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

Never buy supermarket honey. Buy it straight from the farm or from a roadside stall or from a farmers market. If you want crap honey, then go to the supermarket where you'll likely be deceived by labels claiming Australian Certified Organic. It's nonsense and deceiving as has been revealed by testing of Capilano's subsidiary Allowrie brand. It's a horror story about imported honey, probably from China where bees don't forage on flowers; rather, they are fed corn syrup and sugar. If you care, and most people do, don't risk it by buying supermarket honey. Buy Aussie honey, preferably from a local supplier. My favourite is Leatherwood honey from Tasmania. Click here for more information

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...

This time with no mystery, the Marree Man had returned. He has be re-etched on the desert soil. The old outline has been freshened by a grader that cut 10cm into the soil. It took 3 days and was done by local identities. Marree Man is 4.2km tall with a 28km outline on the southeastern edge of Lake Eyre. Long may he live and help to make the outback alive. Tip: it's best seen from the air 😉

I am a member of the Infrastructure and Sustainability Committee @ Unley Council. At the meeting on 07 June, one of the agenda items was 'Greening Our Verges'. This item was given healthy debate. It involves encouraging residents to plant and maintain the verge in front of their home to beautify and help to cool the suburbs. Further, a street with healthy street trees and roadside plantings makes a welcoming visual impact and encourages drivers to slow down; rather than speeding down a bland looking street. The recommendation to encourage the greening of verges will go to Council in June 2016. What really appealed to me was the proposal to give Golden Gnomes as awards to residents for excellence in planting and maintaining their verge. It is a low cost proposal and I am sure that residents will embrace the concept and try to receive an award. It is considered appropriate that the Ward Councillors will decided on who gets a gnome. Each Councillor will have 4-5 gnomes to gi...

Just back from a holiday in Tasmania ... The locals are bloody terrible drivers in the CBDs and towns. Like a bunch of rednecks. They are highly aware of and respectful of pedestrians, but they screech to a halt at the lights and take off with speed. But, get them out of their cars and talk with them, the locals are nice people. I had many a long chat. They do look after the tourists. Tourism there is a huge revenue earner and job creator. They are so lucky to live in God's country ... if they are lucky enough to have a job.