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The Most Happening Destination of Australia
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By Subhasish Chakraborty
If variety is the spice of life, then Adelaide must be the most happening destination. So many different experiences await you and the best part is that you can walk to most of them from your accommodation with a choice ranging from 5 Star extravagances to the comfort and warmth of a B&B, international hostel or a laidback cabin on the beach.
Adelaide is one Australian city where anyone who loves enjoying the good life in style, will uncover secrets to take away, taste and treasure. W hat impressed me the most was the fact that within 90 minutes travel from the city, you could be scaling a spectacular coastline or exploring an island wildlife haven…. Bungy jumping, Hot Air Balooning over the vineyards or even sail in the midst of sand dunes and even better –discovering the caves and rocks of this amazingly varied landscape.
If variety is the spice of life, then Adelaide must be the most happening destination. So many different experiences await you and the best part is that you can walk to most of them from your accommodation with a choice ranging from 5 Star extravagances to the comfort and warmth of a B&B, international hostel or a laidback cabin on the beach.
The Cultural Scene
Adelaide prides itself on style, elegance and high-energy arts. With just over one million residents, it stages an arts festival which the world agrees is among the top three and the best by far in Australia. The city is also the nation's largest selection of  quality performance spaces and specialist venues.
The most grand of Adelaide's major thoroughfares is the North Terrace. This is the cultural heart ofthe city and a ‘must do’ on your tour itinerary. It's a trip through some of the best treasures and stories of the world and a way of quickly getting to know this amazing place. This wide leafy promenade has the State's main galleries, museums, hotels, two university campuses and its finest library and Botanic garden. Either side is the main shopping precinct, the arts center and the River Torrens. Take your time and take it all. Like in India, the contemporary dance performance and classical music is particularly strong here.
The Street Scene in Adelaide
East End: Adelaide's historic East End is the city's most vibrant and cosmopolitan precinct. Transformed over the past decade from its historic function as Adelaide's wholesale fruit and vegetable markets, the  East End blends this heritage with a dynamic café and dining culture, unitedwith unique retail shops, mainstream Art House and IMAX cinemas, hotels, offices, multimedia centers and a burgeoning inner city residential population.
Hutt Street: Hutt Street is another great café quarter with a relaxed and friendly village style setting, which blends history into the contemporary. I quite liked the easy sophistication without being snooty. Pavement breakfasts and casual coffees are popular with tasty lunches in between. Dining under leafy verandahs is one experience I will never forget. The famous dining focal points are the Citrus Café and Nediz Tu, icons of modern Australian cuisine. Hutt Street is conspicuous by its colonial era stone buildings and quaint, quiet, cottagey sidestreets that are a real bonus.
Gouger Street: The Gouger Street is a wonderful meeting of venues, cultures and cuisines. The market is admired worldwide for its unique qualities and character. The street is renowned for fresh produce and gourmet foods are irresistible and so are its  cafes, coffee shops and noodle bars where the whole of Adelaide passes through.
The most grand of Adelaide's major thoroughfares is the North Terrace. This is the cultural heart of the city and a ‘must do’ on your tour itinerary. It's a trip through some of the best treasures and stories of the world and a way of quickly getting to know this amazing place.
Politicians, painters, musicians, tourists and office workers dine and do their shopping along with chefs, lawyers, storeowners, writers and families. It is also the place where chefs buy their special clogs. Just outside the main market is the principal dining strip with a great spread of world cuisines including classical French to Argentinean, Vietnamese and Thai. It also has its share of seafood restaurants and cafes.
O'Connell Street: The scene is set as you climb the hill with your back to the city. Fine mansions, prestigious apartments and well kept cottages nestle among the well established trees and gardens of this up market suburb.
Alfresco dining is popular along this classy precinct of more than 40 restaurants, wine bars and cafes. Lunch is a sunny courtyard overlooking the city…. pavement dining under old iron lace work verandahs…. or amid the bustle of a Mediterranean style bistro. The Oxford and Royal Oak hotel deliver award winning food and wine in very attractive settings.
