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!

Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover....

This was the term my wife used last night while we were sitting at dinner..

It's school holidays here in Australia and every December/January school holidays my children head up to their nanna's in the Clare Valley, they usually go for a week each school holidays however over the big break they head up for two trips...

So as you can imagine, my wife and I tend to eat out alot while their away...

The night before we went to our local Caffe Primo, not bad, it has my loyalty at the moment due to the current Chef's Special BBQ Ribs, slow cooked in honey and BBQ sauce with a dash of apple cider... Just brilliant, almost as good as the massive bench of ribs at Outback Jacks...

My wife mentioned the night before about a local pub called the Albion Hotel, its located in Kilburn, South Australia. For those that don't know, Kilburn is one of those areas which generally you lock your doors when driving through, has a bad reputation and will take many years and alot of redevelopment to finally lose the name...

I was hesitant due to the factors above, and I didn't expect the quality of the food to be big, I had vision's of a dodgy pub in the outback not very clean and stuff..

Probably a bit harsh but unfortunately impressions of the area aren't great, I had heard though of a group who piled a bit of cash into the pub and renovated it so part of me was thinking this might turn out ok...

And I was very pleasantly suprised, we walked into the pub and it was huge, it has its own sports bar and drive through bottle shop but the restuarant section was massive.

Looking at the menu my eyes quickly jumped to the Seafood Platter for one, has to be one as i'm the only one in my family that likes seafood... I was enticed though by the schnitzel's and the mixed grill...

However looking at the Seafood Platter... Salt and Pepper Calamari, Grilled Prawns, Deep Fried Flathead, Kilpatrick Oysters on a bed of fries.

My wife decided on the Chicken Minion so with that I dashed up to the counter.

Might just be me but some things really crack me up, like when standing in a line for a long time while you watch 4 waitresses finding stuff to do whilst one takes orders.. So my impression was still a little ho hum..

Whilst at the counter I noticed a special - "Try our new improved Garlic Bread for $2.90".. Well, $2.90 is worth a punt so I added that to the order.

We decided to get into the salad/vegie bar first, not bad and a good selection.

The garlic bread arrived and I was ecstatic, 3 big pieces of turkish bread slathered in garlic butter... Very very tasty.

Our mains came out not long after which was another good suprise, nothing worse than waiting hours for meals to come out...

The Seafood Platter looked awesome, so did my wife's Chicken Minion... Could have comfortably taken either dish.

Tucking into it the taste buds were dancing for joy as the calamari was perfectly seasoned and cooked just right, oysters were just a delight and the prawns were the highlight of the dish perfectly grilled with a hint of spices added to it for a little extra kick.

The let down for me was the fish, the batter was very dense and doughy.. but, added to their beautiful tartare sauce it wasn't too bad.
Overall though I would definately order again, the Seafood Platter only cost $22 and was value for money!

My wife was very happy with the Chicken Minion, I managed to snare a small morsel and the piece I tried it looked to be a great dish, one my wife thoroughlly enjoyed.

We sat both happy and content overall with the mains, one thing stood out though.... the dessert menu sneaking out of the drinks card, there it stood for all to see, Sticky Date Pudding.

Anyone who knows me knows I have a big weakness for Sticky Date Pudding... We don't usually order desserts at the restuarants, most of the time we're too full to have anything else...

This time we took the plunge, My wife ordered a gluten free chocolate cake and I took the plunge on the sticky date.

From all reports the chocky cake was very very tasty, the sticky date for me was too cakey, very fluffy almost like the banana cake I cook... The sauce was good but a bit weaker than i'm used too. Don't get me wrong it wasn't the worst one i've had, actually i'd get it again, it just didn't have that wow factor.

An example, we dined at Charlies Diner last week, this is an all you can eat restuarant, after gorging myself on an array of spaghetti, chinese, roast, seafood etc. I decided to try the dessert, the sticky date pudding was simply the best I have ever ever had. It reminded me of a chocolate brownie, the way the cake was, it wasn't fluffy and light, it was dense and thick like the brownie, the sauce which came with it was also stunning. Rich, really rich and full of flavour, that one piece of Sticky Date simply had the wow factor.

So, overall, our experience at the Albion Hotel was very good, My wife reminded me afterwards never to judge the book by its cover, or I guess of its surroundings...

I would absolutely recommend the Albion, it had a great atmosphere and the food was really good quality. If your keen to check it out, head to www.albionhotel.com.au. It caters for families well with probably the cheapest kids menu i've seen of only $5.50!

Round 1 - ETPBC Div 5

Round 1 came and went as quickly as the lead we worked hard to maintain late in the game.

Our Div 5 team travelled down to West Torrens last Saturday for the Round 1 "Torrens Clash", rivalry has always been strong with the two clubs and this game was one neither side wanted to drop.

East Torrens Div 5 this year is a completely new outfit, new coach at the helm Robbo and his band of merry men, brought a wealth of experience and power into our side which last year failed to win more than 3 games and struggled both on the mound and with the bats.

