not quite as good as Cold Rock, but the fact is they're on the same page and totally yum.

On Sunday, we went to the Melbourne Aquarium which is pretty cool. As was the view from the top of the Rialto tower. Ok, so not from the top. But from the observation deck.

But the biggest thing for me on the weekend was having prayer answered. Tiarnee prayed just after we left that God would teach us something over the weekend. The lesson? Forgiveness & pride. Tiarnee & I had an argument, which really wasn't cool. Looking back, we probably both over-reacted. But if we hadn't forgiven each other (You know when you have to do somthing you don't want to?) it would've turned a great weekend into a crap one fairly quickly.

In other news, I worked 38.5 hours this last week. A personal highest at IBM. Have worked all this week & am working next week before heading home on Australia Day. This Monday will mark the first occasion that I've ever worked on my birthday. I love having my birthday in January.

Good Cop, Bad Cop

So, I've lived in Ballarat for about 4 years & I've had my license for about 2. In that whole time, I've never been pulled over by the police or random breath-tested, or even been in a car when any of those things have happened. Likewise, I've spent most of the rest of my life in Kaniva (& lately around Bordertown lol) & never been pulled over or breath-tested around home.

BUT, last weekend on the way to Melbourne I was pulled over just as I was about to drive out of Horsham after checking out a bike part for Colin. I wasn't worried as I couldn't think of why they where doing it. Anyway the officer comes over and says something like "The reason we pulled you over was because of your back number plate." He then did the standard license and breath check. He was the good cop. He treated me like a person and explained why I needed to change the plates. The other one who was there went right around my car and started giving me the 'you're a P-Plater & therefore not human' attitude. He asked me questions like "How long you had the crack in your windscreen?" (What sort of a question is that?) & said "You're taking your life into your hands driving on those tires." He told me how it was a $130 for the poor numberplates & there was a recall from Vicroads 5 years ago for those plates etc etc.
In the end they gave me a minor canary (doesn't include a roadworthy thankfully) for the windscreen and the tires. Now, $360 later it's all fixed up again, kinda annoying, but money I had to spend eventually I guess.

My main issue: Police often get frustrated by the lack of respect given to the law by young people. Some officers then treat these young people the way I was treated by the 2nd Officer, showing little or no respect. Police then wonder why they in-turn are shown little or no respect by these young people who will often take this attitude towards Police for the rest of their lives.

Holidays

Don't have long, as it's late & I should be getting organised. But tomorrow Tiarnee and I are going to Melbourne for the weekend. She brought me 2 tickets to go and see Australia Vs (the hapless) England on Friday. I can't wait to go. While I'm not convinced that Tiarnee has the same anticipation that I do, the fact that she did it means alot to me & it should be a great weekend for both of us. If not for the cricket (for her), then for the fact we're staying a stones-throw away from the Queen Victoria Markets.

I've done alright these summer holidays. After spending Christmas at Ocean Grove & having been to Ballarat & Port Fairy last weekend with Tiarnee, I'm now off to Melbourne tomorrow. In a few weeks I'm also planning a road-trip to Sydney with one of my best mates Anthony. Neither of us have been to Sydney before, so it should be an awesome trip, to just be able to do that as mates should be great.

It's fun as!