Scenic Adelaide, Sites And Stories of South Australia

The Museum Of Economic Botany

Thursday, November 10th, 2011 at 7:48 am

One thing I didn’t expect to see while visiting Adelaide’s Botanical Gardens was a museum. Then again if you were going to have a museum in a botanical gardens you would expect it to house something to do with botany and even though I didn’t have time to check it out completely I did have a quick look inside and it was stepping back in time.

As you can see the exterior of the building looks pretty new but that’s only because it was refurbished in 2009 with the help of a nice grant by the government in 2007. I’m sure in giving the grant they wanted to please locals as well as those who choose to spend their holidays 2012 and beyond.

What makes this building special is that the interior has not changed since the museum first opened in 1881, which is why I said it was almost like stepping back in time. Upon walking in and looking around you will noticed that much of them original displays and display cabinets have survived, many of them sporting the original labels.

If you’re ever in the Adelaide Botanical, Gardens you should definitely pop in to the Museum Of Economic Botany.

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So Much To See At Adelaide’s Botanical Gardens

Thursday, November 10th, 2011 at 7:14 am

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In my last post I spoke about my quick trip to Adelaide’s Botanical Gardens and to tell you the truth I just didn’t have the room to display all the photos I took that day. If you haven’t read that post you should really head on over and check out The Adelaide Botanical Gardens A Great Place To Visit not just for the content but because there are some great photos there, especially the one of the Victoria Amazonica.

I’m sure that most people visit the local botanical gardens while on their holidays, especially if it happens to be spring. Being spring in Adelaide was one of the reasons why I popped in for a quick visit it our botanical gardens. I expected to see a lot of color from the many blooming flowers and I wasn’t disappointed.

Take this yellow one for example, I don’t know what it was called but I wasn’t the only one to enjoy it as it had a lot of visiting ants. Perhaps it had something besides sheer beauty that the ants enjoyed.
Not too far from this one I came across this one with the brilliant white petals. I wish I had the time to take note of the names of these flowers but like I said in the previous post time was short on that day. Still, maybe one of you guys could tell us what these flowers are called.

OK, now how about something a little more delicate like this pretty pink number. :smoke_tb:

For the last flower of the day I reckon it just has to be this little orange number. A bit weird looking but it had enough of a presence to attract a bee, but then maybe the bee didn’t have time to visit those other flowers yet. :laugh_tb:
Phew, all that photo taking sure does tucker a fellow out. Lucky for me I found this park bench in a shady spot where I could rest up a little before heading on home.

Yep, you should definitely make time to visit the Adelaide Botanical Gardens, especially if you love taking photos.

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The Adelaide Botanical Gardens A Great Place To Visit

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 at 11:55 pm

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I was on my way back from the City going down Hackney Road when I suddenly decided to stop at the Adelaide Botanical Gardens. I mentioned it last when I wrote the post on Adelaide’s Bicentennial Conservatory and I thought, it being a beautiful spring day and all, that I would stop for a little stroll around the beautiful gardens. I was only there for about a half hour or so and I was still able to take some nice photos and I simply have to go back again when I have more time.

Walking through Adelaide’s botanical gardens I couldn’t help but notice all the people quietly strolling by or even sitting on the manicured lawns just enjoying the lovely spring day. It’s no wonder that so many who choose to holiday in this beautiful city of ours stop by for a visit.

It was really a pleasure walking through the gardens even for the short period of time that was allowed me. Even though it was getting a little warm in the sunshine it’s amazing how cool it was once I got to Murdoch Avenue and yes it was name after Rupert Murdoch. As you can see from the photo on the left it’s surrounded by huge trees and so you get to walk under a canopy of leaves. The change from coming out of direct sunlight to coolness of the shady environment was quite dramatic. I walked down Murdoch Avenue until it exited and there right on the left was something I’ve never seen before, the Amazon Lily Pavilion, an energy efficient glasshouse that was built in 2007! Man, I couldn’t believe it was that long since my last visit.

