Showing posts with label Victoria Square. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Victoria Square. Show all posts

Monday, April 4, 2011

Home Is The Traveller

Victoria Square fountain, Adelaide

Home is the sailor, home from sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.
~ Requiem, Robert Louis Stevenson

I don’t know why this couplet from the poem, Requiem by the poet Robert Louis Stevenson came to mind today as I made the move into an older sisters vacant apartment, but it seemed somehow appropriate. After living out of a suitcase for nine months, this solo traveller is finally back in Adelaide again and looking forward to exploring my home town in greater depth. Needless to say, it is great to be able to hang my shirts up again, keep my jocks and socks out of sight in the bedroom, and nice to display my books for easy and convenient access.

Most importantly though, it will be lovely to start blogging again on a regular basis. I set myself several goals and objectives at the start of the year, with regard to my blogging and writing, and all of them have been on hold since mid-January when my Sony laptop stopped working.

In particular I want to forge links with other bloggers and travel sites, which includes inviting guest posts from writers I hold in high regard, and in return contributing to travel sites I also find useful and informative – and most of all, trustworthy. To that end I have already started contributing guest posts to the artist-at-large website, and I have also agreed to contribute to the CheapOair website.

I have recently created a Twitter profile for the Compleat Traveller, which I hope readers will join, and participate in. I’m still getting my head around Twitter, trying to work out how it can work for the Compleat Traveller, and more importantly, how my participation on this social networking site can work for you, my readers. Like the links I am building with other websites, my intention with my Twitter profile is to form networking links with high value travel related companies and independent travellers, who have something of real value to contribute to readers of this blog.

So there you have it folks. Three months into the new year, I am only now beginning to get back to work, but I hope to make up for lost time with the help of my new laptop, and a compulsive back up plan.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Aboriginal Attractions Around Adelaide

~ Kaurna people and Kaurna land
The Kaurna people (pronounced, Garna) are the traditional Aboriginal owners of the area now called, Adelaide. Kaurna land stretches along a narrow corridor across 29 council areas from Cape Jervis in the south, to Broughton in the north.

The Adelaide City Council works closely with the Kaurna people on specific initiatives that include giving all 29 parks around Adelaide Kaurna names, and assigning dual names to prominent sites around the city. For example, Victoria Square, in the heart of the city is also called Tarndanyangga, an Aboriginal name meaning a place of the Red Kangaroo Dreaming. The River Torrens has the dual name, Karrawirra Parri, or red gum forest river, in the Kaurna language.

There are several locations that should be on everyone’s itinerary if they are at all interested in Aboriginal culture. These attractions and their locations are detailed in the rest of this feature .

Tandanya (the National Aboriginal Cultural Institute)
Established in 1989, Tandanya is Australia’s oldest Aboriginal owned and managed multi-arts centre.

Tandanya is a visionary and vibrant place to explore and experience contemporary and traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. The centre features an ongoing performing and visual arts program, exhibitions, tours, a cultural presentations and performances.

Tandanya is open daily from 10am to 5pm
(except Good Friday, Christmas and New Years Day).
Entry: Free into gallery spaces
Performances: Adult $5, Concession/Kids $3
Address: 253 Grenfell Street, Adelaide

The South Australian Museum
For over a century the South Australian Museum has been involved in the collection, study, display and interpretation of Australia's Aboriginal cultures.

The Museum’s Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery holds the largest display of Australian Aboriginal cultural objects in the world. Consisting of over 3000 artefacts, sound recordings, films, photographs, and manuscripts, the collection reveals the beauty and sophistication of Aboriginal culture.

The SA Museum is open daily from 10am to 5pm
(except Good Friday and Christmas Day)
Entry: Free
Location: North Terrace, Adelaide

Other places of interest include:
  • The Piltawodli Memorial (off Memorial Drive) was installed in May 2000 to commemorate National Sorry Day. Piltawodli is a Kaurna word meaning ‘possum place’.
  • Kaurna meyunna, Kaurna yerta tampendi (Recognising Kaurna people and Kaurna land) the reconciliation sculptural work in the forecourt to the Adelaide Festival Centre
  • The Three Rivers Fountain (Victoria Square), commissioned by the Adelaide City Council to commemorate the 1968 visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
  • Yerrakartarta, Kaurna for ‘at random’ or ‘without design’, in the forecourt of the Hyatt Regency Hotel on North Terrace, reflects the seemingly random order of the natural world and consists of various elements set within the pavement and surrounding walls.
More Information
A walking guide is available for visitors who want a more detailed, self-guided tour of the Kaurna and European history that abounds right across Adelaide. The guide is available from the SA Museum, the Adelaide Festival Centre, and the Adelaide City Council.

SOURCES: Adelaide City Council Aboriginal Attractions Guide
IMAGE: Courtesy Tandanya
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