National Motor Museum, Birdwood

~ The Australian National Motor Museum is located in the Adelaide hills town of Birdwood.

You don’t have to be a petrol head or car enthusiast to appreciate Australia’s biggest motoring collection of 300 vintage, veteran, post war, classic and modern cars. Oh, and let’s not forget the commercial vehicles and the 100+ motorcycles.

As you walk through the contemporary pavilions and the ever changing exhibition spaces, you encounter the stories, people and vehicles that have shaped Australia’s motoring history through the decades. From the early imports of the 1920s and ‘30s, and the rise of Australian manufacturing in the ‘40s and ‘50s, through to the sleek designs of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and finally on to the latest in modern engineering and high performance racing of today. You can even test yourself in the state-of-the-art virtual driving simulator.

Among the famous and little know vehicles in the Museum are the 1899 steam-powered Shearer, the oldest Australian built vehicle still running. You will also find the legendary Leyland Brothers Land Rover; a 1922 electric powered car designed for female drivers, and the famous Birdsville Track mail delivery truck operated by Tom Kruse, to name just a few.

A visit to the National Motor Museum will give you an appreciation of how motor vehicles opened up Australia, linking some of the most isolated communities and cities in the world. Make sure you look for the Talbot, the first car to cross the continent in 1908. What an incredible journey that must have been!

The Museum also hosts various special events, including the finish of the world-renowned Bay to Birdwood vintage car run which takes place each year in September.

With extensive grounds for picnics, free BBQs, an playground, café, souvenir shop and free activities for children, the National Motor Museum has something for everyone.

Entry:
Adult $9.00; Conc $7.00; Child $4.00 (children under 5 free); Family $24.00 (2 adults, up to 6 children)
School Groups: $3.50 per student
Groups of more than 20: $7.00 per adult $6.50 concession, bookings essential

Getting There: Hills Bus Services
Affordable Coachlines of Lobethal have a bus service to Birdwood. The service is available seven days a week. Take any O'Bahn bus from Grenfell Street in the city to Modbury Interchange, Tea Tree Plaza (trip time approximately 30 mins). Then you can catch a 800 or 801 bus from Modbury to Birdwood and back again. Cost (each way): $5.50 for adults, $2.75 for concession. For more information contact Affordable Coachlines on (08) 8389 5566.

The Hills Explorer bus will take you to Birdwood for a round trip price of $40 per person. This includes pick up from an arranged place in Adelaide CBD, drop off at Birdwood, and return to Adelaide CBD. For bookings and enquiries phone 0411 725 603.

National Motor Museum
Birdwood, South Australia
Open Daily: 10am-5pm (closed Christmas Day)
Phone: (08) 8568 4000

IMAGE: Courtesy Bay to Birdwood website…

House Swapping for Seniors

~ Here is a second article about house swapping courtesy of the Aussie House Swap website. The first entry can be found here...

When you start to examine the sorts of people who take readily to house swapping, it comes as no surprise to see seniors well represented.

Naturally, many of the advantages of house swapping for holidays apply equally to seniors as they do to couples and families with children.

Rather than repeat them here, I'll refer you to our articles discussing these in detail. (House Swaps - the practical way to holiday and House Swapping - homemade for families)

As well as most of these advantages, the special circumstances of seniors give them some extra incentives and benefits when it comes to house swaps.

For example, when seniors take a holiday, they're not only looking at the out of pocket costs — which working couples can eventually recoup from their wages, salaries and overtime — but as retirees, seniors are looking to preserve a finite and probably dwindling retirement nest egg, which they have little or no chance of replenishing to any great extent.

Thus they generally have to watch their reserves pretty carefully, when it comes to fun things like holidays. House swapping is therefore especially attractive, with its "cost-of-travel-only" advantages.

Besides, seniors are less likely to be heading for the theme parks and carnivals than are the younger generation. For them, a house in the country or a cattle station is often just as attractive as a seaside resort or a big-city property (if not more so). This means that they're often available for those swaps which are not as popular with families (whether for reasons of location or season).

I spoke to several senior couples who had exchanged houses through Aussie House Swap. Here are some of the things they pointed to as their reasons for house swapping (and some distinguishing factors, compared to the younger fry):

One couple were especially conscious of the "shrinking nest-egg syndrome," and saving money was high on their list of reasons for swapping. Exploring the country was another of their motivations, so they planned swaps that would allow them to visit preferred locations over a period of months each year.

