Something I enjoy about living in the Kingdom is that you're never too far away from getting lost in the wilderness. Planting a city between water & a small mountain range, means it never takes very long to get out of the suburbs & into hiking country full of walking trails & all that nature stuff!

Every now & again, I just have to get out & go walking by myself. The obvious choice in the Kingdom is Mount Lofty which is a great hour long climb from Waterfall Gully to the top & the view alone is worth the pain. However, there are plenty of walking trails which aren't so obvious littered throughout the local area & most of the time you can walk without seeing anyone else for the entire journey.

Another place I found only recently is very close to home (a ten minute drive) & contains possibly the best staircase ever! I'd love to shake the hand of the architect for this one, regardless of whether it is considered genius or insanity.



The Hallett Cove Conservation Park has some short but interesting trails which lead along the coast line & along the cliff edge which has been eroded over so many thousand years. It's got a number of little lookout points with the odd informative sign explaining different features, but the staircase leads to the highlight.



At the very bottom is a beach consisting of rocks, pebbles & the occasional shell & piece of greenery. It's peaceful, spectacular & feels isolated even though civilisation is about five minutes walk in any direction.

I'm yet to find myself down there all alone, even though each time I thought I was. From out of the cliff & rock formations, people eventually appear & for the record, they're not doing anything suspicious, instead just sitting & talking or enjoying the serenity. I have seen a couple swimming but I can't see myself tackling the jagged rocks too soon.



Here's a couple of photos which came up better than expected. One from the beach afore mentioned & from the top of the staircase overlooking the beach.

 

Hope everyone enjoyed a nice Easter break!

I'm not really in agreement with the religious side of Easter, so yes, it's all about the chocolate.

To quote the thoughtful Elmer Fudd - "I'm waiting for the Easter Wabbit. When he comes in looking so fwuffy and cute with his wittle basket of Easter eggs... BANG! Easter Wabbit stew. He he he he."

 

I write this as John Mayer & Jessica Simpson are probably still asleep in their hotel room across the street roughly 200 metres away. Mayer played the Entertainment Centre last night to kick off his Australian tour & damn, he sure can play.



Let's kick this off with the set list;

Vultures
No Such Thing
Good Love is On the Way
Why Georgia
I Don't Need No Doctor
Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
Clarity
The Heart of Life
Waiting on the World to Change
Belief
Bigger Than My Body
Gravity

-- encore --
Your Body is a Wonderland
I'm Gonna Find Another You

In general I was nonplussed with the studio version of Vultures, but it definitely has an impact live & with the band starting the rhythm before John joins the stage, it makes a great opening tune. The set covered two or more songs from each album so far & was overall a good mix. The cheesiest song ever written "Your Body is a Wonderland" made the cut to appease the quite significant portion of the crowd who were female & aged under 16.

"I Don't Need No Doctor" was a favorite of mine from the John Mayer Trio which failed to tour downunder. I have a couple of versions of the song on concert bootlegs, but I was surprised that I seemed to be the only person who really got into the groove & was able to sing along. (Yes, I do sing along at concerts - I have no shame.)

"Belief" was my other highlight. I completely love this tune even when JM used to play it years ago with different words - "Sleeping at the crash sight, Resting on the wreckage", etc. The alternate live version titled "Simmering Melody" is well worth searching the internet for.

Whilst I had a great time & John's ability & guitar technique is phenomenal, he still manages to frustrate the hell out of me. For those who don't really listen to a great deal of Blues music, it would come as a surprise just how many licks that John uses which are straight from the hands of Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan & a plethora of old time greats. My problem with this is John's virtual channeling of these guys & he can genuinely sound like they are in the room playing. It's brilliant, but I desperately want to hear his own take on & interpretation of their music rather than a straight-up copy.

My other issue is with each song turning into an extended blues jam. John, be true to your songs!! I love nothing more than a guitarist "going off" in the right circumstances, but sometimes it just feels out of place. I think that's where JM3 should come into play. The Trio with Palladino & Jordan is the perfect facility for the blues & hope that one day they get together again & tour into the Southern Hemisphere.

I also hope Mayer keeps to his promises of his next album being written from the road on a acoustic guitar. I want to not know what's coming & Continuum just didn't quite meet my expectations in that regard. I shan't lose faith however & overall, it was an awesome live performance.

The pick above is from John's last visit in 2004 & was used when he played "Only Heart" before being discarded. Another was thrown in my general direction by David-Ryan Harris at the end of the show, but I lost it's trajectory in the lighting, so someone else got lucky instead!