Uniquely South Australia - Pt. 2

 

Continuing with our Uniquely South Australia listing, here are some more South Aussie uniquities to enjoy.

Compass Cup – A cow race … yes, a cow race … held annually for the past 40 years in Mt. Compass, South Australia. They boast that it's the ONLY cow race in Australia, but I'm thinking it's probably one of the few cow races in the world. You can't count the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona … totally different.

Sturts Desert Pea is a sturdy desert plant that has brilliantly showy scarlet blooms when in blossom. It's the floral emblem of South Australia. I didn't have to go to the desert to see it though … they had one for sale at Farmer Joe's.

Haigh's Chocolates – A South Australian-based family-owned confectioner/chocolatier that's been around since 1915. At a dinner party at Pauline and Denys', Kay brought some for us to try. Kay insisted she was a South Australian icon, too.

Fru-chocs are chocolate covered dried fruits previously only available in South Australia for some strange reason. Pauline bought some for us to try. They're quite tasty.

West End Beer, a local brewery since 1859 (now evidently owned by Lion/Mitsubishi).

There are some unique words used here and since we're speaking of beer, here's one for you ... a “butcher”. Believed to be derived from the German becher, meaning a cup or mug, it's the name given to a 200 ml (7 imp fl oz) beer glass. So you can buy your beer in an Imperial Pint (20 oz), a Pint (15 oz), a Schooner (10 oz), a Butcher (7 oz) or a Pintie (4 oz). Australians like to have lots of options when it comes to beer.

A unique South Australian invention is the “stobie pole”. Built of concrete and steel, they're used like the traditional wooden telephone poles to support power and telephone lines and were invented in South Australia by James Stobie in 1924 because hardwood was scarce AND they're resistent to white ants.

And since we're talking uniquely South Australia, here are some of South Australia's notable firsts:

• South Australia is the first and only state to have never had a convict settlement at any time in its history.

• Adelaide was the first Australian capital city to be connected by telegraph with London. (1872)

• South Australia was the first territory of the British Empire, excluding Britain, to legalize trade unions. (1876)

• Cremation was legalized here in 1891, an Australian first.

• South Australia was the first Australian Colony to grant women the vote and allow women to stand for parliament. (1895)

• The first license to drive a motor vehicle in Australia was issued in Adelaide. (1906)

• South Australia was the first Australian State to decriminalize homosexual relations between consenting male adults in private (1975)

I'm sure there are many other firsts, quirky words and uniquely South Australian things. Come on, you South Aussies, contribute if you can. Educate the rest of the world.

Uniquely South Australia - Pt. 1

 

Spending time with native South Australian friends lately has been great for discovering things about South Australia we wouldn't usually find out from our Lonely Planet. Here's a list of some things that are uniquely South Australian ...

Australians have nicknames for Aussies from different states, not unlike the USA. South Australians are known as croweaters, derived from the fact that early colonists ate crows due to poverty and lack of food when the free-settled colony of South Australia was first established in 1836. It's non-derogatory and in fact, one of their football teams is called the Croweaters or simply the Crows.

Bung Fritz – aka Devon sausage in other Australian states, although South Australian bung fritz purists would debate this issue. Typical commercial preparations list the major ingredient as "meat including pork". It is usually composed of several types of pork, basic spices, and a binder. Think a cross between Spam and baloney – Wow! There's even a Bung Fritz Appreciation Society that boasts “no lips and no arseholes.”

The Frog Cake is a sponge cake dessert in the shape of a frog's head originally covered with green fondant icing and two little black dots for eyes. It now comes in a host of colors. It was created by the Balfours bakery in 1922, and became a popular treat in South Australia. The frog cake is considered "uniquely South Australian" and in 2001 it was listed as a South Australian Heritage Icon by the National Trust of South Australia.

The Kitchener Bun is another South Australian sweet dessert which resembles a jelly doughnut, split in half, topped with a chantilly cream and dusted with sugar. Yum! These South Aussies know their sweet treats.

Farmer's Union Iced Coffee outsells Coke in South Australia. Even McDonald's sells it. South Australians consume 36 million litres/year making it the only place in the world where a milk drink outsells cola. The product was traditionally sold in cardboard containers and when they introduced it in a plastic “stubby” bottle, they had fun with their advertising. We tried it … definitely better than Coke.

