A new Life drawing

Adelaide turned out to be a really good trip. My favourite area is around the North Terrace. This is the earliest part of the square mile which was planned and built by the early colonisers of South Australia. The roads in the square are wide and based on European Boulevards and there are several squares and fountains. At Adelaide is different from the rest of Oz because it was settled by free men who paid for the land and not convicts who had been sent over from Britain. Along North Terrace are the State Art Gallery, Museum and State Library. Each one is full of high quality culture and were a pleasure to visit. The east end of North Terrace are the Botanical gardens, which are very pleasant on a sunny, winters afternoon.
I got in a good day-long bike ride along the Torrence river to the West Coast and followed it to the northern tip at Port Adelaide and then down to Glenelg, where I met friends  of the family. They own a Thai cafe and  I was treated to a nice Pad Thai and a cup of chai... very nice!

Before I leave for home I am going to attend a couple more charcoal drawing classes. Here is one I did before the end of last term.

Ren

Adelaide - South Australia

Took an 11 hour bus trip from Melbourne to Adelaide yesterday. This wasn't as straight forward as I thought it would be because the problem of getting my bike accepted onto the bus cropped up again! This time it was a bit unexpected because I had bought a ticket for myself and the bike... the bus driver thought otherwise. Not only the bus driver but his pal as well told me that they don't take bikes on the bus. I pointed out that I had a ticket and me and the bike were getting on. So he went over to have a word with the 'office' and then let me and the bike on. I don't blame him for being bolshy, because by the time we got out of Victoria the bus was full with 58 passengers and their luggage. But all's well that ends well. Travelling on a long distance bus in Oz is interesting, there were quite a few characters willing to tell you their life story and the state of the world and what is wrong with it. The journey flew by.
Today I have been checking out Adelaide and I like what I have seen. It is well laid out with broad avenues and Squares with fountains in them. I spent some time in the Art Gallery which is impressive with seven or eight galleries opening out from each other. There's a  wide range of contemporary and historical art plus some very good indigenous art. They even have a few paintings by Turner and a few by a guy called Charles Hill who comes from Coventry my home town.
I went along to the market for lunch with Angie who is putting me up. There is a big area with about 15 Asian food shops with lots of delicious veggy food... spoilt for choice. Also took a look in the very interesting Museum which is next door to the Art Gallery and the State Library which is next door to the museum!! I'm pretty impressed with the resources around here.
I was looking at maps in the library (which has a statue of Rabbie Burns outside*) - getting ready for a trip down the river to the coast tomorrow when a guy decided to help me plan the route... he told me that Adelaide is the most civilised country in the world!  So now I am sitting in Adelaide Uni with one of Angi's friends who has logged me on.
I go back to Melbourne on the overnight bus on Thursday night so we shall see what we shall see.

*Saw a statue of Rabbie Burns in Dunidon - South New Zealand as well!