Having decided to register with Aussie House Swap, another senior couple had a definite preference for swapping with other seniors. They were clearly more comfortable leaving their home in the care of another retired couple, than having families staying in their house.

Senior house swaps are often for longer periods than family swaps. This just makes sense, given that retirees have more available time, and can swap more easily in non-holiday periods than families, whose predominant reason for swapping is to enjoy inexpensive vacations in fun locations.

Factors like these no doubt account for the high percentage of retired people amongst our growing house-swapping base.

Hosting
As well as straight swap overs covering the identical period of time, some people (especially seniors) enjoy "hosting" another couple, then later on being hosted by them in return. This simply means that the owners remain at home, and host their swap partners as guests and visitors for an agreed period. They enjoy each other's company, do some exploring and shopping together, see some of the sights, and perhaps fish or play a round of golf together.

Then at a later date, they reverse the process. The hosts become the visitors, just as the visitors become the hosts in their home and town.

Hosting is a great way to build new friendships, and increase mutual empathy and understanding between people of different backgrounds and from different parts of the country, or even overseas.

How much does it cost?
Aussie House Swap membership is only $65 per year! However, if you do not manage to house swap in your first year we will give you another 12 months membership absolutely free! This is our guarantee to you! For $65 (less than the cost of one nights motel accommodation) you can make as many house swaps as you like within your 12 months.

Article courtesy of Aussie House Swap website. Like our Partner site, Home Away, Aussie House Swap gives you the opportunity to stay in someone else’s home, while they stay in yours.

Image for illustration purposes only

Circular Quay, Sydney

~ I was not expecting the delightful shock I got as the train from Petersham slowed into Circular Quay.
The first thing I saw was the Sydney Opera House, followed quickly by the sweep of the Harbour spread out in all its glory, and then my first view of the Harbour Bridge.

The designers of the Circular Quay station complex clearly had one eye focused on the view too, since parts of the platform were open to the elements, and afforded good lines of sight to the Bridge, Harbour and Opera House.

The pulsing thrum of a didgeridoo, accompanied by a pounding techno beat drifted up from the street below. Before I left the station, I took the obligatory photographs of the view but left the Opera House and Bridge for later, since I couldn’t quite get perfect shots of either.

Down on the street, I slowly walked around to the Opera House, pausing to watch the didgeridoo player; the human statue dressed as an Anzac digger, and other sundry buskers. At the foot of the sweeping steps leading up to the entrance of the Opera House, I stopped to admire the grand vision of Jorn Utzon, the Danish architect who designed one of Australia’s true iconic buildings.

Up close, the building isn’t as imposing as you might expect, and yet there is something unique and beautiful about the Opera House’s form and design that constantly delights the eye. Certainly, the location – on one of the most stunning natural harbours in the world – plays a big part in its ongoing appeal.

I’m sure too, its accessibility and visibility plays a huge part in that appeal. After all, both the Bridge and the Opera House are clearly visible from so much of the Harbour, that both might even be in danger of being taken for granted, despite their status as uniquely Australian icons.

Despite the grey skies and the occasional rain shower, I kept my camera close at hand as I tried to capture the Opera House and Harbour Bridge at unusual angles, or as unconventionally as I could, while a constant flow of ferries, water taxis, cruise boats, and other water craft came and went from Circular Quay.

I never thought I’d say this, but I think the area around Circular Quay is as vibrant, exciting, and involving as any similar part of New York City (where I spent two months last year).

New York of course, has many other attractions to delight and excite, but they tend to be spread right across Manhattan. Sydney on the other hand, has concentrated some of its premier attractions and views in a relatively central area, and you can easily spend a full day in and around Circular Quay and still not see all that the area has to offer.

I’m hoping for at least several ‘perfect’ days during the rest of my Sydney visit. On one of these I will venture out onto the water via the many ferries that crisscross the Harbour, and try and capture the city skyline, Harbour Bridge and Opera House from one of these off shore platforms.
Until then, I will have just have to keep dodging the rain showers, and be patient.

Image: Sydney skyline reflected in windows of the Australian National Maritime Museum.
Photographer: Jim Lesses