Random thoughts and observations
A voluntary national poll was held across Australia in May 1977 to select the National Song. I was 10 years old and obviously didn’t vote. Advance Australia Fair won the contest and later became the National Anthem. Looking at the poll results, it surprised me that Song of Australia won the ballot convincingly in South Australia (with 34.12 percent), despite being trounced elsewhere in the country.
Today we visited Gumeracha in the Adelaide Hills to see the biggest rocking horse in the world. Gumeracha is just 37km from Adelaide and is one of South Australia’s oldest settled areas, dating back to 1839. Today it has a population of 600 people and a toy factory with a big rocking horse. I don’t know what it is about Australian towns and why they feel that size matters, but I guess a big rocking horse is better than a big galah or pineapple.
South Australia’s May history festival, About Time, continues this weekend. Last weekend, we enjoyed a visit to the Old Adelaide Gaol. We’re now looking for something else to explore.
I’ve been working recently in the Legislative Council of South Australia. It’s in the east wing of Parliament House, which was built in 1936. The west wing was built in 1889 and the Old Parliament House dates back to 1855. From 1843 to 1851, South Australia was governed by a Legislative Council of seven members, all nominated by the Crown, who ran the colony under the direction of the Governor. The new Legislative Council of 1851 comprised 24 members, eight nominated by the Crown and 16 returned by the electors.
The Southern Brown Bandicoot is a medium-sized ground-dwelling marsupial found on mainland Australia from the Mt Lofty Ranges in South Australia to Sydney, generally within 50km of the coast. The furry marsupial is listed as nationally endangered. We saw this little fellow today at the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens. We were enjoying a picnic when Maggie suddenly shouted “mouse”! He’s a lot bigger than a mouse. Southern Brown Bandicoots are about the same size as small rabbits with a long, pointed snout, small eyes, rounded ears, a compact body, large rump and short, thin tail.
