Let there be music!

Last week a lifelong friend and I treated ourselves to a concert at the Adelaide Town Hall to hear the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra perform Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto and Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 from the New World. It was a wonderful evening, the solo violinist was Nicola Benedetti and the Orchestra was led by London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's Permanent Guest Conductor, Garry Walker.

At the rear of the stage is the magnificent pipe organ pictured above.

The original organ was built in 1875 and served well for some 100 years before being replaced just 22 years ago with what you see here. It was built by J Walker & Sons in the UK and was the largest pipe organ built in the UK for 100 years.  It's installation coincided with some major Town Hall refurbishments and cost A$1.3m to build. It weighs in the vicinity of 25 tonnes and contains 4500 pipes ranging in length from a few millimetres to 5-6 metres, thus providing an enormous diversity of pitch and dynamic range.  Its components are made from either wood or metal and the pipes are handmade, using a technique that has not changed in 400 years.

[Courtesy ABC Radio's "Stateline" program]

p.s. We'll have to arrange another night out to hear it in action!

Joining http://ourworldtuesdaymeme.blogspot.com.au/

Beneath the surface....

After reflection (no pun intended!), it seems this shot above might be easier on the eyes of viewers than my previous contribution to Weekend Reflections (hope you didn't get too dizzy trying to work out where the water ended and the real bottlebrushes began!)

Another (belated) contribution to James' http://www.weekendreflection.blogspot.com.au/

(hope your weekend is going swimmingly)

Bottlebrush

Bottlebrush at water's edge

Joining James' http://www.weekendreflection.blogspot.com.au/

Happy weekend all!

Just "Ducky"...!

Out walking Jessie on a very pleasant Spring Sunday afternoon along Adelaide's Linear Park* we encountered the following :



Not so fast, junior!



Shouldn't have had so much to drink last night - my eyes are bloodshot!



 

Just a very small section of the river and its surroundings

A Pacific Black Duck

Amid the shrubbery, these bottlebrush splashed the surroundings with their vivid orange-red colour.

A section of the Linear Park walkway

... and another on the other side of the river.

* For those who may be interested, Linear Park is a paved walkway/cycle track running alongside the River Torrens from the beachside suburb of Henley Beach to the foothills region of Athelstone in the Mt Lofty Ranges - a distance of some 35 km.  It was completed in 1997 and is in regular use by walkers, joggers and cyclists throughout the week and at weekends. A delightful opportunity to change the pace of life and appreciate our glorious surroundings.



I get dizzy trying to keep up with you two!



Joining in with http://ourworldtuesdaymeme.blogspot.com.au/



and Outdoor Wednesday at http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com.au/

Beneath the City

Last month a good friend and I joined a group touring the tunnels beneath the Old Treasury Building in the heart of the City of Adelaide. 

The history of these is as follows (courtesy of the South Australian Government's website) :

"Old Treasury Building tunnels
The Old Treasury Building on the corner of King William Street and Flinders Street was once part of a complex of buildings which served as Adelaide's chief government offices. The Building was constructed in 1839, but much modified over subsequent years, and designed by George Strickland Kingston. Only one portion of wall from the original 1839 building is still standing.
The vaults below the Treasury Building were constructed in 1850 and predate the existing building. It is thought that gold discovered by South Australian diggers in the Victorian Goldfields was stored and smelted at the Treasury Building vaults. The tunnels contain a furnace and a well, but these date from after the goldrush era.
Further information about the Old Treasury Building tunnels can be found in this conference paper: Morgan, Deb (Dept. of Environment and Heritage). Tunnel visions: Persistent myths about Adelaide's underground history, presented at the State History Conference (South Australia), 2006"

Joining other participants in http://mellowyellowmonday.blogspot.com.au/

Away from the madding crowd.....

Spotted on Mawson Lakes at dusk

Joining James' http://www.weekendreflection.blogspot.com.au/ and

http://camera-critters.blogspot.com.au/

Just salt?

These are mountains of naturally-evaporated sea salt and are part of the Cheetham Salt Fields north of Adelaide and adjacent to St Vincent's Gulf.

I'd not really thought much about salt previously, but a little research reveals that it is used for supressing dust (being sprayed on in liquid form), as an essential part of stockfeed, as a method of curing hides and skins from spoilage prior to the remaining tanning process, as a vital ingredient in the pharmaceutical industry (whether used in preparation of dialysis solutions, cosmetics or health products), as swimming pool additive, as well as being used in the food industry and consumed by us locally as well as being exported overseas.

The salt you see above is double washed, dried, sieved and graded (to give consistent particle sizes) before it ends up in our pantries.

Here you can see the "fields" of salt water prior to evaporation

Sunset over the salt fields (posted earlier this year)

and dusk

Joining others appreciating sky scenes at Skywatch Friday

Visit http://skyley.blogspot.com.au/ to see many more.

A Pied Stilt

On my way home from a hospital appointment with my 93 year old Aunt, I stopped by the Greenfields Wetlands hoping to get some shots of the birdlife there. It was late afternoon, almost evening, and I wasn't disappointed.  This delightful Pied Stilt entertained me for ages, so just had to share it with you!

Participating in Our World Tuesday, Outdoor Wednesday and Nature Notes
with grateful thanks to the respective hosts of same.

Gerberas

These Gerberas are in my friend's garden - she is disappointed they turned out not to be the broader-petalled variety, but I think they have a "starburst" quality to them and are pretty in their own right.  In my crazy imagination they suggest "Surprise!"

Adding to Nick's Floral Friday at

http://floralfridayfoto.blogspot.com.au/

The Swan

This beautiful bird was on a private estate in South Wales which we were privileged to wander through.

Participating in http://camera-critters.blogspot.com.au/

with thanks to the host