In the desert

I've been in Israel.

I had no idea that there was a commemoration for the Battle of Beersheba taking place this week and was puzzled by all the Australian flags lining the route to Beersheba.

I've been in the desert most of last week, attending a workshop at a research institute. The days were long and intense but I still managed to do some sightseeing and experience the wonders of the local wildlife.

Here is a view near where I was working/staying. It looks like a scene from Star Wars.

These critters are called ibex. They were everywhere.

Here is a horned viper (it was a tiny baby...and super cute).

And my absolute highlight was seeing scorpions. Under a 'black' light (like the ones they use in a nightclub), they fluoresce brilliant turquoise.

Oglebox

I  must admit I was initially sceptical of the format but I'm very much a Gogglebox fan. The Aussie version is so much better than the British (snore) version.

There are some new people this season. They are Lebanese Aussies. All three are very attractive. Nathan noted that the guy on the left is always 'man spreading'. I'm not sure if it was complaint.

Adelaide

I had a Qantas gift voucher I needed to redeem before the end of the year so Nathan and I decided to go to Adelaide for a day trip.

We arrived in the mid morning and headed to a lovely cafe for brekky before wandering over to the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA). I've never been to AGSA before and I was really impressed by the way they display their collections. Old paintings hung alongside contemporary sculptures. It was fantastic. The highlight for me was this wall of Nolan portraits.

Our visit to Adelaide happen to coincide with Tarnanthi, the festival of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art so we also got to check out the exhibition at AGSA and also visit the aboriginal art fair at the nearby Tandanya Aboriginal Cultural Centre. Impressively, I managed to resist temptation and only bought an exhibition catalogue. Nathan bought a tea towel.

Afterwards we went to Rundle Mall and had drinks on the balcony of the Richmond Hotel overlooking the pedestrian strip where a street performer was trying to get out of a Houdini straitjacket.

From Rundle Mall, we made our way to the South Australia Health and Medical Research Institute, which is next to the Royal Adelaide Hospital,  to check out the beautifully designed building (it reminds me of the outer surface of a durian).

Soon, it was time to take an uber back to the airport. We got back to Melbourne in the early evening.

It was a great day.

Next week, I'm off to Israel!