Dunstan, Christies and me: Growing up in the 'Athens of the South'

Adelaide's golden age began when the Beatles flew into town on 12 June 1964, electrifying the citizenry out of their country-town torpor into a screaming mass on the streets. It ended when a dressing-gowned Don Dunstan resigned office on 15 February 1979, the last day of the most exciting state government Australia has ever seen. I spent most of that period in South Australia's excellent state education system, basking in the glow of a premier who seemingly made the earth move and stars pan gloriously across the heavens in a small city that, for once in its life, felt like the very centre of the universe. No joke.