Approaching Adelaide Edward noted sighting the light on Kangaroo Island. He didn't stop there but we did, landing at Penneshaw not far from the light house at Cape Willoughby which was the first in South Australia. Built in 1852 it was presumably that light Edward saw.
When Edward visited Adelaide he anchored about two miles offshore and took a lighter to land. The Madras announced it's arrival by the discharge of its two guns. The Sun Princess didn't appear to have any guns. He then had a heavy trudge of a mile over the deep sands of Le Fevre's peninsula to the port from where he took a spring cart the eight miles into Adelaide city.
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| Rundle Mall |
We had the luxury of tying up at a wharf at Adelaide's Outer Harbour and walking ashore from where we were then able to take a train into the city. Once in the city Edward made a few purchases to meet shipboard wants so we took a brief stroll in Hindley and Rundle Streets, now as then the central shopping area. We had no shipboard wants so did no shopping.
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| Rundle St in 1854 |
The highlight of our visit to Adelaide was "beating the system" at the Casino. At the port a helpful tourism volunteer had suggested a look at the Casino building as it is in the grand old Adelaide Railway Station. They had also been giving each cruise visitor a free $10 chip for the Casino so Trish and I took ours and went into the indeed grand building. We then put one of our chips on odds and one on evens on a roulette wheel. The croupier pointed out that this meant that one of us was going to lose but I reminded her that one of us also had to win which of course we did. We then cashed our winning chip into $10 of real money and went and had a coffee. Now I know how George Clooney felt in the Oceans fillums. Can't stand casinos generally so while perhaps a small victory it was pleasantly satisfying to take advantage of one. In your face boys!
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| Torrens River. A bridge has been here since 1854. |
Good farmer that he was, Edward took note of the soils and cultivation round Adelaide. He also strolled down to the Torrens which he described as resembles a mountain brook. The bed is gravelly, and quite devoid of mud; and the stream though very shallow, is rapid and clear. Sadly, in the decades after Edwards visit, Adelaidians saw fit to blast and dredge this pleasant little stream to "improve" access and it is no longer devoid of mud, although still quite pretty as city rivers go. Edward also noted the views of the Adelaide hills so we took a walk up to Light's Vision from where the hills can still be seen behind the Adelaide Oval.
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| Adelaide hills & Adelaide Oval |
In the city we visited the State Library and the Museum. Both had a number of signs indicating that (despite significant subsidy from West Australian GST) South Australia is broke and that budget cuts mean that few of the information points are staffed. Those that were seemed to just have bored security officers who didn't have a clue about Adelaide's history so I couldn't find anyone who could tell me how much of present day Adelaide existed in 1854. We then took the train out to Port Adelaide where the very helpful Ian at the local Visitor Centre was able to answer all my questions about historic Adelaide. Given that Port Adelaide did exist then I asked Ian why Edward might have anchored off shore. Ian explained that the Port was tidal, narrow and shallow so ships seeking a quick turnaround often didn't come in. He also gave us a map and outlined how we could recreate the route of Edward's walk down Semaphore Rd to the coast. While this was just a sand track when he arrived, within a few years it became a significant road in to the Port area and is now lined with late 19th and early 20th century buildings. We stopped at a pub on the beach for a beer and then walked along the sea front to Largs and then back to Largs Station to catch a train back to the boat.
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| Semaphore Timeball. Built in 1875 to help ships set their clocks. This was just a sand track in 1854. |
While waiting at the station, we had a shouted conversation across to the opposite platform with the very friendly Gavin (not his real name but in case he ever happens to read this and feel aggrieved) who asked if we were off the cruise ship. When we affirmed we were, Gavin then shared with us that he was running a bit late for his return to the psychiatric hospital where he lives and he hoped that an alert hadn't already gone out for him. On learning that we were West Australians Gavin further shared that he had gone to Perth last summer to visit a brother. A planned 2 week stay had extended to 5 weeks after a neighbour here had filed assault charges against him for very little reason. Gavin decided not to come home until Legal Aid had negotiated a down grade of the charge to Disorderly Conduct to which he was happy to plead Guilty and accept a Good Behaviour Bond. While Gavin appeared to be in good spirits and very welcoming to tourists, it was reassuring to have two lines of railway track between us.
When our train arrived Gavin wished us "happy travels" and we returned to the ship.
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