Australian Holiday - Adelaide Botanic Garden & The Big BBQ - 27 Oct 2006

We slept in this morning; beginning to feel as though we are truly on vacation. Sarah took us to town for lunch at Taste, Etc. and a tour of the Adelaide Botanic Garden. We spent a while looking for a place to park, which places are rather curious in Australia. You must pay for nearly all public parking. There are no parking meters, but signs are posted showing the maximum time you can park in a given area. Once parked, you walk up or down the row to a ticket machine; put in enough coins to cover the time you want to park (the machines give no change), and put the printed receipt on the passenger side dash. It seems an efficient system. The costs are reasonable, but you need to keep a stash of coins handy at all times. For lunch, Rhonda ordered a classic Caesar salad, which included anchovies. Dan sampled a few but Rhonda carefully removed them.

The Botanic Gardens, established in 1855, are beautiful!! They are laid out in a more ordered fashion that the Mount Lofty Gardens, which have a more natural look. Some of the trees are huge!! There were palms, mangrove, fig, bamboo and many others. We saw a living fossil, the Wollemi Pine, which was thought to be extinct until 1994, when a ranger in Wollemi National Park, New South Wales, discovered one growing in a deep gorge. Subsequent research found 100 adult trees growing in a single canyon in this wild and rugged area only 150 kilometers from Sydney. You can now buy one of your own!
The rose garden was exquisite; roses seem to be the favored flower in Adelaide – you see them in almost every yard, along roads and in public spaces. At the Botanic Garden, they grow as bushes, climbing trellises and arbors, and as little rose trees. They come in all sizes and colors. We especially liked the orange/coral ones, which were brilliant.
After the Garden we went back home to get ready for the BBQ (known in Australia as a barbie), which Brian and Sarah threw so we could meet their friends and co-workers. Dan helped Brian sweep the patio, pick up Joe and Megan’s grill (we would need two), and set up chairs. Sarah and Rhonda put together fruit pizza, potato salad, and veggies and dip.

About 40 people turned out; it was great to put faces with the names we had heard. That is quite a few people to fit into a small back yard, but fit they did with no problem. The crowd helped us keep warm as the evening temperatures dropped to about 50 Fahrenheit. Brian grilled boneless chicken thighs, kielbasa, kangaroo steaks, and 4 kilograms (about 9 pounds) of minced beef as hamburgers. Australians are not big on pickles or ketchup; they prefer mayo, mustard, onions and tomatoes on their burgers. People brought their own beverages, and the conversation, food and drink were all delightful.