Ambling around Adelaide

Today, the weather was perfect for exploring Adelaide. There is a free bus service around the central area of the city, which my sister and b-i-l took, but Martin and I found ourselves enjoying walking everywhere.  First we visited the Botanic Gardens which were lovely.  The second extra shows the Palm House, fabricated in Bremen in Germany in 1875 and sent  flat packed to Adelaide. Unfortunately most of the glass broke during the sea journey so had to be remade! Originally it housed moisture loving plants but the plants outgrew the building and  the metal framework rusted. It was last renovated in 1995 and now houses rare dry climate plants from Madagascar. However, it was closed today as an exhibition of Chihuly glass was being set up all around the Gardens including one chandelier in the Palm House. After the Gardens we walked through parkland by the River Torrens (see third extra). Beside a busy main road we spotted a pair of Rainbow Lorikeets had made their nest in a hole in a tree, unbothered by the traffic passing very close by! I had to make them my blip.Once back in the city centre we visited the National Library ( see first extra) where there was a fascinating exhibition about life in the desert when the TransAustralian Railway line between Fort Augusta ( north of Adelaide) and Kalgoorlie was being constructed and afterwards. The small communities living along the track were served with provisions by a two weekly service known as the tea and sugar train. It must have been a hard life for those families. The train service ran from 1917 right up to 1996.