An Actual Football Game Australian Style

 On Saturday April 13, 2024 we drove into Adelaide to see a real game of football the way they play it down here.

The teams playing were Adelaide v Fremantle.  We had excellent seats behind one goal.

Football down here is played without much padding and the players are paid professionals.  Touchdowns are kicked not ran.  It gets rough and tackling sometimes is allowed.

The Adelaide Oval holds about 60,000 and it was almost full of cheering fans.  Adelaide won the game by a last minute score.  The game was very fun to watch,

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Quite An Australian View

 After visiting the family farm, Marilyn and Dave took us to a community park with a terrific look at the horizon.

At the park there are walking trails with stone carvings made into interesting shapes and figures.

This metal plaque on one stone block points toward various towns and attractions far into the distance.

After walking a few of the trails Karen, Marilyn and Francis posed for a photo shoot at the plaque.

Our hosts gave us a great day of sight-seeing in Australia.

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A Visit to a Family Farm

On Wednesday Marilyn drove us about 15 miles north of her house to show us the family farm where her son and his family now live.

This is the farmhouse and Marilyn has a beautiful daughter-in-law and two grandsons who live here now with her son.

There are a few tanks like this one which is next to the barn.   They collect rainwater from the farm building roofs which is then used to water the sheep.  Water is precious here.

Here is a look inside one of the farm sheds.  Marilyn's son has various hobbies when he is not working at his regular job in town as an electrician.

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Australia Zoo Visit

 On Sunday, with our hostess, Marilyn and host, Dave we took a drive south from their home through Adelaide to an area zoo.

We stopped along the way at a lookout area where the horizon was miles away.

At the zoo we watched this worker feed the dingoes.  He also gave a talk and answered questions from the visitors.  There is a very long fence built across Australia to keep the Dingoes from coming south where they kill the sheep.

At the zoo we could mingle with the animals.  Unlike the scene from "Jurassic Park" this little creature was friendly and enjoyed the food Karen was sharing.

The creature behind us is a Wombat.

The Wombat is an Australian animal, as were all the birds, snakes and other creatures we saw at the zoo.  We had an excellent visit.

🐀  🐉  🐊  🐍  🐗

 

Australia Part 3

 How would a trip to Australia be complete without a trip to the Outback?  So.....

We jumped into Dave's car and headed north with Dave at the "right hand" wheel.

Deep into the Outback we visited the town of Woomera.  It was a secretive town in the wilderness where Australia developed and tested weapons during the Cold War,along with the United States, to keep the USSR in check.

We rented this unit, above, with three bedrooms and three bathrooms for one night that had been converted from old military family housing.

The town museum was very interesting with no admission charge.  Above is a missile displayed to  show how it was loaded with small cluster bombs. These weapons may have been used in Vietnam.

Many of the rockets displayed outside were life size.  That is Karen to the right of the picture.

The town of Woomera was a bit like Los Alamos  in New Mexico where, in the US,  the atomic bomb was developed.  

We all enjoyed our trip into the Outback as a very unique travel experience and we thanked Dave for driving to help us see the countryside and all the sights!

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Australia Part 2

 On our first day of sightseeing in Australia we went to a winery.

At the winery parking lot we met a fellow who gives tours to visitors with his 1966 Mustang.  Above are Francis, Karen and Dave, our host.

Note the location of the steering wheel and dashboard instruments.  The driver said it was a 1966 Mustang and was converted in Australia.

Here is the main headquarter building of the Yalumba Winery in Angiston. 

Three of us got into wine tasting and Karen bought two bottles, and Francis bought one.   Good Stuff!

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Australia Part1

 After a one-hour flight from Grand Rapids to Detroit, a four-hour flight to LA, a 16-hour flight to Sydney, and a 1-1/2-hour flight to Adelaide we arrived.  Dave, Francis' friend, picked us up at the airport.

This is where Marilyn and Dave live near the town of Nauriootpa, north of Adelaide.

Here and where Karen and Bill are staying next to their house while Francis is staying inside.  Francis gets an inside bedroom. We get lots of privacy and a nice kitty outside.

Here are Karen with our hostess, Marilyn.

The leaves are changing as Fall is in the air down here .  We are going to a "football" game tonight.

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