Day 18 of the “Ultimate Australian Rail Holiday” Saturday 4th June 2016
Our other travelling companions have gone on an included city sight-seeing tour this morning. We had dropped that from our itinerary in order to maximise time catching up with friends. As it happens, we have a few hours spare, so, despite the possibility of rain, we head off for a walk.
A good starting point for anyone new to Adelaide is to walk along King William Road until it reaches North Terrace. You will find many of the grand institutions on North Terrace: the museum, art gallery, library, university, hospital and so on. Government House is on the King William corner, and in front of it stands the South African War Equestrian Statue, which commemorates the 1531 South Australian men, and their 1500 horses, who served in the Second Boer War of 11 October 1899 to 31 May 1902. It was the first in which they had fought as South Australians.
Continuing along King William Road, you quickly reach the Torrens River. You could continue on, across the bridge, onto St Peters Cathedral and wander around North Adelaide.
LOOKING TOWARDS ST PETERS CATHEDRAL AND NORTH ADELAIDE
We prefer to while away the hours on the riverbank, and perhaps for this blog post I can let the photos tell the story?
THE ELDER PARK ROTUNDA WAS CONSTRUCTED IN GLASGOW AND SHIPPED FROM LONDON IN 1882. THE WHITE ROOF ON THE RIGHT IS PART OF THE ADELAIDE FESTIVAL CENTRE WHICH WAS BUILT IN 1973. PART OF THE CBD SKYLINE CAN BE SEEN IN THE BACKGROUND.
PROGRESS, PROGRESS, PROGRESS! THE FESTIVAL CENTRE AND WATERFRONT AREA ARE BEING EXPANDED, WITH CONSTRUCTION CRANES NOW ADDED TO THE VISTA. A BRIDGE ACROSS THE RIVER HAS BEEN BUILT SINCE MY LAST VISIT. PEEKING THROUGH THE FOLIAGE ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE IS THE RED BRICK FACADE OF THE MEMORIAL DRIVE TENNIS CLUB, ESTABLISHED 1914
Messing about on the river is always fun. You can cruise the Torrens on the the motor launch “Popeye” vaguely visible in the background of the darker shot, or you can splash about under your own steam. Whether that is an attractive proposition today depends on which way I face the camera lens.
THE TORRENS RIVER IS HOME TO A LARGE COLONY OF BLACK SWANS
WE PAUSED TO TAKE A LONG LOOK AT THE ADELAIDE OVAL aka FOOTBALL PARK. THE FOOTBRIDGE TERMINATES THERE, AND IN THIS SHOT IT LOOKS AS IF ITS DECORATIVE WATERFALL IS POURING ON TO THE DECKS OF POPEYE, WHILE, TO THE RIGHT OF FRAME, SOME OVER-EAGER PADDLE BOAT CUSTOMERS HAVE STRAYED INTO THE PATH OF THE TORRENS LAKE FOUNTAIN.
The Torrens Lake Fountain commemorates the first time South Australia was visited by a reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II in 1954.
WE CROSSED THE RIVER TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THE MEMORIAL DRIVE TENNIS CLUB, WITH ITS IVY CLAD WALLS GIVING OFF AN OLD WORLD CHARM. RIGHT BESIDE IT, THE MODERN ADELAIDE OVAL IS FROM A MUCH LATER ERA. VISITORS ARE FREE TO ROAM AROUND, OR TO TAKE AN ORGANISED TOUR.
THEN WE WALKED BACK OVER THE NEW (2014) ADELAIDE TORRENS RIVERBANK FOOTBRIDGE
THE FOOTBRIDGE LEADS DIRECTLY TO THE MAIN CENTRAL RAILWAY STATION. THIS IS THE REAR SIDE. THE FRONT IS MORE STATELY. I FIRST ARRIVED IN ADELAIDE BY OVERNIGHT TRAIN FROM MELBOURNE IN 1974. TODAY, THE MAIN BUILDING, INCLUDING ITS GRAND BOOKING HALL, IS PART OF THE ADELAIDE CASINO
BUT IT STILL MAINTAINS A CONNECTION TO THE SUBURBAN RAILWAY LINES, PROVIDING EASY ACCESS FOR THE SPORTS LOVING POPULACE OF ADELAIDE
I haven’t mentioned in earlier posts, but Bill has been suffering from man-flu for at least a week. I know it is man-flu, as all five male members of our travelling group have gone down with it. Only one woman has been affected, for twenty-four hours or so, and I figure that was just as compassionate support. Bill has soldiered on, and thrown himself into every outing and activity, but as this afternoon my friend has invited us to her grandson’s 8th birthday, Bill has wisely decided to keep his germs company in the comfort of the hotel room.
Leaving me to savour the delights of birthday cupcakes made for a cricket tragic . . .
