School Holiday Fun - Adelaide Central Markets

Hi All,

The previous School Holidays arrived with a bang and the kids were busy either heading up to their nanna's for a holiday or at their Vacation Care - my wife also took off a fair bit of time too and whisked the kids away to the local swimming centres or movie's!

We learnt however our local Vacation Care was to be shut for a considerable amount of time over the Xmas break, in fact not re-opening until the 13th of January - which majority of you will understand this is not helpful for working parents...

So we decided I would apply for leave for three of the days in January before the centre opens again to help out.

I was a bit apprehensive of what to do, the obvious was already decided for the Thursday - The Ice Arena at Thebarton - this is a family favourite, my son who is now 10 loves ice skating and is really quite good at it - he was even thinking of taking up Ice Hockey... My daughter who is 6 has only been two times but wow - what a natural! The first time she spent a bit of time on the learners rink but within 20 minutes was pushing for a go on the big rink - she now skates just as well as her brother and is now asking for us to put her in figure skating...

I still had one other day to come up with an idea, the Wednesday.

With a flash of genius I thought, how about a Treasure Hunt! I know I know its a game that has been played for 1000's of years but I couldn't think of a time I'd ever created a hunt from scratch for the kids.

So I decided to take them to one of my favourite places in Adelaide, The Central Market. It is full of everything food wise you could hope for - and and awesome chance to teach the kids a bit about unusual foods which they've never seen or tasted before.

For a while there a friend and I would walk to the markets at least once a week on our lunch break, takes about 5 minutes to walk there - we don't always buy stuff but its just fun to walk through and look at all the different fruit, small goods and seafood mustered in one building!

So I printed off a Map which was available on the Central Markets website: http://www.adelaidecentralmarket.com.au/map/

The thing I love about this website is the detail they've included, very professional site. For example, click on the above link and it will give you a map of the markets, best thing is - you can hover over each stall and it will highlight and let you know the name of the stall holder, if you want more information including some photos click on the stall and it will take you to a mini intro for the stall holder.

Ok I'm getting excited, for locals its probably not as used but for tourists and visitors this is perfect for someone researching a trip to the markets for the first time, or even to work out where they bought an item they loved on their first or second trip and can't remember who it was!!

I started coming up with a list of ideas and items the kids could hunt for, sure its easy to give them a shopping list and say go but where is the fun in that? One of the main aims for me was to get them to work together to get the job done, most parents will agree siblings don't always see eye to eye nor always prefer to work with each other to get the job done...

Ideas came flooding in as I remembered stalls as we walked through them, such as mud crabs, macaroons, pig's heads (i know grose..) and all the exotic fruit we've often walked past and thought "wonder what that taste's like".

So I came up with this:

The night before I charged their cameras, had a bag and a water bottle ready and put in their bag a Map each and Hunt Questions.

I told them on the way to the markets where we were going and what we were up for and gave them each a chance to look over the questions - instructions were though, no discussing before we get there. The Questions were loaded with cryptic messages packed in with Dares and photos required.

The kids were quite enthusiastic and we began our hunt well, the Minion Banana question was quite easy, I should have watched Despicable Me 2 first... But easy ones thrown in are good as some were quite difficult.

Most parents will say they have smart kids, I'm the same, we have somehow combined to create two of the smartest kids around, sometimes can be lazy but what kids aren't! I wanted them to use their brilliant minds to problem solve. Worked well - almost too well, most of the ones I expected to be hard even for an adult the two were knocking them off in quick succession..

Tragedy though, the famed Pigs Head which is usually at O'Connell Meats was not there.... Every time I walk through the markets there is a pigs head proudly displayed in the window - someone buys one each time, not sure I would but its funny to look at. The dare for this was the kids to take a selfie with the pigs head - something their mum would not be too keen on haha.

Sadly there were no Mud Crabs either, not sure if out of season or what but like the pigs head, mud crabs are prominent each time we go to the markets.

To top it off the awesome macaroons I planned to get the kids to try were all out of stock in the first isle, but we still managed to try some at another shop near the coles.

Somehow, my family is no big fan of seafood, yet I absolutely love it... so getting them enthused with some of the riddles involving them going into the fish markets were hard at first due to the "fishy" smell "dad!"... but once we headed around to Samtass Seafoods that all changed, so much better presented and that fishy smell my youngest was complaining about was completely absent. Here they managed to find the famed nanigui, or Red Snapper as its also known as. They were both fascinated by the rich red colour of the fish but also its massive eyes - they each took a photo for their album and we pushed on. A quick "who wants to try an oyster" didn't go down well as they both proceeded to bolt out of the shop.

