The hustle and bustle of leaving one place for another, and the whole airport thing is the same the world over. I had committed to myself to take public transport to the Melbourne airport, which did not intimidate me because I’d been so impressed with the metro scheme overall. But it did mean that I either needed to walk about 1/2 mile to the tram stop, or take two trams, during rush hour, with a suitcase. So I opted for the walk, across Carlton Gardens and once on the tram it was an easy 20 minutes to Southern Cross where there were plenty of signs directing me to the skytrain bus. Ticket purchased at a kiosk, and 30 minutes later we pulled up to the terminal. Qantas is very automated too — all the luggage tagging was do-it-yourself, and because I was traveling domestically I didn’t have to pull out my passport at all. Quick flight, a half-hour time difference (what is that? where else in the world is the time off by 30 minutes?) and a query at the information desk near baggage claim had me on a $10 mini-bus in minutes.
Adelaide is Australia’s 4th largest city, with a population of 1.3 million. It is South Australia’s cosmopolitan coastal capital with a ring of parkland on the River Torrens. It stretches 12 miles from the sea to the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges. It was named in honor of Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, queen consort of King William IV, and was founded in 1836 as the planned capital for a freely settled British province in Australia. It is cited as a very livable city, with ample parkland, festivals and miles of beautiful beaches. With valleys and wine country nearby, I think it feels a bit like Santa Barbara.
I walked along Rundle Mall, a carless stretch of shopping, and a fair number of people busking, as they seem to do in many cities with carless shopping districts. There was the guy lining up unsuspecting people so that he could jump over them, and the woman all in white (seemed like a white statue of liberty). I was struck by lots of sculpture along the mall and in little playgrounds and parks, and learned that I landed in the middle of the Adelaide Fringe Festival.
I took the tram to the beach, the first one I’ve found with lots of shells, and ate dinner along the shore watching the sun set. I have an early tour tomorrow, so won’t participate in the African Circus across the street tonight.