CRICKET BALL BIRTHDAY CUP CAKES
Total to Date = 11,880 klm or 7380 miles
For Reference: We booked our tour through the Australian Holiday Centre.
The Reluctant Retiree 
Have you considered writing a travel book or contacted the Chamber of Commerce (if you have that there) or rail company to put together an overview of the sites you explored? The detail is fabulous and the pictures tell a story of their own! I am certain people considering such a trip would love to know what to see and expect on such a marvelous journey.
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I have let various tourist offices know what I have written but I have never received any acknowledgement. I heard along the grapevine they get bombarded with bloggers who are then seeking payment. (Wouldn’t that be nice). I could pitch myself to magazines as a travel writer, but that takes a lot of effort, and selling yourself, and at the moment my eye is on writing a novel. So I take pleasure in my stories introducing Australia to a wider audience, and, for my part, it is a living diary. I used to have a friend in Sweden who loved to travel, and I would write her long letters of whatever I had seen or experienced. She passed last year, but the blogging is an extension of that habit we had developed. When I travel, I can imagine seeing the sights through her eyes. She was a passionate woman – and a tree hugger 🙂 literally. We got lost together in a forest in Germany about ten years ago. It was a hilarious afternoon!
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Good travels, good friends, good memories!
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How strange to convert the use of the main booking hall to a casino. Is there a particular reason why this occurred or was it purely a pragmatic, financial decision! Lovely photos particularly of the splendid foot bridge. Hope Bill is fully recovered now.
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The casino was established in the mid-80s. I had left Adelaide by then so I don’t know all the reasons, but the major one would be that air had overtaken rail for long distance trips, and the remaining services moved out to a nearby hub – which is where our Ghan arrived, for example. The main booking hall became the grand entrance to the casino, most of which is on the next floor up. In my memory, at first it was a classy casino, but once they put the poker machines in, it lost its charm. We didn’t even look on this visit. If you saw the film “Gallipoli”, then, according to some info on the internet, the scenes of Perth’s railway station were actually filmed at Adelaide’s. I remember being overawed by it when I first arrived in 1978. Of course, I had been sitting on a train all night, so perhaps my judgement was affected by sleep deprivation 🙂
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Oh I can understand arriving tired and being impressed by that kind of colonial style grandeur. Shame about the slot machines never as glamorous as a room of high rollers playing roulette.
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I am susceptible to grandeur in all its forms, especially in a high class casino room 😀 I’ve even had a flutter on baccarat myself on occasion. And blackjack – not hard to count to 21 😀
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The Adelaide Oval was once what I reckoned as the best, perfect cricket ground now with the lights and the extensions it’s just another money making grubby sports ground. 😦
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I am no sports fan, and never went to the cricket, but there was something special about walking past its stately grounds with the statue of Sir Donald Bradman outside and the spires of St Peters in the background. Still, I didn’t hear anyone complaining about the facility upgrade, and as you know, they are mad about their AFL in Adelaide, so the extra capacity was needed apparently. It wasn’t until your comment that I remembered we also spent time in the museum there. It had a lot on Bradman and cricket in general.
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The Boy from Bowral, played his first 1st grade match at Adelaide Oval; naturally he scored a ton. I did get a chance to see him play against Middlesex in England at Lords, the year of ‘The Invincibles” just after the war.
He was out for 6. I wasn’t impressed, I like every English boy grew up with ‘The Don” ringing in our ears and I’d waited years to see him score at least 200 and he got 6.
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A cricket game can never be over soon enough in my view. But that’s just one opinion. I can imagine how disappointed you were 🙂
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I was at the time, during the war when the talk turned to cricket it was always the Ashes and Bradman. But since it turned into what the late Bill Rielly called the pyjama game I’ve lost all interest.
I follow the Baseball now, my son was a very good player and I really do enjoy the game
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Oh Baseball! I have a soft spot for that. Or rather, softball. Or it has a soft spot for me. I got hit in the mouth with a softball bat at school and put all my teeth through my tongue. It wasn’t supposed to be a contact sport. hahadeha
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Adelaide looks beautiful – if I survive South Africa, hoping to make it to Australia. Can really relate to the dreaded flu. Never had it before and it’s pure misery and taking longer than imagined to recoup!
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Adelaide is a pretty city and easy to walk around. On my not so frequent visits in the past it has always looked “complete”. You can never walk around Sydney without seeing construction cranes, hoardings and road blockages somewhere. Yet this time, Adelaide too had its share of scaffolding. You probably need to give yourself some R&R time. You have been on the go for ages now. Not just your move to SA and the safari, but I remember we first made contact a couple of years back when we were touring Europe. You haven’t had down time, and lots of stress in the meantime. Hope you feel better soon.
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You’ve succeeded in making me totally jealous of you, Gwen!
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It was a great trip BUT I am happy being a homebody at the moment.
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