Oh Adelaide, we hardly knew ye!

[Prince George]

Well, the Queen and I have been back in Adelaide for a bit more than two weeks now, and it's interesting how much you can forget, how much changes, and how much your own perceptions change in only a few years.

• I can't believe how much sushi is available in Adelaide now. Sushi bars seem to be like cafes - one on every street.
• Thank you, Cibo, for everything. The coffee, the gelati, and the commitment to excellent design.
• When were all the bins taken out of the railway station? I imagine it was for "security", and I could understand it at Grand Central Station or Charing Cross - places with, you know, a real threat of terrorism - but there are bins throughout Rundle Mall or at the tram stops.
• We spent our first week in a funny apartment on Colley Terrace. Glenelg has so much that's good about it, and we love the new plaza at Mosely Square, but the signs along the street - "Pedestrians give way to vehicles" - makes my blood boil.
• Which reminds me - the City of Holdfast Shores still gets my pick for the "worst of both worlds" award, combining recalcitrant obstructionist NIMBYist policies throughout most of the suburb (on the one hand) with an all to eager readiness to build miserable eyesores along Jetty Road and the foreshore (on the other).
• I know it's stating the obvious, but the penny hadn't really dropped for me - Adelaide is flat. By which I mean flaaaaat: flat buildings on a broad flat plane. I guess the two go together - difficult geography encourages you to make maximum use of the well sited areas; when it was easy to build, there was no impetus to build up.
• But that geography means that from my office I have a view across the western suburbs and over to the sea.
• Is it just us, or are there fewer cars in town?
• I love seeing so many cyclists out on the roads, but the bike lanes in places like ANZAC Highway seem alarmingly narrow. Every cycling campaign I've seen says to give cyclists 3ft or 1m clearance when you pass them, but that lane is maybe half that width. And hats off to anyone who's riding up the bike lane on Main North Road.
• Actually, that's doubly funny, because our streets are so wide
• If I could change one thing about the cycling, I'd like to see less lycra and carbon fibre, more street shoes and baskets. But that's just me.
• America's TV ads make Australia's look rather dull. They've clearly given the matter a lot of thought, their TV spots are frequently clever, imaginative, and very funny. Maybe our timing was unlucky (around New Year), but it felt like every ad we saw here was for yet another discount store.
• Having said that, the adverts for one big local casino were laughably bad. Case in point (and far from the worst)
• One bus trip took us past the Gepps Cross homemaker centre. It was strangely like a souvenir from the USA, something to remind us of the places there that we want to forget.
• Not that we could, since the big-boxes sit at the end of our street now (the old Bridgestone factory on South Road).

[Wayno]

welcome back guys, look forward to your continued insightful comments and suggestions

[Tyler_Durden]

Glenelg has so much that's good about it, and we love the new plaza at Mosely Square, but the signs along the street - "Pedestrians give way to vehicles" - makes my blood boil.

Yeah it's ridiculous. Especially as Jetty Road is hardly a necessary thoroughfare. People only drive down it to look for a park or go for a cruise, neither of which require right of way. Strangely though, despite the signs, the traffic generally always does give way to pedestrians. If I had to guess that this is because drivers are courteous or simply don't know the road rules the cynic in me always concludes the latter.

[jk1237]

if you guys are in Glenelg, make sure you stroll along the south esplanade to the renovated kiosk cafe on the foreshore at Glenelg south. One of Adelaide's hidden gems

[Omicron]

if you guys are in Glenelg, make sure you stroll along the south esplanade to the renovated kiosk cafe on the foreshore at Glenelg south. One of Adelaide's hidden gems

At the right time of day, when the sun is in just the right place so as not to blind the eyes, the temperature is just-so, and the water is a haunting single pane of glass, it's a stunning spot indeed.

[Will]

One of my favourite things to do in Adelaide, and indeed a great day out is a drive along the suburban coast.

Usually I start at Brighton where I go for a walk along the jetty/beach and have brakfast at one of the many quaint cafes along Jetty Road. From there make your way north towards Glenelg, being sure to drive along the coast taking in glorious views of the sea and the many multi-million dollar homes built in recent years. Once in Glenelg, go for a stroll along the foreshore, jetty, have a coffee in the new Moseley Square or go shopping on Jetty Road. If you have kids take them to the beachhouse and if it is lunchtime head to the Marina Pier to have an excellent meal. From Glenelg, continue northwards, and pass West Beach, cross the mouth of the river Torrens. Stop at Henley Square to have a coffee or beer or just to absorb the vibe. Head north and pass through Grange, where you can have a meal at the Grange Hotel which won Australia's best bistro award, or have fish and chips near the jetty. Also have a look at the recently redeveloped Grange Foreshore.

From there drive along Military Road past West Lakes, where I recommend a small detour to check out the new developments. At Fort Largs, turn left to incorporate yourself onto the Esplanade and head up to Semaphore. Semaphore has recently undergone a makeover, which has served to enahcne the seside village charm of historic Semaphore. Semaphore also has some really cool cafes and some great restaurants. From here you can either decide to continue along the coast and head to Fort Largs where you can have a beer or meal at what is arguably the mostt attractive pub in SA at the Largs Pier Hotel before heading up to North Haven to complete the journey.

