Yesterday we strolled along the main street of Mascot, the Sydney suburb where the international airport is located.
It must once have been a cute little town; certainly the parks show a sense of civic pride.
We saw our first mature eucalyptus trees. There were, not surprisingly, no koalas hanging around in them; koalas are not known for being “townies”.
Sadly, despite its proximity to Sydney that logically should make it a booming commuter community, the downtown is quite depressed, despite vestiges of what must once have been striking architecture.
At times it was like walking through a time portal into the 1950’s, with small locally owned shops and single storey duplexes lining the side streets, but then there was the incongruity of a car wash or tire retailer stuck right between the homes. We also passed a few (very few) big new homes that had been built on lots where the original home had been razed.
What we saw the most of, though, were empty storefronts, boarded showroom windows, paper signs reading “Permanently closed 2021”, and For Sale/For Lease/Available for Development signs.
And yet, two or three blocks from the main street, toward the airport, there were modern apartment buildings – often built as split residence/hotel combinations – and in the realtor’s windows we saw listings for nearby homes all over $1.5 million AUD.
Maybe if we were to come back in 10 years the downtown will be revitalized.
On the recommendation of the young man at our hotel’s reception desk, we headed to the Tennyson Hotel for lunch. It’s one of those old-style hotels that has rooms upstairs and a pub on the main level, with separate bar and dining room areas. The vibe was very English (order at the bar) as was the food. The daily special was a full “Sunday roast” with a glass of draught beer or house wine for $25AUD. This Sunday, the roast was beef; the bartender said “and it’s really good”.
She didn’t exaggerate.
I carried our pints of Toohey’s lager back to our table. When our plates arrived, I was immediately taken back to the Sunday roast pub lunch Ted and I had in the Cotswolds way back in 2017. It’s funny how food can evoke instant memories.
Our Jetstar commuter flight to Adelaide was delayed by 45 minutes. No lounge access on this flight, but Sydney’s domestic terminal 2 is well supplied with food options and fast free wifi, so I took the time to get the first half of this episode written.
This kind of economy flight has strict luggage allowances, and every upgrade comes at a price. We bought a fare that allowed us to check our bigger carryon bags, and re-packed so that what we brought into the cabin fit the guidelines.
Once settled onto the plane, it was just 2 hours to Adelaide, where we’ll have to adjust our devices for the 1/2 hour time difference from Sydney. The South Australian state is one of only about a dozen places in the world whose time zone differs by 30 minutes, rather than whole hours, Newfoundland in Canada being another notable example.
It was a short Uber drive to our accommodation, Miller Apartments on Hindley Street, right in the heart of the city.
Our stays in Australia are among the most expensive of our five month trip, but for our $290AUD per night here we have a lovely well-equipped one bedroom apartment, with a balcony, within walking distance of everything we want to do, plus easy access to transit and the train station.
Our first priority was picking up a few groceries, so we headed to the two storey Woolworths (“Woollies”) in Rundle Mall, which is a gorgeous open air pedestrian mall filled with shops and restaurants. The broad avenue, quirky sculptures, and varied architecture reminded me in many ways of Vienna’s Mariahilfer Straße. It’s not quite as beautiful – nothing is – but it has the same cosmopolitan feel. Honestly, in my opinion every city needs a pedestrian mall. There’ll be photos as some point, but today our focus was food.
But what a funny thing happened on the way to the Union Hotel for dinner! As we walked through one of the arcades, someone called out “Aren’t you Rose and Ted’s Excellent Adventure?” It was Pierre and Lynn, followers of our blog via a connection made through a long ago (maybe 2021?) Facebook post. Sadly, they already had dinner reservations, but maybe if they see this episode we can find time for coffee or a drink either here or in Melbourne next week.
We continued on our way to the Union Hotel, where the beer was cold, the red wine not, and the food delicious. I had the night’s blackboard special with an Australian Tempranillo, and Ted had an NYC pizza with a Coopers draught IPA.
To walk it off a bit, we took a twilight stroll along Rundle Mall to admire the architecture under waning light, and watch hundreds of Tree Martins come in to roost. Tree Martins are migratory, native, swallow-like birds. Around dusk, between December and May, large numbers descend into Adelaide to roost overnight in trees across the city. Wildlife specialists believe the birds see city trees as safe havens with noise and light helping deter their predators.Once winter arrives, the birds return to warmer climates as far away as Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
If Ted can manage any good pictures, I’ll retrofit them.
Tomorrow it’s calling for rain, so we may try to get in some of the indoor activities on my list.
Rose and Ted’s Excellent Adventure 