In all I think we all had a great day, although my boy isn't a massive fruit and veg fan he still had fun learning new things and exploring the markets - hopefully experiences like this will help his phobia of good foods. My little one is the opposite and loved the markets too - it was a good family experience and a nice way to kill 3 or 4 hours!

Hindsight I think I should have not given them all the questions before we got there, I think if we do this again I might print off the questions individually then give them once each one has been answered - this way they both have to read it together and not have it pre-known in their minds before they arrive.

I encourage anyone with children, and, who is keen on fresh produce and teaching the kids new things to give this a go - head to the Central Markets Website (http://www.adelaidecentralmarket.com.au/map/), print off a map and start exploring. You don't have to even make it based around riddles - just go up and down all the lanes!

If you do attempt it with your children I would suggest though to add little ideas like the quiz or even a list of stuff they have to find so you can buy - if not that amount of time they may get a little ratty by the end :)
Please if you do try this please comment and let me know your experience!

Sostas Argentinian Kitchen - Restuarant Review

Hi All,

Received some good feedback from my last restuarant review of The Albion so thought I'd share some more restuarants that we've tried recently.

As mentioned before school holidays are some of the fun times for my wife and I as we get to venture out to restuarants whilst our children are holidaying up at their nanna's in the Clare Valley. Don't get me wrong I certainly miss my kids whilst their away but its a chance for us to have some alone time and venture to restuarants we either haven't yet tried or are more adult orientated.

Our 4 year wedding anniversary was last Thursday night, we've been together for over 13 years however finally took the plunge 4 years ago. This was the first year the kids were away on holiday so I decided to look around for a more formal location than a regular place like the Daniel O'Connell or similar where we've been previously.

I stumbled across a place called Sosta's located on Rundle Street in Adelaide, its an Argentinian restuarant famous for its steak.

I looked at the menu online and straight away I could see us tucking into the 600g Rump or T-Bone.

My wife loves her food yet packs it into her tiny frame without showing any weight unlike her more plumpy husband... So this place looked perfect, happy wife when T-Bone on the menu.

I made the booking and arranged for my wife to pick me up from work in time for us to go straight there for a 6pm booking.

Sadly it was a 44 degree day, can't change that but we were hoping for some good airconditioning, which on a 44 degree day in Adelaide its not something that would be easy to come by unless your in the freezer section of Woolworths or Coles...

Unfortunately I think Sosta's airconditioner was working as hard as my house was but struggling.

Anyhow, we jagged a window seat which we were very pleased with. First impressions was it was very nice, pleasing to the eye and the menu wasn't overly expensive.

My wife quickly eyed off the T-Bone and I was tossing up over the Rump and the Mixed Grill. I opted last minute to go Rump but wish I went Mixed Grill as for me Rump is a hard one to master, Medium Rare is always needed for me, if cooked longer and more around Medium it gets very tough and chewy..

We also ordered the Pan Espanola which is crispy toasted Ciabatta bread with tomato, garlic, herbs and spices, this accompanied my wife's Bife de Costilla (T-Bone) and my order of Cuadril (Rump). We added a side of Ensalada Mixta (mixed lettuce, fetta, red onion, tomato, cucumber and kalamata olives).

We both added Hongos to our steaks, their oven roasted field mushrooms, porcini mushrooms, rosemary and beef glaze... sounded awesome so had to add it!

The Steaks were accompanied by crispy fried potatoes.

Our Entree (Pan Espanola) arrived first, impressions were high as to us it was a different version of Bruschetta (My wife's favourite!). It was more so like a pizza version of bruschetta and wow it was tasty! Definately recommend as a good starter.

Our mains came out and again impressions were high, both steaks looked amazing. Both sides of salad and potatoes came out equally looking good.

I quickly dived into the potatoes which were coated in spices, crunchy and super tasty I loaded up my plate with as many as could fit next to the steak.

The steak cut nicely, although wasn't medium rare, was closer to medium. The taste was a different story, just so tasty, not like an Outback Jacks steak, this had a standalone taste of flame grill that I haven't had before.

My wife's T-Bone was exquisite. That description is an injustice, perfectly cooked medium rare and hardly any effort to cut. The taste was second to none, never have I had a tastier T-Bone which the meat just melted in your mouth. The taste was similar to mine of flame grilled but this was truly the best steak we have encountered at a South Australian Restuarant.

The salad was very nice too, a great compliment to the steak, the fetta however was similar to the T-Bone, best we've ever tasted. To me it reminded me of melted tasty cheese in texture, it just melted. The taste buds were diving around in a mad frenzy, sadly there was only about 5 or 6 cubes, we could have easily polished another 10 each...

We both worked hard to finish the meals, they were very big steaks and to finish them along with the sides was a great feat but we managed to just finish.