On the other hand from Semaphore you can turn right and head to Port Adelaide, where there are quite a few museums, beautiful old buildings or if you want to check out the Newport Quays development or the new bridge over the Port River. If time still permits go for a drive along the Port River Expressway and head to Mawson Lakes to experience the future of residential living here today.

On a side note, I have no idea why such a great daytrip has not being listed on any Adelaide tourism sites? Sure, such sites list Brighton, Glenelg, Henley Beach, Semaphore and Port Adelaide separately, by combining them into a 'single destination', it makes them more attractive to tourists, as it combines more sights and activities into a 'single destination'.

[Prince George]

Glenelg has so much that's good about it, and we love the new plaza at Mosely Square, but the signs along the street - "Pedestrians give way to vehicles" - makes my blood boil.

Yeah it's ridiculous. Especially as Jetty Road is hardly a necessary thoroughfare. People only drive down it to look for a park or go for a cruise, neither of which require right of way. Strangely though, despite the signs, the traffic generally always does give way to pedestrians. If I had to guess that this is because drivers are courteous or simply don't know the road rules the cynic in me always concludes the latter.

We felt like there were enough sensible people to keep things moving reasonably well. At least down by Moseley Square, things got a bit hairy along the length of Jetty Rd.

But there was one memorable moment when a big crowd of walkers held up several cars (maybe a dozen?), and they got honked by a policeman on a motorcycle. Someone sitting at one of the restaurants calls out "what was that for, they're just crossing the street". He flips open his helmet and says "read the sign - they have to give way to vehicles - so if you want to take this further ...". She's in a feisty mood and says "yeah, maybe I do", but by then the street was clear and he opted to ride on.

So watch it, try to get to the beach and expect to have the full weight of the law brought down upon you.

[Prince George]

if you guys are in Glenelg, make sure you stroll along the south esplanade to the renovated kiosk cafe on the foreshore at Glenelg south. One of Adelaide's hidden gems

At the right time of day, when the sun is in just the right place so as not to blind the eyes, the temperature is just-so, and the water is a haunting single pane of glass, it's a stunning spot indeed.

Yeah, it's a good spot. The Grange Jetty Kiosk was a good place too, although it seems to have lost some of its food focus (used to be fish steamed over sea-water, now it's fish battered and fried ). Going further south along the Esplanade, you notice the lack of amenities like this. There's a park getting a "stimulous project" makeover along there, and it's got a little old building that looks like it may have been a sea scout or surf club place once, I wonder if they could put a little something there?

[Prince George]

One of my favourite things to do in Adelaide, and indeed a great day out is a drive along the suburban coast.

It's a good suggestion, Will, but not one we can do at the moment because we're kicking it no-car style. We'll see how that works out over the next few months.

From there drive along Military Road past West Lakes, where I recommend a small detour to check out the new developments. At Fort Largs, turn left to incorporate yourself onto the Esplanade and head up to Semaphore. Semaphore has recently undergone a makeover, which has served to enahcne the seside village charm of historic Semaphore. Semaphore also has some really cool cafes and some great restaurants.

We've always liked Semaphore - as a co-worker once put it "Any place with four pubs and three costume shops has got to be good". I mentioned elsewhere, we used to live down there and we were visiting the area on the weekend. We had some time to walk about half-way down Semaphore Road while waiting for the train (or its substitute bus ), but didn't get down to the foreshore.

Our feeling was that the east end of the street looked like it had suffered a bit over the years since we'd been there. Maybe that was because of the unfinished look along the verge and median, which are just loose gravel. Semaphore Rd is quite a challenge, of course, because it's so damn wide. The curb-to-curb distance is huge, it must be hard for one side of street to gain some energy from the other. With the reconfiguration, they've broadened the curb considerably, but now they need to find ways of actually using that space.

If time still permits go for a drive along the Port River Expressway and head to Mawson Lakes to experience the future of residential living here today.

Her Majesty was on a bus back from Salisbury the other day that took her on a tour through Mawson Lakes; she says that she liked what she saw around there. I've got an irrational prejudice against the area after working up there for a few years, but I should really take myself up there again too.

[ghs]

Just out of interest what were you doing in Seattle ?

Working for Boeing ???

[SRW]

One of my favourite things to do in Adelaide, and indeed a great day out is a drive along the suburban coast.

It's a good suggestion, Will, but not one we can do at the moment because we're kicking it no-car style. We'll see how that works out over the next few months.

It's seemingly still a work in progress, but the Coast Park project has much improved the cycling amenity of the Adelaide foreshore in recent years, particularly along Holdfast Bay. A nicer way to enjoy our beaches, I think.

[Prince George]

Just out of interest what were you doing in Seattle ?

Working for Boeing ???

Not quite. The shocking truth is that I was part of the hive-mind at Microsoft.

[Will]

This website is useful in helping get out the most of a visit to Semaphore:

http://semaphoresa.com/walkabout/

[Mants]

if you guys are in Glenelg, make sure you stroll along the south esplanade to the renovated kiosk cafe on the foreshore at Glenelg south. One of Adelaide's hidden gems

possibly the worst/rudest service i have ever experienced. i would not recommend giving your money to them.