We spent an afternoon at Sydney Park the other day with the Veitch family. There is a new children's playground there which is lots of fun for little kids and big kids (me!) alike. There are slides built into the hill which were a ball. We had a great time trying to chain as many people down the slides at once. I think we managed a Ellie, Hannah, Sarah, Jess and Jason combination.





More photos on Flickr.

A few weeks back I was sent to Adelaide on a work trip. My mum decided to come with me to keep me company. While I labored during the day, my mum toured around the countryside visiting wineries, art galleries, chocolate factories and immersing herself in the culture of Adelaide. Each evening we'd go out to dinner together and she'd impart what she'd learnt that day, so I could share in the fun. Here are some interesting tidbits about Adelaide:

• Although Adelaide is known as the City of Churches, it is rumoured that for every church that was built, a pub was also built for the less pious.
  
  
• The streets in Adelaide CBD are named after "founders, friends, and promoters of South Australia".
  
  
• Rundle Mall (named for John Rundle) is Adelaide's shopping district. In the mall there is a sculpture of 4 (very cute) bronze pigs named Truffles, Oliver, Horatio and Augusta. My favourite is Oliver who is snuffling through a bin.
  
  
• The restaurant district in Adelaide is on Gouger St (named for Robert Gouger, Humanitarian). Everytime I passed Gouger St I'd happily quote "and this happy little fellow is called the gouger." I was disappointed to learn that the correct pronunication of Gouger was GOO-JER. (Can anyone pick the quote?)
  
  
• Haigh's Chocolates was founded in South Australia in 1915. John Haigh, the grandson of the founder and present chairman of Haigh's, studied chocolate making at Lindt in Switzerland. Haigh's is one of the few chocolate factories in the world to make chocolate from the raw cocoa beans. The Haigh's Visitor Centre is NOT open on Sundays (which makes for one very disappointed Jess.)
  
  
• The tram which runs from Adelaide CBD to Glenelg has been doing so since 1929. Riding on one of these trams is like taking a trip back in time. The trams are being upgraded to a light rail system in 2006, so if you haven't had the opportunity to take a ride on an Adelaide tram, your time is running out.
  
  

Oliver	Gouger Fish Cafe	Glenelg Tram	La Trattoria
GPO	FuShie!	Sandstone	Pies