With no room for dessert we sat patiently as we finished off our beers and sat shaking our heads at what we had just been served.

Sostas Argentinian restuarant rates up there as one of the best restuarants we have been too, The steak is close to the best and entree's and side dishes are amazing.

The atmosphere and friendly service pieced together a fine evening and truly memorable for our 4th year wedding anniversary.

I would truly recommend this restuarant to anyone keen for a great steak but also anyone looking for a more intimate dining experience for you and your loved one.

Had the weather been our friend that night we probably would have stayed longer and tried a dessert or two however the air was muggy and we were keen to retreat home with our bellies full and happy.

If I was to put a rating out of 10, I would give Sostas a 9 out of 10, for me if my rump was medium rare it would have pushed it to another level and the rating would have been a 9.5-9.7 out of 10.

Many thanks to the chef's and service staff at Sostas for making it a great evening for our anniversary!

For anyone keen, Sostas Argentinian Kitchen is located on 291 Rundle Street in Adelaide, website has a copy of their menu and can be found on http://sostaargentiniankitchen.com.au/ and can cater for smaller intimate bookings or large and functions!

Adelaide - Is it the place to be?

Adelaide, the old sleepy town where nothing really much happens..

This is the saying alot refer to when they think of Adelaide, most of them would be true but alot miss its inner workings and stuff that make us Adelaideians proud to live in this state.

Yes we don't have theme parks like the Gold Coast and major attractions like Sydney's Opera House and Melbournes MCG but geez, where else in Australia can you live 5 minutes from the city and not be surrounded by a concrete jungle?

Jim Barry Wines - Armagh

Theres alot to love about Adelaide, for me the fact I live 5 minutes from the city and was able to afford it without paying a million dollars for it. Where a Sydneysider would travel an hour and a half to just get to work I can instead travel to one of the best Wine Regions in Australia, The Clare Valley.





Pikes Winery - Clare Valley

I liken Adelaide more so to that of a Sleeping Giant, if you look across the city skyline, infact across alot of the state, you will see a bevy of cranes and construction happening. We have a new state of the art hospital being built, Our famous Adelaide Oval is getting a huge revamp to house AFL football and hopefully some Soccer World Cup games... Progress is happening, soon Adelaide will burst out as a major player in the country.


Areas like where i live are also seeing a whole new lease of life, down the road from me is the train yards, forever a ghost area, it is now a given life again with the introduction of a Bunnings. There is also plans in place to add a new Coles and a K-Mart which is sure to bring in massive business.




Bunnings - Prospect

The introduction of Bunnings is a huge step, really its one of the best shops around and has so much to do. Every weekend i visit there, even if we don't need anything i'll still go to check out plants. I always take my 5 year old who loves tagging along now as every Saturday & Sunday the good folk at Bunnings hold stuff for the kids to do.

Last weekend my little angel came home with a decorated pot base that you can put mozzie repelling candles in - a few weeks before my eldest came with me and made his mum a decorated pot and planted a daisy in there for her.


The introduction of a Kmart and possibly some more little shops will boom this part of town, more jobs, more products to choose from!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the other states aren't great cos thats furtherest from the truth. Gold Coast for example, I would move there in a heart beat, unfortunately the cost and my worry about finding work in the finance industry there has alot to do with us moving up there.

Melbourne is another place I really want to move to, that way, I can see 15+ Richmond games each year instead of the 3 I see only when they play in Adelaide twice and I fly over for a game... But for me Melbourne not as affordable close to the city like I am here in Adelaide, so I'd need to be prepared to travel alot into the city for work.

Travel time is a big factor for me as I have young children aged 5 & 8, I want to spend as much time as I can with them before they grow up and don't want to "hang" with their parents anymore..

One thing I do love is when I catch the bus each day and heading into town, the River Torrens as you cross the bridge is one of the most picturesque in the country. Its the sort of area you could sit and truly relax, block out all of the sounds around you and take in the beauty.

I love participating in the annual Corporate Cup, I'm no runner, nor am I a fitness guru but i'm trying my best... One of the attractions of the cup is the venue, each year we run around the River Torrens.

Recently it helped me capture some of the most beautiful photo's i've taken when a fog which was covering the north eastern side of the city moved over the river and engulfed us with white magic!



But when it comes down to it, affordability is one of the biggest cards Adelaide can offer (besides its beautiful scenery, wineries etc.) Just North of the city you can get yourself a bargain house for just over $500k, drive another 5 minutes North and the price lowers to anywhere between $400k & $500k.

It is also full of older areas which are in the process of being redeveloped, there you can pick up House & Land Packages for $300k - $500k.





So, you can call it what you want but most will agree Adelaide is a fantastic place to live and raise a family!