Amazon Lily Pavilion

The old Victoria house which was built in 1867 used to stand in it’s place and even then it house this remarkable water lily and the guys at the botanical gardens say fit to maintain the tradition. The glasshouse itself looked pretty modern but no where near as remarkable as the Bicentennial Conservatory. Being a glasshouse and all I’d expect it to get pretty warm in summer but today it wasn’t all that bad. There are quite a few plants around the perimeter although still inside, of the pavilion itself but I pretty well skipped that because I wanted to see what the lily itself looked like.

The first water lily I saw was beautiful but it wasn’t all that spectacular. It was the Blue Nile Lily also known as Nymphaea Caerulae and was a plant that was sacred to the Egyptians who believed that in the beginning darkness ruled the world and then then this beautiful lily rose from the abyss and when the flower opened it’s petals revealed a young sun god sitting in its golden heart who banished the darkness and allowed life to begin. Now that is what I call a dramatic entrance. :laugh_tb:

It wasn’t until I gazed to the center of the pond that I saw the center piece of the pavilion, the Victoria Amazonica.

Victoria Amazonica

This flower just happens to be Guyana’s national flower and many say it’s an appropriate choice for a county whose name means “land of many waters. There is a particular story of a girl who fell in love with the moon and one night while gazing at her lovers reflection in a pond she slipped, fell in and drowned. The moon taking pity on her turned her into the Amazon waterlily which only blooms at night when the moon is watching over her. Strange that this particular flower was blooming in the middle of the day.

What was also amazing was the huge lily pads. When I first saw them from a distance I thought that they were fake but upon a closer look they were obviously real. If you want to know more about the botanical gardens you should head over to the Adelaide Botanical Gardens government web page.

Make my day and shout me a beer.

St Pauls Lutheran Church Hahndorf

Monday, September 12th, 2011 at 11:43 pm

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Seeing as how we’ve been spending a little bit of time in Hahndorf these last few posts I thought I may as well tell you about this beautiful church that you will find further up the main street., the actual address being 10 Main Street Hahndorf.

Strangely enough although the early settlers of Hahndorf originally came to the region to escape religious persecution a rift developed between some of the Lutheran population. This caused some to split from the original St Michaels Church, the oldest Lutheran Church in Australia, must get a photo of that, to form another congregation and another church, that of St Pauls that you see in the photo below.

This article contain some interesting information on Hahndorf and can click on the following one for Mass Times and such.

South Australia, Hahndorf Mouse Pad
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Hahndorf South Australia Has A Lot To Offer

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011 at 3:00 am

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A couple of posts back I told you about a great meal we had at the The German Arms Hotel Hahndorf and I thought it only fitting that I told you a little about Hahndorf itself as it is a prime tourist spot. I know every time we have overseas visitors we always make it a point to take them there.

Hahndorf is a small town only 30 minutes from the city. I’m sure when people originally moved there it was for the beautiful surroundings and the peace and quite. I reckon that became a thing of the past once the tourists found out about it. Now it gets so busy that at times it can be a bit of a chore to find a car park. While that may be a bit of a pain for the local residents I’m sure the business owners are loving every minute of it. :drunk_tb:

Hahndorf is named after Danish Captain Dirk Meinhertz Hahn, who was captain of the Zebra. The town was settled by Lutheran migrants and you can see from the buildings and such that there is definitely a German influence. The German Arms Hotel that I mentioned in that previous post being a prime example.

There are many different types of stores up and down the street, some to tantalize the palate and other to tempt you with souvenirs. As you walk up or down the main street, depending on where you managed to park your car you should keep an eye on the side streets as some of them also lead to some interesting stores.

One shouldn’t forget the many craft outlets as well as some of the stores that offer collectables and historical souvenirs. I’ve always found it interesting to sit outside one of the many cafes sipping on my cappuccino as I watch the tourists strolling by.

I reckon it doesn’t matter what you have a hankering for you’re bound to find something that you will like in Hahndorf. If you have kids a good place to stop is Treats of Hahndorf that offers everything from boiled sweats to ice-cream.