Another glorious view from our bedroom window – this morning was the rolling hills of wheat. We rolled along to the nearest town (Orooroo – which I think is amazing to have so many syllables, and so few different letters) and it felt like a ghost town. Sure, it was before 8AM on a Saturday, but we saw next to no signs of life. We continued driving south towards Adelaide on the R.M. Williams Way and for the first hour we had the (narrow) highway to ourselves. It was a beautiful drive, with lots of scenic towns and farms, all with their fair share of old buildings. However, as we got closer to Adelaide, we realised that our days of clear skies were over. There were dark clouds on the horizon, which eventually turned into showers and then sporadic heavy rain.
We passed through many scenic towns, but one stood out, Clare. I hadn’t heard of the Clare Valley wine district, but I could see how popular it was. The town was quaint, very old European feel. The Riesling Trail sounded like it could have been fun (for people like Risa that love wine to be like strong fruit juice).
We were staying in Glenelg East with a friend that we knew from Japan who’d returned to his hometown of Adelaide. The drive through the Saturday morning traffic from the end of the highway near Port Adelaide to their house, 10km south, was frustratingly slow, especially after being on the open road for so long.
I’d heard of the area Glenelg before, but didn’t really know much about it, and not for the first time during our time in South Australia, I was surprised. There is quite a nice beach here, at least when the weather is more favourable. Our friends said that recently something changed here and vast amounts of seaweed (and some sealife) started washing up on shore, as well as making the water quite murky. There was still seaweed on the beach on our visit and the skies were overcast with strong winds, which sadly always makes a beach look less attractive. It was still a nice foreshore, with parks and lots of restaurants, including an awesome kebab (yiros in Adelaide) shop, Souvlaki Bros.
I’m not sure how, but I had this idea in my mind that Glenelg was like Adelaide’s Fremantle (probably from Lonely Planet). I think it seems pretty accurate (though, I haven’t seen very much of Adelaide to compare). It was really nice walking through the backstreets looking at all the old (and quite large) houses. Very different to what I’m used to seeing in southeast Queensland.
We wanted to visit the Central Markets, but sadly we weren’t going to get to see them as they shut at 3PM on Saturday, and didn’t reopen until Tuesday. We headed into town anyway to have a look at the city. It seems that the town is undergoing major renovations, with lots of work into beautification of common areas. It was just unlucky timing for us… We did the usual tourist thing with a photo with the balls in Rundle Street Mall (which looks eerily similar to the Queen Street Mall in Brisbane).
There was a Malaysian night market, which was one of the events of the OzAsia Festival going on in Adelaide, so we went down for a feed. It was a fair amount smaller than we were expecting, with only a few food vendors attempting to feed a moderate sized crowd (which meant long queues). But, I think it was worth the wait to try some different food, which I would love to say what it is called, but I honestly have forgotten (there was a fried chicken and rice, a penang curry mocha type dish, and three steamed buns with sweet fillings – so good!).
Also, black swans in the River Torrens!
Our friends had booked tickets for a show at the festival (which sounded hilarious), so we parted and went to explore the city by night. We walked up and down Hindley Street looking at all the bars and clubs. It was surprising to see several shisha bars. Less surprising to see bogans out celebrating after the AFL grand final.
We also made our way past the Rundle Mall to Rundle Street, which was a much nicer part of town. There were lots of trendy bars/restaurants/shops/cafes, and lots of people out and enjoying them (it was a Saturday night, after all). We walked up and down and eventually stopped in a café for some desert. It was only 8PM, but it felt closer to midnight.
We didn’t spend that much time exploring the town, but the little that we saw was quite nice. I know lots of people complain about Adelaide, but there was nothing that I saw that would make me complain. It was quite cosmopolitan and seemed to have plenty going on, but it didn’t have the pretentious hipster air that Melbourne has. But, again, this was the opinion formed from an afternoon/evening walking around town… I’m sure things can be different once you’re living in a place.
１３８日目 ９月２８（土） アデレード！
アデレード良い場所です！
ニセコで出会った友達のデリックと彼のパートナーのキャットさんのお家におじゃました。
彼らのお家は、 Glenelg(グレネグル)と呼ばれるビーチの近くのステキなエリアにあります、
アデレードは、歴史のある街で、街は計画的に作られた為、街の中心は、四角く碁盤の目の様になっていてその周りは、ぐるっと緑の公園で囲まれています。 その公園の外は、ぐるっと住宅街が囲んでいて、そのまた外は、南は海、北はワイナリーが広がる、都会ながら自然が広がり、たくさんのスペースがあるとてもユニークな街です。
街のマップ http://www.ozlifestyle.info/adelaide/adelaide_cbd_map.htm
街の歴史http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%87%E3%83%AC%E3%83%BC%E3%83%89
土曜日は、ちょうどお昼に到着したので、彼らと一緒にビーチへ向かって伸びている、レストランやおしゃれなインテリア、ブティックが並ぶ通りをお散歩。 ビーチは、数日前の悪天候の影響でたくさんの海草が打ち上げられ、水も濁っていましたが、普段はとってもキレイなビーチらしいのでちょっと残念。。
その後、彼のおすすめの炭火のイエロス（ギリシャバージョンのケバブ）を食べました。 とってもボーリューム満点で炭火なので香ばしくて最高においしい！ 2人で半分で十分な大きさです。
帰りは、ユニークなデザインのお家を見て歩くため、さっきとは別のルートでお散歩。
アデレードは、かなり歴史のある街なので、古い外見を上手に保存し、中を新しくしているお家が大半です。
レンガ作りの家が大半で、ヨーロピアンな雰囲気が漂っています。 とってもかわいい！
その後は、お家に戻り一休み。 その後は、シティーに向かいました。
アデレードのメインの交通機関は、路上電車のトラムです。 街の中心までは、トラムで３０、４０分程ですが、地元の人が使うパスモやスイカの様なカードは私たちは持っていない為、普通のチケットは、往復でなんと＄９、４０！！
家賃や物価が他のオーストラリアの街に比べかなり割安なのに、このトラムの値段には驚かされました。
街では、ちょうどアジアの文化を宣伝する小さなお祭りが開催されており、屋台でいくつかのストリートフードを食べ、ボリウッドなインド舞踊を見ました。
デリックさん達は、韓国のコメディ／アクション劇を予約していたので、私たちは、その間街をぶらりとすることに。
アデレードの郊外と同じく、街の中心部も古い建物が保存されており、とってもステキな建物が多く、よい街です。 サイズは、ブリスベンより小さいと聞いていますが、小さな路地があったり、小さな店が多いためか、街の大きさは、さほど変わらないように感じました。
金曜日の夜まだ７時前ですが、レストランやバーには徐々に人々が集まってきていました。 今晩は、オーストラリアン フットボールの決勝が行われていたようで、チームのユニホームを着た人々をたくさん見かけました。
今日は、思ったよりかなり歩いたようで、足が2人ともかなり疲れて痛くなってきたので、デリックさん達から連絡が来るまで、ケーキが美味しそうなカフェで一休みする事に。
私は、オレンジとチョコレートのムース。ロスくんは、ベルギーチョコレートにホットチョコレート。 ケーキはおいしかったけど、ちょっと濃厚すぎて、2口程でちょっと飽きちゃった。
ちょうど食べ終わった頃に2人から連絡があり、彼らも疲れていたので今日はこのままお家へ帰ることに。
帰宅後は、ワインを飲みながらつもる話に花を咲かせ、気づけば真夜中。
アデレード、あえて予習をしていなかったけど、ビーチもあり、公園もあり、オシャレなカフェやレストランもいっぱいあって、とっても良い街です！
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