The Mad March long weekend

March is called Mad March in Adelaide, where I live. During March there is a long weekend, which is even crazier than the rest of the month. The holiday Monday is for a horse race, the Adelaide Cup, which used to be held in May. I’m not sure why they changed it but it sort of works.

In March there are two concurrent Arts festivals, the Fringe and the Festival, a four-day WOMAD festival, a car race and a horse race. Over the long weekend, one can attend WOMAD, the horse race and/or any number of Fringe or Festival shows. Most people complain afterwards that they need a long weekend to recover from the long weekend.

Hubby and I began our weekend with his return from a five-day trip to Perth on Friday night. All of the children were at WOMAD so we had some time to catch up on each other’s weeks. He crashed early and I stayed awake in order to pick up the children at 12.30 from the local train station.

After a late start on Saturday, once the children had been deposited at the train station for another long day at WOMAD, Hubby and I drove to Gaganis Brothers to do some early Passover shopping. We bought a truckload of almond meal. I can only get it in small bags at the supermarket and I usually use over a kilogram in various cakes and snacks. It seems unnecessary to buy five small bags when I can buy one, resulting in much less packaging. Gaganis is a local food wholesaler and the meal was made from Australian almonds.

We also had to do a run up to Hahndorf to pick up some cheese. It made a lot more sense to stay out and go straight to there from Thebarton. Once in Hahndorf, we got cheese from local Adelaide Hills cheese maker, Udder Delights. By then, we were pretty hungry so we shared a seasonal produce plate, full of locally grown and freshly prepared salads, dips, olives and cheese at the Seasonal Garden Cafe.

We made a quick stop at the supermarket while we were out and headed home until it was time for WOMAD pick up.

On Sunday, Hubby and I went out to the Garden of Unearthly Delights, where we bought dinner at a local food stall, Voodoo Burgers, and drank locally owned and made beer, Coopers. We went to see comedian, Wil Anderson and then stopped for gelato at independent café, Brunelli, on Rundle Street.

Yesterday we walked over to nearby friends and had a lovely shared lunch.

And guess what? There are still five days left of the Fringe and the Festival! Bring it on.

Cheers.