Adelaide Coast
Coastal Adelaide is conspicuous by its distinctive landscape with estuarine environments, extensive sand dunes, off shore reef system and geologically significant cliffs will provide you with something of interest with each bend of the coastal road. Many kilometers of continuous metropolitan beach brings all of Adelaide within easy reach of the sea. Broken into 4 distinct sections, the coast offers a maritime history, recreational fun and ecological wonders.
The St. Kilda Mangrove trail is a ‘must visit’ site. Here you can meander through the mysterious tidal world of the mangrove forest on a 1.7 kms boardwalk. The nearby Greenfields Wetlands covers 42 hectares of low-lying saline land and has been developed into storm water detention basin and wetlands habitat and is home to 150 species of birds.
North Heaven is where you go for a day's sailing or simply to watch the yachts come and go. Largs Bay is the last remaining metropolitan home for the coastal colony of the Red Capped Plover and 20 indigenous species of coastal plant life and serene spot for strolling along the sand.
Semaphore hosts an international Kite Festival on its foreshore and the miniature steam train which operates during school holidays is a favourite…. not only for the kids.
The real city's elegant Botanic Gardens with rare flowers, fountains, cool green sanctuaries and a historic Palm House offers refreshing  recreational avenues for the jaded traveller. The Adelaide-Himeji Garden recreates a classical Japanese setting and a Linear Park, you can cycle or walk from the hills, through the city to the ocean…
In 1992 West Lakes was honoured with an award as the best residential development in the world. I was fortunate to have a look myself…. marvelous.
West Beach is the closest beach to the city, only 15 minutes away. It is home to an award winning caravan park and holiday village. Anyone who swims at Christies Beach, walks the Tjilbruke Trail, launches a boat at O'Sullivan Beach, surfs at Moana, visits the underwater trails at Port Noarlunga or simply watches the sunset over Witton Bluff will know and appreciate the value of Adelaide's coastline.
Adelaide Wineries
Rolling hills with neat vineyards run beside forests of gum trees and orchards. The home of sparkling wines so good, the French premier champagne house Bollinger came to have a look and appreciated the quality. The Adelaide Hills are reckonedby many to soon become Australia's premier wine region. It certainly has all the right ingredients of climate, soils and altitude. In fact, it is like the whole of Europe in one little mountain range. For tourists, it's the perfecttasting territory …. Scenic drives, friendly welcome at the cellar door, lunch at the winery perhaps or nearby restaurant…. And the chance to buy what is increasingly becoming recognized overseas as some of the world's best wines.
Parks & Gardens
Within 30 minutes from the city, you will find ancient forests… the chatter and laughter of parrots… and parks and gardens full of amazing wildlife and avian species.
At Cleland you can wander freely among Kangaroos, Wallabies, Emus and Waterfowl and meet a Koala. Enjoy a night walk or Aboriginal trail. Morialta and Para Wirra offer fabulous bushwalking and Hallett Cove offers dramatic coastal views.
As far as gardens are concerned, Adelaide is set in the middle of Parklands and its surrounding areas offer an amazing selection of experiences….  dreamily romantic rose gardens, fountains and avenues of fragrant blossoms… and even a tall rainforest are just minutes away from the city center.
The real city's elegant Botanic Gardens with rare flowers, fountains, cool green sanctuaries and a historic Palm House offers refreshing recreational avenues for the jaded traveller. The Adelaide-Himeji Garden recreates a classical Japanese setting and a Linear Park, you can cycle or walk from the hills, through the city to the ocean… while the Open Garden Scheme presents more than 60 private gardens to the public.
The city offers food, wine and arts, which the world comes to celebrate ….a 30 kms long clean sandy coastline spread with stories, water sports and space to relax…. the undulating hills where the wines, wildlife, crafts and country charms wait to welcome the jaded traveller. |
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