The monument that you see below is dedicated to Sir Walter Watson Hughes who was born in 1803 and died in 1887. Originally from England he made his fortune through investments in the mining industry. The Wallaroo Copper Mine was actually discovered on his property, and the Moonta mine was discovered close by. Naturally he had a major slice of both.

Sir Walter is usually referred to as the ‘”father” of the University Of Adelaide, because it was his donation of £20,000 that led to the formation of the University. The monument that you see here was presented by his nephews John James Duncan and Walter Hughes Duncan in 1906.

The next photo shows a little more of the Adelaide University in the background. Since it first came to being in 1874 it has been one of Australia’s leading universities.

Learn more about Adelaide University by visiting their home page.

In my last post I mentioned the Tap Inn where we had my son’s 21st, so I thought it only fitting that I dedicate this post to another Adelaide business that I happened to come across, and all because of my daughters 18th birthday.

I’m talking about a nice little store that specializes in making cakes for all occasions, especially weddings, engagements and christenings. My wife happened to find it while surfing and once she showed the site, 2 Nice 2 Slice, to my daughter the decision was made.

Honestly, from the moment we picked it up it was obvious that a lot of love

and care was put into making this cake, and we couldn’t thank Melissa Barnet enough when we saw how well it turned out. As you can see from the photo the cake came in four tiers with the cake proper on the top tier.

The other tiers were filled with scrumptious cupcakes each of which had Lindt Chocolate as part of the ingredients. We had a total of 38 cupcakes and they comprised of three different flavors.

I can honestly say that the cake tasted as good as it looked. It was all I could do to keep my hands off it until it was time for Nadia, my daughter, to cut the cake. If you look at the main cake you can just see that it had some crystals embedded in it. According to the wife they were Swarovski crystals, but don’t quote me on that.

We had the cake set up in full view of the guests and I can safely say that every one of them commented on how great it looked. It was all I could do to keep the kids from knocking off one of the cupcakes before Nadia had time to cut the cake.

Needless to say that whilst the barbecue went really well, I’m sure that most of the guest were hanging back some so that they would have some room left for that cake.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post the guys that put this cake together call themselves 2 Nice 2 Slice and honestly when you see their cakes you can see how aptly they’ve named their business.

Needless to say everyone loved the cake, and lucky for me we had some left over, and I am making it last as long as possible.  if you want to see more sample of the cakes they produce, just head on over to their FaceBook page.

When we had to find somewhere to host my son’s 21st birthday we wanted somewhere that offered not only a great dining experience for our guests, it also had to have a whole heap of atmosphere. After trialling a few restaurants, any excuse for a good feed, we decided on the Tap Inn which is located at 76 Rundle St. Kent Town.

We decided to hold it in their Sand Bunker Beer Garden as it enabled us to be separated from the other patrons without losing any of the atmosphere. There was about 35 of us at the party and it was a perfect size for us. What was really unique about the place was the huge palm tree growing in the middle of the room.

Our wine selection included some Geoff Merrill Savignon Blanc, Woodstock Shiraz and the girls requested some Trilogy. For food we had a great selection which included Tiger Prawns, Oysters Kilpatrick, Salt and Pepper Squid, Crumbed Barramundi, Feking Duckwits, Beef kebabs, Haloumi & Zucchini Fritters, and the list went on.

The food was absolutely superb and we didn’t have one complaint, everyone loved it.

This is a photo of one of the entrances;

If anyone is thinking of a venue to hold a party I highly recommend the Tap Inn.

This week Mary MacKillop was recognized as Australia’s first saint and I thought it only fitting that this post was dedicated to her. Although born in Melbourne of Scottish parents on the 15th Jan 1842, the majority of her good work was done right here in South Australia, in the small town of Penola.

She originally came to Penola as a governess to look after the children of her aunt and uncle, yet even then because of her want to help the poor she included other children and took them under he wing as well. After about 2 years she accepted a teaching job in Portland Victoria, but not before she was noticed by Father Julian Edmund Tenison Woods.

While teaching in Portland Father Woods encouraged Mary to open a Catholic school in Penola, which she did, along with two of her sisters, in 1866. To learn more of this truly amazing woman you should visit the Blessed Mary MacKillop site.

On March the 22nd a bronze statue commemorating Blessed Mary MacKillop was unveiled at an official blessing and dedication ceremony conducted by Archbishop Philip Wilson. As can be seen from this photo, Mary, being well known for her work with children, is holding hands with two young children.

The artist behind this sculpture is Adelaide artist Judith Rolevink, and although relatively new it is already attracting a fair bit of attention, and I’m sure that it will only increase now that the Catholic Church has recognized her as a saint. The statue sits next to the St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral.