Adelaide: A week between road trips
Adelaide Central Station
Returning from the Flinders Ranges, there was a break in the action for a week prior to departure for the Great Ocean Road and Melbourne. A day of torrential rain brought some lovely down time.
Once the sky cleared a bit, Colleen and I were able to spent the better part of a day at the Mount Lofty attractions, including a viewpoint from the top of Mt. Lofty, overlooking the Adelaide plain below; and, a short stroll through the lush Mount Lofty botanic garden..
The highlight of the day was Cleland wildlife park, which provide opportunities to wander within the enclosures of the kangaroos, wallabies, emus, smaller birds, and other gentler animals. I liked Cleland far better than Taronga in Sydney, because of its more naturalistic environments for the animals and the change to share space with them. (The dangerous animals like dingos and tasmanian devils were in segregated enclosures yet easy to observe.)
A friendly pottoroo
The must-do koala hold
The famous yellow-footed rock wallaby
We'd started the morning at Hahndorf, strolling through shops and exhibits in this extremely well-preserved historic village in the Adelaide Hills wine region. It was settled as a German farming community and they've preserved that heritage in the buildings, art, and restaurants in town.
There were many Germans who settled in South Australia, mainly from Silesia (from lands that are mainly in eastern Poland today). Migration started in the late 1830's and peaked 1850-1870. They were Protestant families fleeing persecution by Catholic-Church-allied leaders who brought their farming and wine-making expertise. Later, during the World Wars, ethnic Germans, Japanese and Italians were interned in Australian camps, much like the U.S. The fear of internment is remembered in the families of people I've met here. Speaking German, I was told, would have landed a person in a camp.
German place names were changed before and during the war; South Australian passed a "Nomenclature Act of 1917" to do so en masse. Hahndorf's original name was restored in 1935. This resonated with a story passed down in my family; that some members, including my great-grandfather, great-grandmother, grandfather and his two brothers, living in International Falls, MN, changed their name in 1917 to make it sound “less German”, then restored it later on.
Later in the week, I was able to take two days and wander downtown Adelaide. This included my initial train travel in the area, and I love to try new-to-me transit lines. It was easy to catch the light rail with three stations within easy walking distance. A card tap was all that was needed; Colleen lent me her card because they must be procured in the city or by mail. This transit observer noticed a larger gap between the platform and vehicle floor - 8 inches? more? Going in one day at morning rush, there were plenty of seats.
Upon arrival downtown at Adelaide Central Station in the midst of the North Terrace and its government and institutional uses, I saw the 9 or so transit-only tracks that feed into a 1928 grand station hall, beautifully preserved. The finishing touches are being applied to a connected casino.
This historic market building fronts extensive housing development beyond.
I wandered along some streets to the south to see the architecture, and saw some lovely old buildings. Between North Terrace and the Grote/Angas streets midpoint of the north/south grid, there is concentrated development. It was noticable how the scale of development, never huge, diminished fairly quickly as I walked away from the King William Street north-south central spine, evolving to single-story buildings, older (generally still beautiful) housing and even empty lots at the east and west Terraces.
A second day in Adelaide was spent with new friend and fellow travel enthusiast Vicki. We had a beautiful lunch at the Art Gallery of South Australia, then lingered there to see a diverting Frida and Diego show there. Vicki then toured me around parts of North Terrace I'd not seen yet, and we stopped for refreshment at a favorite rooftop bar of hers named "2KW", recommended.
Finally, a day of hiking and socializing concluded this week’s run-up to a new road-trip. Breakfast with Dan, Laura and their 18-month-old Charlotte began the day; Bernie and Colleen thought Dan and I should meet, since we both have invested our careers in transit projects. As an engineer in corporate leadership, Dan told me about his projects and described a world very similar to the transit design world in the US - the usual players, the usual marketing pursuits and firefighting. My takeaway was that it seems to be a global game at this point.
Then Colleen, Bernie and I took a walk at Hallett Cove, which displays a complex geological evolution - volcanos, glaciers, lake beds - on its eroded cliffs, as well as a great deal of beauty in the range of colors, soils and rocks, vegetation and seas.
Just a portion of the varied landscapes at Hallett Cove, a great day hike
We drove through the charming town of Old Noarlunga to access the Okaparinga National Park and a newer pedestrian bridge. One thing I've noticed here is that while Australia is generous in creating pedestrian-only bridges and other structures, they seem to tolerate a lot of bounce and deflection in their design - yikes!
Of course, grape vines are never far away in South Australia, and our path took us through the McLaren Vale wine region for another stop at the d'Arenberg estate. We stopped to see "The Cube", a small-floor-plate, five-story folly with art exhibits (including a Dali galley), wine tasting, and restaurants. It is a successful gambit for tourism revenue if the crowd there on a rainy Saturday was any indication; it costs $10 to walk in the door, and additional purchases will get you a meal or in to see the Dalis.
Our last stop was with our Willunga friends for a dinner, and with some soup and snacks on the menu, it was a warming way to complete our winter Saturday excursion.
Next - the Great Ocean Road to Melbourne