Pie floaters – A true epicurean delight and available on many menus in South Australia. Take a meat pie, set it afloat in thick, green pea soup and squeeze a mighty squirt of tomato catsup on the top and you've got a pie floater. We're told it's good for a hangover. Makes you want to give up drinking, I'd say. The Enjoy Bakery offers them 24 hours!

Stay tuned for Part 2 and more Uniquely SA tomorrow.

90 Day Rule Kicks In

 

Remember when I talked about our 90-Day Rule? Something unexpectedly wonderful happens to us about every 90 days when we're aboard Nine of Cups. Consider this, if you will. In July 2011, when we were visiting Fiji, we sailed to Palmlea Eco-Farms and Resort to visit with SSCA friends who own it. By chance, while there, we met Pauline and Denys, an Aussie couple who were visiting with their son and his family and enjoying time at the Palmlea Resort. We chatted, became friendly and exchanged contact information.

Fast forward to austral Spring 2012 when Nine of Cups and crew were in Kettering, Tasmania. We received an e-mail from Pauline and Denys. They were visiting another son and his family in Tasmania and happened to be only one town away. We had a great lunch together on Nine of Cups and caught up on each others' lives. They're a busy couple with extensive travel, family visits and major house renovations, as well as biking and competitive swimming, on their usual agenda.

Fast forward once again to Port Adelaide, South Australia … here and NOW. Pauline and Denys, we found out, don't live far away and they've been keeping track of us on our blog. Pauline called and offered use of her washer, a beach with no jellyfish, a local vineyard visit, a ride around the area and dinner at their home. How could we resist? Talk about fortuitous … and me just complaining about the laundry situation and jellyfish. Somebody reads … somebody listens! Wow!

We met at Saily's Pub at 0930 (no drinks, just a meeting place) and headed off for parts unknown to us with Pauline and Denys as our local guides. There's nothing like touring an area with folks who were born and bred here. They know all sorts of things you can't find in a guide book. We headed down along the coast through quaint beachside towns like Semaphore and Glenelg. It's still summer holiday for the kids here and lots of families are on vacation. At Glenelg North, we took a circuitous detour up sidestreets to visit the Old Gum Tree, the site at which South Australia was officially proclaimed a colony in 1836. It's a red gum tree that probably had large spreading limbs at one time, but now it's more of a memorial arch. The tree, long since decayed and dead., has been been encased in concrete.

We continued south along the coast, then turned inland to wine country. South Australia is noted for its wines and the McLaren Vale area has dozens of wineries with Cellar Doors (tasting rooms). We chose Haselgrove Vineyards for no particular reason other than it tickled our fancy. It turned out to be a fortuitous stop. The temperature outside hovered around 105F/40C and it hit us like a hot brick as we left the air-conditioned car. We were met by a gracious and knowledgeable host, Ryan. He offered a tour and, despite the heat as we traipsed up and down steel ladder-ways through a field of stainless steel vats, we learned more about wine-making in our 30 minutes with Ryan than we ever had before.

The barrel room was deliciously cool after the heat of the outside. Returning to the tasting room, we sampled a Pink Lady cider, then whites and reds and finally a lovely port decanted directly from the tasting room cask. We bought wine for dinner (and then some) and headed, on Ryan's suggestion, to a light lunch at Blessed Cheese in the town of McLaren Vale.

Rejuvenated and rehydrated, we headed down the Fleurieu Peninsula in hopes of finding cooler temps. The temperatures weren't much better, but the views were great.

We stopped at beautiful Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot Beach and forced ourselves to have an ice cream cone at the Flying Fish Cafe in an effort to keep our bodies cool. We licked and lapped and marveled at the energy of young kids jumping off the pier … over and over again.

We drove to Land's End at the tip of the peninsula where the Port Jervis Lighthouse stands sentry. We watched the SeaLink Ferry depart to Kangaroo Island, but the island, usually quite clear, could only be seen faintly in the distance. We attributed the haziness to the heat and the residual smoke from recent bush fires.

On the way home, we had our first view of kangaroos grazing in a field. What better way to say welcome back to Australia?

Back in Adelaide at our hosts' home, I did a load of laundry and hung it out on the line while Pauline prepared dinner, Denys barbecued and David supervised. All in all, an outstanding 90 Day Rule kind of day.