Adelaide is a funny city. Its a long way from most other places in Australia, and not on the road to anywhere. But as a capital city a lot of people feel obliged to visit, and I’m often asked by interstaters what they should do when they’re in my hometown.

It’s a hard question to answer. Adelaide doesn’t have obvious tourist attractions like Sydney, so if you’re looking for a guide book experience you’ll be disappointed. I’ve spent time wandering around the city centre with Europeans bemused that it’s known as the city of Churches, or watching friends’ faces drop when they realise that the long line of Adelaide beach front is surf-less.

Yet, I think Adelaide is a lovely place to visit if you can find a way to immerse yourself in the lifestyle.

Two of the best ways to do this is to visit during one of Adelaide’s many events, such as the bi-annual Arts Festival, or the now annual Fringe Festival and Womad, or to visit some of the gorgeous wine regions near Adelaide, such as McLaren Vale, the Adelaide Hills, or the Barossa or Clare Valleys.

On a recent trip back at Easter to celebrate my parents’ 60th birthdays we did both, starting with a visit to the Oakbank Easter Racing Carnival. Oakbank is the (self-described) largest picnic race day on earth, thanks to the 70,000 strong crowd that turns up on Easter Monday. It’s Adelaide’s equivalent of the Melbourne Cup, but held at a country race track about 40 minutes from Adelaide.

The inside perimeter of the racetrack is filled with bookies, marquees, food stalls, amusement park rides and PEOPLE. We were there on the quieter day, Easter Saturday, along with 45,000 others. The crowd is really diverse. Young fashionistas swan around in cocktail dresses, high heels and adorably uncomfortable looking suits, rubbing shoulders with sunburnt country types in faded blue jeans and desert boots.

Despite the crowds, Oakbank is a real country racing experience. The race track is surrounded by low-lying hills, scattered gum trees, and paddocks. There’s an old wooden grandstand just by the finishing line, which is a great way to cheer on the houses in the shade. Behind the wooden grandstand is another area with food, bookies and a horse inspection area.

In between races the stewards let people walk across the track and kids hit the grass to kick the footy. Bet you can’t do that at the Melbourne Cup.

The horse races are serious business at Oakbank, but equally important is the food, wine and general ambiance.

Within the circle of the racecourse, and in paddock after paddock outside it, there are rows of cars. Having anchored a spot, their passengers set up complex arrangements of fold-up chairs, portable tables, BBQs, eskies, picnic rugs and shade tents. Out comes the bottles of wine and gourmet food, and everyone is set to enjoy the races, interrupted only with occasional sojourns down to the bookies tent to lay a bet, or to mingle at the rails to watch the horses thunder past.

Because Oakbank is a bring-your-own picnic race day, it’s fine for vegetarians and vegans. My family were spoiled by Mum’s lovely picnic lunch. There was falafel, pumpkin and chickpea salad, potato salad, lemon pepper bread, spinach salad, cake for dessert, and of course champagne and wine galore.

I’ve never been to horse races before, and despite a careful study of the form guide I was totally fleeced by the bookies, but I thought Oakbank was a lot of fun and a neat way to have a country experience so close to a capital city.

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We recently went to our first ever all vegetarian wedding. It was fabulous.

The wedding took place at the Megalong Valley Heritage Farm in the Blue Mountains. The ceremony picked up on some Lao wedding traditions, like phouk kene, where the bride, groom and guests have white string tied to their wrists while the person tying the string gives them a blessing.

The traditional blessing goes something like ‘may you grow fat and have lots of children’. Realising that he was not allowed to wish either of these things on me, Andy went for the modern version ‘may we always be happy and healthy together.’

The vegetarian wedding was catered for by the bridal party and their guests. Everyone was sent a recipe or ingredient with the wedding invite which they were asked to bring along. The food was really tasty - certainly not the bland, mass-produced effort you get at some big functions. There were a lot of vegetarians at the wedding, but I think everyone enjoyed the food and liked the feeling that they were making a contribution to the special day.

In possibly an Australian first, the wedding was also carbon neutral. Madeline Lyons from local company Climate Friendly calculated how much CO2 was release as a consequence of the wedding (mainly emissions from travelling, but also lighting and cooking for the reception). Climate Friendly then ‘neutralised’ the emissions by supporting a clean energy project to offset the carbon we used. For a less lame explanation of how this worked you might want to refer to their website.

The reception was rounded off with some spirited bush dancing. I discovered that the patience of dancing partners at a wedding is infinite, even when you persist in turning the wrong way or stepping on their feet. Sorry! After the reception some of us retreated back to our tents for a good night’s sleep. Even the bride and groom camped out in a special tent under some Tibetan prayer flags - check out the photos on flickr.

Congratulations Dan and Gus!

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