February 11, 2012

Middleton, South Australia

James at Middleton Beach

When you live as close to the beach as we do it may seem strange to drive 82km to a beach, but that’s what we did today.

We went to Middleton on the Fleurieu Peninsula between Goolwa and Port Elliot. We took the Goolwa road from Mount Compass.

The town is mainly holiday homes, as far as I can tell, but apparently it has a permanent population of 818, according to the 2006 census.

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Detained by police in Malawi

Shire River Bridge, Mangochi

While visiting Malawi in 1990, I was detailed by police in Blantyre and questioned about my apparent interest in the country’s then President Hastings Banda. In 1963, Banda was formally appointed as Nyasaland’s Prime Minister, and led the country to independence as Malawi a year later. Two years later, he proclaimed Malawi a republic with himself as president. He consolidated power and later declared Malawi a one-party state under the Malawi Congress Party.

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Home alone (with the kids)

Sydney

Juliet is in Sydney for a couple of days. It’s the first time since we were married nearly 20 years ago that she’s been away without me, apart from a hospital visit to Perth. Her employers at the Tongue Thai’d restaurant organised and sponsored the trip. Matt and Pichai are obviously good bosses who also run an excellent Thai restaurant on Henley Beach Road. They left at 4.30am today and return on Tuesday morning. I don’t begrudge my wife the trip, but it’s strange to be home alone with three of the kids.

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The Overland train

The Overland train, Adelaide to Melbourne

I took The Overland train from Adelaide to Melbourne on Monday with my seven-year-old son James. I wanted a slow journey to connect with James and wean him off computer games for entertainment. The train was perfect. It’s a comfortable 828km trip, departing 7.40am from the Adelaide Parklands station just 1km from our home in Mile End. We had to arrive an hour beforehand to collect pre-paid tickets and check-in our baggage. It was immediately apparent that most of our fellow passengers were elderly, with a smattering of backpackers.

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Port Lincoln

Port Lincoln

Continuing the seafood theme, I’ve just returned to Adelaide after three days on Eyre Peninsula, including a visit to Port Lincoln (pictured above). Port Lincoln is said to be the largest fishing port in the southern hemisphere. It is renowned as the major base for fishing southern bluefin tuna. The town’s most famous son is [...]

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