Adelaide-Ever Loving Adelaide

As we toured Adelaide, it was hard to believe this was an Australian City, it seemed to resemble so many U.S. cities: New Orleans architecture and the French Quarter; areas from New England with the trees canopied over streets, yellow and orange leaves gently falling onto yards; and a Cosmopolitan skyline. We visited Light’s Vision, a beautiful park and drove through the premier shopping areas, exclusive neighborhoods, along the shoreline and through the quaint German town of Hahndorf on the outskirts of this beautiful city.

Shopping at the large food market (for supplies for our Murray River Houseboat adventure) was different and fun. Staying at the Aviators Lodge was a small lesson in aviation history.

Quick Tips:

Just go and enjoy the city, the climate, the clean air, the beautiful beach and the wonderful people.

We saw the sign "Pokies" everywhere. Pokies are slot machines.

Best Way To Get Around:

One way to see Adelaide is on the Adelaide Explorer Tram. The two and a half hour journey, starting at the Travel Center is a round trip and passengers can get on and off the tram as often as they like on the same ticket to see the different sites.

We chose the Aviator''s Lodge because of its close proximity to the Adelaide Airport and because they offered free pickup and return to the airport. They also offer free long-term parking for guests traveling interstate or overseas. (Minimum stay 1 night for 10 days parking).

It has a total of 30 units with tea and coffee making facilities in each unit. The Lodge also has in-house laundry, same day dry cleaning service, and facilities for business conferences. A heated pool, spa and BBQ area provides comfort and relaxation in both the summer and winter seasons.

Bleriots, the Aviators’ Lodge Restaurant, is open for breakfast and dinner. The restaurant is named for Louis Bleriot, a French aviator and inventor who was the first to cross the English Channel in a "heavier-than-air machine" on July 25, 1909.

Bleriots serves a wonderful Continental Breakfast. Breakfast ($4.75 US Dollars) consisted of several choices of cereal, fresh fruit, yogurt, toast & jelly, juice, milk and coffee. For an extra $2.50, you could add eggs and bacon. In case guest are not interested in breakfast, there is complimentary tea and coffee in every room, along with a small package of "biscuits" similar to English muffins that could be toasted or warmed in the microwave. We didn’t have the opportunity to experience dinner at Bleriots is its’ very elegant dinning room.

Managers, John and Anne Defelice were very accommodating. When we booked an executive suite over the internet, we received a 20% discount off the price of the room. With the discount, it made it less expensive than a standard room. Our "Executive Suite" had a bedroom, bathroom, and a living-dining-kitchen area. There were two television sets, one in the bedroom and one in the living area. The best part of our unit was the very large spa tub and the wonderful bubble bath that was provided.

A little bit of Bavaria in Adelaide’s backyard, Hahndorf is proud of its German heritage. In 1839, fifty-two Lutheran families fled Prussia to escape religious persecution and ended up in Hahndorf. The tightly-knit community prospered, but when the First World War broke out German-speakers encountered hostility from other Australians. For a while, Hahndorf changed its name to Ambeleside to disguise its German origins, but reverted to its original name in 1935. Other German villages in the Adelaide Hills also changed their names, but not all were changed back to their original ones after the war.

It is located about 30 minutes southeast of Adelaide. Hahndorf won’t let you forget where you are; almost every restaurant includes the word "German" in its name and many of the original structures have been preserved. Hahndorf is included on the World Heritage List as a Historical German Settlement. One of the best bakeries is the German Cape Shop, and then there is Karl’s German Coffee House.

The Cedars on Heysen Road was the home of Australian artist Hans Heysen and has been preserved in its original state. The Hahndorf Academy on Main Street includes a museum, a craft shop and an art gallery with some of Heysen’s collection.

At the Beerenberg Stawberry Farm on Mt. Baker Road, you can pick your own strawberries, October- May. Jams, pickles and other strawberry ideas are all on sale in the farm shop open Monday through Friday.

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church was built in 1890. In the late 19th century, brides sometimes arrived at this church in a wagon wearing the traditional black wedding gown and a wreath of green and white leaves in their hair. Couples married there today are often fourth or fifth generations of their family to do so.

This is one place you probably will never see in a guidebook or on a list of "fun" things to do, but it is well worth the time we spent visiting.

Melba’s was named for Dame Nellie Melba, Australia’s famous Opera Singer and was started by Graeme and Joy Foristal in 1981 in a small washhouse behind their Adelaide Restaurant. The business progressed in varying stages and with the sale of the restaurant, was relocated to a single car garage behind their home.

