Festival state
Known as the Festival State, Adelaide plays host to some of the best events in the country. Later this year, the Adelaide Film Festival (October 5-15) celebrates local and international cinema with film screenings, a movie quiz night and more. One of the city’s favourite outdoor festivals, WOMADelaide (below), returns from March 9-12, 2018 with its mix of music, dance and world cuisine. Also worth catching are the popular Adelaide Cabaret Festival (June 9-24) and local dining and produce festival, Tasting Australia (April 30 – May 7).
A night out
The Adelaide food scene has matured in recent years, leaving diners spoilt for choice. For locally grown and prepared ingredients in a casual setting, Press* Food & Wine (below) is a firm favourite, and consistently tops the city’s best restaurant lists. In Bedford Park, trendy Mexican restaurant Lucky Lupitas serves tostadas, quesadillas and imported Mexican beers. After dinner, make your way to the Peel Street and Leigh Street precinct, where the city’s small bar scene is in full swing.
SEE ALSO: Gourmet experiences in Adelaide for wine and chocolate lovers
Meet the locals
Adelaide offers a variety of different ways to interact with local wildlife. If you want to cuddle a koala, feed a kangaroo or get up close to an emu and other native Australian creatures, Cleland Wildlife Park is the place to do it. The Park also offers nighttime walks, during which you can see Tasmanian devils (below) being fed.
Take a guided kayak tour of the Dolphin Sanctuary with Adventure Kayaking SA and spot bottlenose dolphins in the wild.
A gift from China, Wang Wang and Funi are the only giant pandas in the southern hemisphere. You can see them at the Adelaide Zoo, which has been their home since 2009.
Hit the beach
A 25-minute tram ride from the city centre is the seaside resort of Glenelg (below). On the foreshore, The Beachouse is an amusement park crammed with arcade games and gelato stalls. For outdoorsy types, Glenelg Fishing Charters offers both fishing and scuba diving excursions from the beach, while the world-class Glenelg Golf Club is also nearby. The Proclamation Trail, a 3.4km self-guided walking trail, starts at the Town Hall and maps out the local history – including the site where first settlers arrived in 1836.
Wine country
Around 150 wineries and cellar doors can be found in the Barossa Valley, home to some of Australia’s oldest Shiraz vines, just over an hour’s drive from Adelaide. To understand the winemaking process, visit Penfolds (below), which hosts tastings and workshops where you can make your own blend. For a different perspective, Barossa Unique Tours tailors their private trike tours to individual tastes. Stop by Maggie’s Farm Shop and stock up on celebrated cook Maggie Beer’s picnic fare, such as meat terrine or her delicious mushroom and verjuice pate.
More about Adelaide
- Adelaide’s 12km-long O-Bahn is the longest guided busway in the world.
- South Australia is the opal capital of the world. Mining towns Coober Pedy, Andamooka and Mintabie produce 85 per cent of the world’s opals.
- Adelaide is known as the City of Churches. English novelist Anthony Trollope gave the city its nickname in his book, Australia and New Zealand, published in 1873.
- Adelaide was the first Australian capital city to be connected by telegraph with London. Before the first message was sent on August 22, 1872, people used to send messages abroad by ship.
- Adelaide’s Botanic Garden is home to the largest and oldest glasshouses in the southern hemisphere. The Palm House was imported from Bremen, Germany in 1875 and opened to the public in 1877.
– TEXT BY SOPHIE WILLIAMS
PHOTOS: WOMADELAIDE FACEBOOK, GARY FRANCIS, WALTER BIBIKOW ( CORBIS), 123RF.COM, INMAGINE
This article was originally published by Singapore Press Holdings.
