Mayor4Unley

If you're visiting the Riverland and need some meat to cook on a BBQ down by the river, then the butcher shop you must visit is ' Berri North Butcher ' @ 28 Zante Road, Berri. There are two butcher shops in Berri, but trust me, go to one on the north side of town. The butcher is up for a chat and is very generous with samples of his home-made products eg. fritz, ham, brawn, ... the brawn was absolutely superb. What's brawn? Tip: don't Google it, just enjoy it. The sausages are made using the butcher's secret recipe influenced by the local Greek and Italian communities. One of the pork sausages was bright blood red (from local red wine) and had chunks of lemon rind in the mix. I bought an assortment of meats, some to BBQ down by the river and some to bring home. This butcher was a Berri good find!

I will be down in the country south-east of Adelaide next week and will definitely stop at the normally sleepy town of Coonalpyn. Over the past few months a giant mural has been painted on the five grain silos. It looks absolutely fantastic; a great achievement for the locals. People are stopping and taking photos. Sales of food and drinks are rocketing in the town. In the past, motorists just eased off the accelerator to pass through as quickly as possible. Now, they are slowing to a crawl to view this marvel. Do yourself and the town a favour by stopping at Coonalyn; take a break and view this the mural. It's a giant canvas in the sky. Read the story, view the photo

Last weekend I did my annual trip up to Andamooka; up in the Outback in the far north of South Australia. It's a time to get away and relax without a worry in the world in the bush. Of course I spent time noodling for opals. I found rock with nice traces of blue opal, but didn't find that special and elusive large solid opal. There's always next year. But I did find (or see) a lone wombat near Andamooka. Before leaving Adelaide I had seen media reports about a Southern Hairy-Nosed Wombat that had been seen and photographed on the plains on the road between Andamooka and Roxby Downs. It had caused a bit of a stir because no wombat had been sighted in the area for about 40-50 years. Wombats have been known to live for up to 50 years. So, one day, late in the day (before beer time) I drove from Andamooka, passed the migratory black swans on a small lake and about half way to Roxby I spotted the wombat. He was on the plain, off to the right 100-200 metres away. A further 3...

At times you just need to take a break and get away from the city crowd; and from its demands and pressures. Going bush is an easy escape and helps to put things and priorities into perspective. The clearer skies, the red and greening landscape and the local kangaroos, wombats and magpies help to give life a new perspective. An ideal way to settle the mind and to recharge.

I have just bought some food products from Tasmania following an email exchange. The cost (of which I have a reasonable idea how much) with free shipping is attractive. I did a good deal. Importantly the other party was willing to do the deal. Just received an email saying that the goods will shipped tomorrow and I will be invoiced later. I was staggered by their trust that I would pay. Just so Tasmanian! In my travels across Tassie during a recent holiday, I found the locals very down to earth and a pleasure to meet and talk with. The friendliness of the locals is a reason to one day go back.

Just back from a long holiday in Tasmania. Took 3 weeks and slowly travelled from Launceston via the Wild West to Hobart. In the Tamar Valley I discovered the Hillwood Berry Farm and bought 2 jars of their raspberry jam. It was superb. One and half jars were consumed on our travels. Half a jar came back home. It was so good, just so berry nice that I have placed an order for quite a few jars ... to be eaten over the coming year. Go to their website and check out the products ... http://hillwoodberryfarm.com.au/ If you get to Tasmania, then visit the farm.

That holiday in Port Douglas and Cairns last year was just so fantastic. Tropical fruit for breakfast and prawns and seafood for lunch and dinner. The red pawpaws (or papaya if you prefer) were superb. I prefer the red to the yellow fruit. Richer and more complex in taste and flavour. They do taste better in Queensland. However, to keep the memories alive I occasionally buy a red pawpaw from the local green grocer at Goodwood, Unley, SA. From experience, the best are from the Skybury plantation near Mareeba, high up on the Tablelands above Port Douglas. If you're buying one, select from the Sunbury brand and get one a bit green so it can ripen to your taste. Tip, drizzle some lime juice on it. Yum!

Just back from a holiday in Tasmania. Fond food memories are smoked Atlantic salmon and Leatherwood honey. Smoked Tassie salmon can easily be found in home town Adelaide. I brought some leatherwood honey back home with me. Superb on toast for brekkie. I have found a supplier of Tasmanian leatherwood honey in the Central Market. So the Tassie holiday memories will linger. It's important to not lose those memories.