In July 1990, Melba’s transferred to its historic Woodside Farmers Union Factory site. The mammoth task of cleaning the old site commenced and fourteen years of abandonment and neglect were washed away.

Melba’s operates old-heritage candy-making machinery allowing visitors to experience the old art and techniques. We were allowed to roam through the different candy-making rooms, some of which were actually making the chocolates and other candies, and observe first hand the techniques that have been used for years. There were gift items as well as a candy counter where we sampled many of the items before deciding on your purchase. They even make chocolate kangaroos.

More important than the candy they make, are the people that work at Melba’s. One lady, who is referred to by some as "Mother Earth" is well into her 80s. Her daily routine includes milking her cows in early morning, working an 8-hour shift at Melba’s and in the evenings, making homemade jellies and jams with fruit from her garden, which she sells at Melba’s. AND, she still has time to stop and talk to anyone touring the factory.

The day we visited, "Mother Earth" was filling plastic molds with milk chocolate at one end of a conveyer belt, then going to the other end of the conveyer to removed the cute chocolate figures.

If you have a chance to visit Melba’s be sure to meet this marvelous lady- I am sure she will be there.

The prices of the chocolates and other candies are down right cheap by U.S. standards. The chocolate items do not store as well as the sugar candies, so if you are planning to buy gifts for giving later, you might want to take that into consideration.

Adelaide is the State Capital of South Australia and is an elegant city featuring traditional stone architecture and wide parklands. It was the first completely planned city in Australia and the first state not to be settled by convict labor.

The city of Adelaide was designed by Colonel William Light, the first Surveyor-General, in 1836. He laid his city out on a square mile grid pattern of wide streets and airy squares with a buffer zone of green parklands encircling it. Adelaide enjoys a Mediterranean climate with warm dry summers and cool winters. Average annual rainfall is 23 inches, with most of that occurring from May to August. In the summer months, Adelaide’s coastline near Glenelg becomes a temple for sun worshipers, and a late night haunt with pubs, clubs and restaurants.

Light’s Vision, located at the corner of Pennington Terrace and Montefiore Road in North Adelaide, offers a great lookout point and a wonderful place for photos. It is a beautiful park with a statue of Colonel William Light. From the park we could overlook the Adelaide Oval, internationally renowned as the world’s most picturesque cricket ground.

The center of Adelaide is marked by Victoria Square, located at the junction of Grote, Wakefield and King William Streets. King William Street is the widest of any Australian City thoroughfare, running completely across Adelaide. Impressive buildings include the Post Office, built in 1867; the imposing Renaissance-style Town Hall, completed in 1866; and the Ayers House, home of Sir Henry Ayers, who was elected Premier of South Australia seven times, built in 1955.

One very unique thing we saw was on the freeway in a heavily wooded area between Adelaide Hills and the airport. If it had not been pointed out to us by our guide, Dennis, we would have never noticed. On the concrete divider wall separating the lanes of traffic, about every 100 yards or so, were heavy mesh nets, about 2 feet wide. The nets were installed by the highway department to allow the Koala Bears to move from one side of the forest to the other across the highway.

Just a "hop, skip and a jump" from Adelaide is the Barossa Valley, Australia’s most famous wine producing area. It is a little part of the Rhine Valley transplanted in South Australia. It was settled by people from Prussia and Silesia in 1842 who brought their skills and customs that made the Barossa Valley what it is today. There are over 40 wineries and most are open daily 10:00am to 4:00 pm for free tasting and sales.

If you take the complete tour and you are traveling by car, be sure to keep a designated driver absolutely sober. Roads are not in top condition and I was told the Barossa Valley’s police are diligent and unforgiving when it comes to drunk driving.

There is no shortage of good restaurants with a wide variety of cuisine. They include, Korean & Japanese, Mexican, Indian, Thai, French, Mediterranean, Italian, German, American and Australian Barbeque. Adelaide boosts more restaurants per capita than any other city in Australia. And yes, they have McDonalds and Pizza Hut. We found the cost of eating out extremely reasonable, mainly due to the good exchange rate between the Australian and the US dollar.

And OH, the shopping! Everything that is funky in Adelaide usually ends up for sale in the 200 stalls at the East End Market on Rundle Street East. The Orange Lane Market is a mecca for the New Age, selling everything from antiques to crystals. Brickworks on South Road is centered around the old Brickworks kiln and offers pottery, new-age jewelry, clothing, ceramics and arts and crafts. The Central Market, between Gouger and Grote St. is the largest enclosed fresh produce market in the Southern Hemisphere.