Alluring Adventures
POSTED: 27 October 2018
Adelaide has a culture and sophistication that you’d expect from the 'City of Churches'. The largest of these is St Peters Cathedral which majestically overlooks the Adelaide Oval. This famous old sports arena is used for cricket in summer and Australian Rules football in the winter. I took time to visit the excellent museum housing personal items of cricketing legend Sir Donald Bradman. Just across the pretty River Torrens is the lush botanic gardens and city zoo. The river also meanders past the Adelaide Golf Course on its scenic route out to Gulf St Vincent.
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River Torrens
Most of the tourist sights are within walking distance of the Rundle St shopping mall and many are strung along North Terrace just one block away. Aside from the Botanical Gardens, the South Australia University, Art Gallery, Museum and Library are all here. Both the art gallery and museum offer free tours twice a day. These are an excellent way of taking in the highlights (including an enormous giant squid) but I was also glad I had more time to enjoy the exhibition on whales and renowned Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson.
Central Adelaide has several attractive squares named after people who were significant to the city's history. In the large Victoria Square there is an impressive fountain that represents the three rivers Adelaide sources its water from. I did a tour of the Town Hall and the enthusiastic guide had so many stories to tell it lasted nearly two hours. Amid the European colonial architecture of this area are several alluring markets selling food, art, craft, clothes and jewellery. A couple are Sunday markets but the superb Central Market offer about 250 stalls from Tuesday to Saturday.
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The pleasant North Terrace
I stayed with a friend out in the suburbs was had to rely on buses every day to get to the city. The unique transport system here makes commuter life simple. Outside the central city area, the buses run on specially designed tracks which essentially make them like trains. The driver told me it's a German system called the O-Bahn. The buses are adapted with small guide wheels at the front that enable them to run smoothly at up to 100kmh. As he was chatting to me he sat happily with arms folded while the bus steered itself.