One of my best mates Jarrad is one of the players from last years squad, both he and I agree we both need some work and we've struggled in the past couple of seasons (where coaching individuals for improvement hasn't been the focus). But both Jarrad and I agree the new coach and squad coming down has been a breath of fresh air.

This has been noticable throughout training and before warm-up's on Saturday, Matt our new catcher (and Robbo's right hand man) is everything about winning, but, he wants the team to win, not individual glory. He speaks to us all with respect and helps every batter out as much as possible to better their game.

So, Saturdays game a number of us had pre-game nerves, myself included. I spent all morning working through my bevy of songs to help calm down and not get worked up too early, songs including Layla (Eric Clapton), Bella's Lullaby (Twilight), The Back of My Head (Short Stack), Paparazzi (Lady Gaga) etc.

Yes the list above includes a song from Twilight and Lady Gaga, I am definately not a Lady Gaga fan but just like this one song... Twilight, well, have to admit I do enjoy watching the saga but that song and its melody I really love listening too.

The above worked for a while but the nerves kept coming, normally I'm not nervous before a game, Game 1, under a new coach, new team, this was a different scenario. So a swift change to "Fire Up" music was in order, special thank you to Linkin Park, Blink 182 & Good Charlotte for helping me out there.

I have everything to prove to the new guys, I cemented my spot at 3rd base last year (but thats easy when your the coach haha..). I had a great year last year and wanted to return so I had to prove myself worthy of staying in the infield. I also won the batting trophy last year so I wanted to show why and that I wanted to be a threat with the bat again this year.

My first at bat came before the first chance at fielding, felt ok out there but my timing was out... I found I was swinging late. Finally on the fifth pitch I claimed the ball with my bat, unfortunately I deflected it straight into my left foot, just below the shin... The ball kicked out to short stop and I hobbled to 1st base..

With that painful experience came the embarrassment side, my first fielding error. With a Double Play looming the ball was hit to me at 3rd and a late unexpected bounce left the ball hitting the top of my mitt and fumbling onto the ground, once I finally retrieved the ball it was too late to get any runners out.

Now with my head down and cursing myself came the new players in our team, never have I received so much encouragement after a bad play - Wazza at first, Hung at SS, Matt at catcher, all yelling out.

This lifted me quite well, spent some of the game still a bit jumpy but gathered my nerves to start fielding well and getting the runner out at first without overthrowing or misfielding the ball.

Both teams went tit for tat over the next 5 Innings, I enjoyed two hits from my next two at bats and also helped bring some runners home (We won't talk about me getting thrown out at home whilst attempting to slide - or as my son says, fall over the plate...)

In the 5th inning we were tied at 5 all with 1 out and my nerves came back to haunt me, I gathered the ball, an easy play to attempt to throw the runner out at first, routine play... Not sure why but my throw didn't have as much in it as required and it bounced to first base only just getting the runner out. Again my head down not happy - but like an alarm went off in the other fielders heads, the encouragement began to flow like crazy.

Last batter of the inning came to the plate and after watching a few balls he hit a grounder to me at 3rd, unfortunately this was one I couldn't wait for so I plunged forward. Gathering the ball whilst on my knees I looked up, rocketed a ball to first and just claimed the runner in time. This one play renewed my huge passion for baseball as it was one of those plays you hear in the big leagues the announcer screaming out in joy as the player dives for the ball then throws to first from his knees... Something i've always wanted to do.

Fired up we went into the last inning with confidence we could win this and just like that our boys brought home two runs and we went into the bottom of the inning 7-5 up.

Sadly West Torrens had their big hitters up next and they managed to tie up the game 7-7, luckily for us their last batter skyed the ball to me at 3rd and I was able to take the final out with a routine catch.

I thoroughally enjoyed the game, Robbo pitched all the way through and really controlled the plate well - never looked like tiring either. Matt controlled the plate like a real captain of the team, Hung the new boy was kept busy at short stop (I like to yell out Hit it Well Hung when he's batting hahaha) and Left & Centre fielders Jonesy & Ralph were kept busy too.

All our players hit very well and I think majority of us were able to grab a couple of hits on the day, sadly, like Matt spoke of at the end, 7 runs is great but leaving 10 runners stranded on base is something we need to work on. Looking back at the game our team played very well considering we only trained 3 or 4 times prior to Round 1.. This is also the first time our team has played together as one.

I was sore the next few days but Saturdays Round 1 game really ignited the fire inside of me to push to be the best for this team. I want to train hard and learn from the guys like Matt and Robbo as I feel they can really teach Jarrad and myself alot about our batting and the game.

One thing was also apparent to Jarrad and I, the need to also drop some kg's, so we now have a goal - 10kg's to be dropped, hopefully before Xmas. 10kg's off will help us compete more, run harder and be fitter for the team and family life.

This week we play our first home game of the season against Woodville @ 3pm. If this Woodville team is anything like we played two years ago then we will have our work cut out for us. But this team has the confidence that we can do it so I think this will be a very good game to watch - if your past Pattersons Reserve (Payneham) on Saturday then check it out, canteen will be open with some awesome hot food and drinks available!

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!