Just back from a holiday in Tasmania ... or Tassie as we affectionately say. A fantastic place to holiday. It would be paradise to live there. I was walking around Lake Dove @ Cradle Mountain. A long enjoyable walk at an easy pace, other than the up and down bits. There were a lot of Asian (mostly Chinese) tourists. Only a few Aussies. Quite a few were sporting trekking sticks/poles. They had been well briefed to be prepared and had their sticks. A pity they didn't also have decent hiking books. Most of the footwear were inappropriate. Anyway, I was taking a breather; the excuse was to take in the sights as you should do; not just hike along at the fastest pace possible like some do - and see nothing. An elderly Chinese family came along; most with trekking poles. Friendly as usual, I passed some comment and pointed at the poles. I don't recall what I said. Anyway, this elderly Chinese woman (with poles and inappropriate shoes) smiled and offered me her poles; or on...

I've been on holiday up in Far North Queensland for the past couple of weeks. It was hard, very hard, to return home. From 30 degrees C up there to 17 degrees in Adelaide. Now the transition from tropical fruits and prawns and all sorts of seafood and white wine and gin and tonic to less enticing southern fruits, red meat and red wine and less friendly people and a more formal lifestyle. Take me back to thongs, shorts, singlet and prawns and pawpaw. Give me a couple of weeks and I'll truly be back home and enjoying life in SA. If I'm looking a bit down and out, then slip me a prawn.

Last weekend I had a quickly scheduled road trip to Penola; down the SE in Coonawarra country. Timing could not have been better. July madness had struck Penola and the wineries in Coonawarra. There were huge discounts to be found at most shops in town and the wineries also had special deals. As luck would have it, there was a Pop Up wine event in Penola on Friday, early in the evening. A side street was closed for the event. It was chilly, very chilly; beanies were essential and gas fires helped to beat the cold. There were large umbrellas, but fortunately no rain; a perfect, but cold night. At the Pop Up there were several wineries showcasing their wines; the wineries take it in turn and are rostered on these regular events. This was where I met Jack; or at least, Jack’s wines. Jack Estate winery had several wines for tasting; all wines at the Pop Up were $5 per glass; very reasonable. From memory the wines at the Pop Up were: 2013 Jack Estate Chardonnay 2013 Jack Est...

Recently I took a short break in the outback. I travelled to Andamooka with my son for a few days. It's along drive, but a rewarding reality check on what are the real priorities in life. My son drove part of the way. I taught him to give a finger wave to oncoming motorists. Actually, the type of wave is rather personal and there is etiquette involved. Usually one finger, palm side facing the traffic. Two fingers (together) is ok. Never the thumb. The whole hand (four fingers) is ok, but don't wave like the Queen as you'll look like a goose (and a novice). Just a brief flick of the finger or hand. Timing is important. You don't want to be waving after they do. It looks clumsy if you're a late waver. I've noticed that these days, truckies generally don't wave; they probably only wave to other truckies. Also, many women don't wave. However you do it, look like a seasoned waver. I taught my son about that invisible line. You only wave afte...

I grew up on the Murray River, up at Renmark. They were fantastic early years of my life. Part of life (in all towns on the Murray) was the punt , that box shaped structure on pontoons that carried cars, trucks, animals and machinery (whatever) across the river to continue the journey along the road. Now, sometime, in relatively recent times, the term punt was replaced with the term ferry . Why the change? Why the need to replace the word punt ? I say scrap the ferry and bring back the punt . It has a more romantic ring to it. It just makes sense. By the way, SA still has 14 punts operating.

Updated on Wednesday 26-Feb: As I forecast, the Big Mango did turn up unharmed and within days. Today it was announced that the chicken restaurant chain Nando’s has claimed responsibility for the disappearance (aka. theft) of the Big Mango. It was all a huge stunt with the local authorities in the know. There wasn't even a police report made. The original story ... The Big Mango in Bowen Queensland has been stolen in one of that state's biggest fruit heists. The Big Mango weighed 7 tonne and CCTV footage shows a crane being used. Australia is littered with big things eg. the Big: Lobster Cow Galah Pineapple Orange Guitar ... To quote a local from a town with a Big Something ... A town ain't nothing if it ain't got a big something! The Mayor of Bowen is devastated. However I have a feeling that the Big Mango will turn up unharmed within days. It's like gnomes that disappear - usually they do turn up. Whatever, it does help to generate public...

Recently I visited Adamooka (600km north of Adelaide) to escape city life and to try my hand at noodling for opals. It's an interesting town - full of colourful characters. Adamooka's water supply comes from Roxby Downs which desalinates water from a bore field in the Great Artesian Basin, 150km away. I stayed in a local motel which was basic, but comfortable. Trust me, anywhere out of the heat and flies is comfortable. I noticed a local innovative manner of attending to a leaking 'garden' hose. See the photo attached. Why make the effort to fix it. Nearby, I noticed a local who appeared in the early evening - a lizard, in fact a Bearded Dragon. What he likes is for a human to catch a grasshopper and feed him via tongs. Tongs are optional, but the lizard can easily confuse fingers for grasshoppers. See the photo attached. The Bearded Dragon did get his grasshopper that night. He also enjoyed a drink from a bowl in the shade.