Awhile ago* I was fortunate enough to visit Adelaide for a conference (read about that here). Due to the timing of the conference and the flights from NZ to Adelaide not being daily, I had a few days spare either side of the conference. I was away for about a week and made the most of my time by checking out some of the things to do in the area that where within walking distance to my accommodation. Hopefully you will enjoy 5 things to do in Adelaide and maybe add it to your bucket list of places to visit
Accommodation & 5 Things to do in Adelaide
- Majestic Minima Hotel – a number of conference attendees chose to stay at the Majestic Minima Hotel in Melbourne Street. It was within walking distance to the conference venue. Such a great place to stay with each room having a wall painted by a South Australian Artist.
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- Exterior
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- Hotel Room
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- Art in Hotel Room
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- Adelaide Zoo – The perfect place to practice photography. Such a lovely set out Zoo grounds with lots of access to interesting animals to take photos of. Great to see the Giant Pandas. I think the last time I saw the Giant Pandas was when the BNZ bank in NZ sponsored the Pandas to reside at Auckland Zoo for 3 months. The Adelaide Zoo is a conservation charity which exists to connect people with nature and save species from extinction
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- Popeye River Cruises – Cruise The Torrens River and see some of the sights of Adelaide with the sightseeing tour. The tour had a live commentary throughout, learning about such things as the Weir Gate the Adelaide oval and the glass footbridge and more. As you travel you will see birdlife like Pelicans and Cormorant Shags and a boat sculpture installation Talking our way home, by Adelaide artist Shaun Kirby The installation is made up of five glass and steel boats and suggests the idea of a journey read more here.You can board the boat at either of two landings, the main landing is located in Elder Park, and the other is across the road from the Zoo just off Frome Road. The Boats are a State Heritage Icon and you can read more here
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- The Popeye
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- Torrens River
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- Adelaide Oval
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- Boat Sculpture
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- The Art Gallery of South Australia – It goes without saying that as an Artist I can’t go somewhere without visiting a gallery. Especially since it affords the opportunity to learn about new artists and this visit was no different. At the time of my visit they had a exhibition by the artist Ben Quilty whom I had not come across before. I was captivated by his style of art which uses “richly impastoed surfaces and extremely expressive forms”
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- The Art Gallery of South Australia
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- Quilty
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- Quilty
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- Adelaide Botanical Gardens – 130 acres of public garden which opened on 4 October 1857 with a commitment to connecting plants, people and culture. So nice to take a stroll around the gardens and while it was Autumn there was still some flowers in bloom.
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- Adelaide Park Lands – The Riverbank Park Lands encompass a number of parks along the River Torrens riverbanks which also includes walking and biking trails along both banks. One walk I did was part of Mistletoe Park/Tainmuntilla (park 11) which includes a sculpture trail. There are many places to walk in the area including the River Torrens Linear Trail read more here
I did manage to get to an op shop and a shop called Urban Cow Studio which sells works from Australian artists where I purchased a keep cup.
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- Red Cross Op Shop
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- Urban Cow Studio
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- Keep Cup from Studio
A few days to visit Adelaide certainly isn’t enough time to see and experience everything but it was long enough to get a taste and want to come back. Let me know if you’ve accomplished the 5 things to do in Adelaide.
If you like to read more on things to do in Austrailia, make sure to read about Busselton.
*Please note this trip was taken pre covid, in 2019,
