So I arrived in Adelaide bright and early Tuesday morning and only had to wait a few minutes for my car to be unloaded from the train. I had one last rabies shot to get from The Travel Doctor in town on the following morning (just the way the schedule worked out) so I decided to pop into town for breakfast and find a few new things to check out that I missed on my last visit in 2004. For breakfast I revisited a cafe I discovered years ago connected to Adelaide’s Central Market. The Central Market is a great old market much like Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia with lots of independent fruit and vegetable sellers and butchers — but curiously no Amish! I stocked up on super cheap peaches, just coming into season here, as well as other snacks for the road before having a nice breakfast in an adjoining cafe.
Afterwards I found my way up to Adelaide’s Botanical Gardens to have a free snoop around when I discovered a massive wombat dead in the middle of a side path. It was so big I wasn’t sure what it was at first, but when I reported it they acted like it happens all the time there. They were very nice gardens to walk around, but you would feel the heat beginning to build – so I thought it best to hop into a few free museums while I had the chance.
One annoying thing about popping into cities if you have a car on these trips is having to worry about car security and parking and whether your meter is about to run out. It always leaves you feeling a little on edge while you’re snooping around. I did find that most of Adelaide’s museums were all set up together in the same “cultural precinct” area so it was easy to make my way through the Immigration Museum, Art Gallery (aka museum), and South Australian Museum before my meter ran out. All were very nice but a bit on the small side.
Once the temperature started to cool a bit, I headed out to the campsite I reserved at Adelaide Shores. NOT my idea of perfect camping, but about as cheap accommodation as you can find in the city. The nicest thing about it is that it is located on next to the beach and an extensive network of cycling paths. Having thrown my mountain bike in the back of the car I took it out for a spin up and down the coastline for about an hour. I ended up in very trendy Glenelg which seemed to mimic L.A.’s beach communities where I had myself a nice dinner.
