I’ve been to the Adelaide Festival Centre on several occasions but apart from seeing several school concerts that my kids participated in the only other time was to see a Rodney Rude concert. While the concert itself was pretty funny I wonder how funny it would have been had he taken all the swear words out of it?

Now don’t get the wrong idea, the Adelaide Festival Centre has hosted many big names and this year the nine-time-Grammy award winner Natalie Cole, will be performing in the Festival Theatre on 12 and 13 June.
Although I’ve already posted some shots of the Festival Centre as seen from the River Torrens I though I would post one as seen from the other side.

Something else that I found interesting when I took this shot was something that I at first believed to be some sort of totem pole but what turned out to be a house post that was carved by two Papua New Guinea artists in 1978. Even though it was originally conceived as a public demonstration for visitors it has become a permanent public artwork. The artists that carved this out of a South Aussie pine tree were Sali Kapusa and Arnold Koski.

You may remember the post of Colonel William Light the man who designed and laid out the planning for our lovely city and the picture of the statue of him over looking Adelaide, well this post is about another well known explorer, Matthew Flinders.

Matthew Flinders was the man who circumnavigated Australia charting what was then an unknown coast. You could basically say he put Australia on the map. The name Australia can even be attributed to him as he thought it sounded so much better than Terra Australis.

This is a statue of this great man which can be found on North Terrace Adelaide.

It was my wife’s 50th birthday last week and so we decided, seeing as how it was a momentous occasion, we would celebrate it in style. That being the case we decided on the Riverside Restaurant which just happens to be one of Adelaide’s favorite buffet restaurants. I didn’t realize how sumptuous Riverside’s buffet selection really was until we rocked up on the night.

Even though I’m not a seafood fan, my wife is and it is her night after all, and it just so happened that the Riverside features a great range incorporating the best of local seafood and produce, as well as a range of decadent desserts, and I have to admit the desert was to die for.

Like I said I’m not into seafood but Anna and the guests were and they absolutely loved it. It consisted of fresh prawns, oysters and crabs. As can be seen from the following photo the presentation was superb.

Next is a photo of some of the selection of salads and stuff.

What I really liked was the roasts and desserts, and the fact that the service was impeccable. They were even nice enough to organize a small section of the room just for us. This photo is a view of the restaurant from our little special spot.

As I said they supplied great service which included this margarita just for Anna.

It was a great night and the family had a great time. You’re all wondering about the price. Well the buffet itself was $65 per head which I though was more than reasonable. They had a nice selection of wine, of which the guests chose Lehman Shiraz at $45 per bottle and Kalleske Clarry’s Grenache Shiraz at $46 a bottle, both which was dearer than what you would pay in a bottle shop but withing reason for a restaurant of this type.

Beers included Coronas, James Boags and Crown Lager which were $10.50 and $9.50 respectively, and Hahn Light at $7 a pop. The only thing that knocked me for a six was that they charged $10 for every bottle of water (Santa V Still) which I thought a bit rich.

Anyway, like I said, it was a great night and well worth the money spent. The Riverside Restaurant is located at North Terrace in Adelaide and if your interested in more details about this Restaurant please phone them on (08) 8238 2384.

The War Memorial Monument which can be found on North Terrace is a popular spot for tourists, especially those interested in war history. Opened in 1931 to commemorate all those who served in the first world war it holds significant value every year on Anzac Day (25 April) and Remembrance Day (11 November).

I love to walk the length of North Terrace as I like to consider it as Adelaide’s cultural boulevard. This is because it’s full of heaps of great examples of early South Australian architecture including Old Fowlers Lion Factoryn now The Lion Performing Arts Center, and the Anglican Holy Trinity Church, Adelaide’s oldest church, which was built in 1838.

This is a photo of the front of the monument.

This one is of the rear.

As you walk around the memorial you will see crosses that were taken from the battlefield where the soldiers died and brought back as a memorial to their great sacrifice. This is just one of them.