A Walk Through Adelaide

After a busy weekend preaching, I decided to take Monday and visit Adelaide. Not knowing much about Adelaide, I turned to my handy “Lonley Planet Australia” guide book for assistance. After searching the Adelaide section, I found a 5km walking tour that would give me a glimpse of the city’s most well known sites.

So on Monday morning I left Wallaroo for the bustling city of Adelaide. After two hours of driving down windy twisty roads I landed in a parking area at the east end of Rundle Road, blocks from the city center. The parking area is surrounded by Rymill Park, a quaint grassy area with big trees, several walking paths, and ponds. Several people were out eating lunch and enjoying the sunshine.

I was immediately met by my first critical decision: where to eat lunch. So I made my way up to Rundle Road in search of a cafe. Rundle Road is one of Adelaide’s busiest areas, known for it’s many cafe’s and restaurants. It defanately has that outdoor, European cafe feel to it. However, several cafes down East Terrace (which intersects Rundle Road) grabbed my attention so I decided to head North. After browsing several menus I landed at East Terrace Continental and enjoyed a Pene Chorizo pasta dish. Wow. It was excellent. I defanately had enough carbs to keep me going for an afternoon walk.

After lunch I headed down East Terrace and turned west onto North Terrace. North Terrace is home of Adelaide’s most important buildings, which were key highlights on my tour. The first two buildings were the old Botanic Hotel, and the Historic Ayers house. I learned that both are old. I didn’t stop to see how old, but they both looked old. My Lonley Planet book said the Ayers House was resident of former Australian premier Sir Henry Ayers, after whom Ayers Rock is named.

Next on my stop was the University of South Australia and the University of Adelaide. Curious what an Australian “Uni” looks like (that’s what Australians call “college”) I decided to walk through. It was not a huge area, but there were plently of college students scurrying around. Of course I had to walk through the book shop, so I did, and I also walked through the student union. The older buildings looked like cathedrals, which blend in with the many churches found throughout the city. It felt like a normal college campus.

After visiting the Uni’s, I cotinued down North Terrace and visited three cultural hotspots: The Art Gallery of South Australia, the South Australian Museum, and the Migration Museam. I saw enough to now consider myself “cultured”. The Art Gallery had some interesting paintings of Australia cities during the settlement era, the SA Museum had an interactive Aboriginal section, and the Migration Museum had some neat displays.

Satisfied with my cultural experience, I continued on North Terrace and saw the National War Memorial, the Government House, and the South African War Memorial. Took some photos. Then I saw the Parliment House, the Old Parliment House, and the Railway Station that is currently functioing as a massive Casino (I resisted the temptation to go inside).

Next I turned west and walked along the Torrens River. The Torrens River curves through the heart of Adelaide and is one of the most relaxing spots in the whole town. It is surrounded by parks, sports grounds, grassy hills, and has a bike path on both sides. If I lived in Adelaide I am sure I wold visit here frequently.

After walking down the Torrens River I turned right at the Adelaide Zoo and made my way into the Adelaide Botanic Garden. The ABG is a huge garden/park/walking area/botany area. It is easy to get lost in there (I almost did). I meandered around for a while, but the sun was beggining to set, so I decided it was time to head for warmer surroundings. I exited via the North Gate, turned left on Rundle Road, and made it back to the warm confines of my car.

Before heading back to Wallaroo I decided to head down to Glenelg, one of Adelaide’s most popular beach areas. I traveled down the ANZAC highway and arrived just after dark. The beach area at Glenelg is like a scaled down version of Santa Monica’s Third Street Prominade. It has shops, restaurants, and that all funnel towards a large peir.  I found a cafe by the water, had a bowl of soup, visited Starbucks (White Chocolate Mocha), and then hopped back in my car to head back to Wallaroo.

I arrived in Wallaroo sometime after 11:00 pm. Needless to say, it wasn’t hard to fall asleep.