Adelaide to Melbourne

Adelaide to Melbourne

We woke up on our train to see a flat blonde countryside – the pale wheat in the huge fields stretched on for miles with no trees or houses in sight. the land looked parched. The sky hung a silvery grey above it. We arrived in Adelaide along with the rain. This was the first rain in South Australia for 9 months – and we, the rain gods, had brought it. And it rained and rained – over 25mm – until the drains could no longer cope and the roads flooded. (We found out the next day that the average December rainfall was 26mm).

Dodging between shops,museums and the library we managed to limit our exposure but it was difficult to agree when people said what wonderful weather it was and how they hoped it would continue for the next few days. Eventually we picked up our hire car and drove around the wet city exploring romantic places such as Hackney and Stepney which did not much resemble their London namesakes.



















Not like the Hackney Jeff remembers as a boy


The rain stopped by the next morning and out came the sun.



















The riverside walk in Adelaide





















An aboriginal painting session in the park

Adelaide is a truly beautiful city, with the centre surrounded by parks – 47% of the city is parkland. Traffic is light, the roads are wide and the city has a feeling of grace about it. On the Saturday, a week before Christmas the shopping district was less crowded than Cirencester on a Saturday morning. The city is also surrounded by wonderful hills, only 15 minutes away.




















The view from Mount Lofty

The Adelaide Hills are gently rolling countryside, devoid of towns of any significance and adorned with vineyards, farms, forest and the odd lake.

We then took off to explore the Fleurieu peninsula. this is a small tongue of land which is gentle hills and woodlands. From a distance the hills look as if they are made from quilted velvet – soft and pale silvery brown. (The land still desperately needed more rain.) Our meandering down the coast led us eventually to Victor Harbor. Our friends had told us to keep away from here as it was 'like Blackpool'.



















Victor Harbor (1)






















Victor Harbor (2)


With its gorgeous beach, brilliant sunshine, and quaint 'Australian Small Town' feel it is hard to imagine how anyone could see Blackpool here. Anyway there was no tower. We were so taken by the place that we decided to spend a few days there.
We hired bikes and cycled along the 35km Encounter Bay cycle track to Goolwa at the mouth of the Murray River.



















Victor Harbor - Encounter Bay (Blackpool?)

Encounter Bay is named after an historic meeting between Flinders and Baudin (two famous explorers) who met on the Bluff' at one end of the bay. We failed to find out what they said or did, or why it was important, but Australians have a habit of attaching significance to such things.
After a lot of walking and exploring the area we left feeling that is was a delightful town and well worth the visit.
We returned to Adelaide to resume our roles as 'travellers' again, this time on the Overlander train to Melbourne. This is only 12 hours (see how our perceptions of train journeys has changed since we left England?). The train was the best we have been on. We had been told to arrive 70 minutes to book in because it was a 'big train' being near to Christmas. If four carriages and a restaurant car is big, what is the normal train like? (Meg suggests that the Kemble Rail Users Group needs to know this – they would be superheros in Australia).
The journey begins with a very slow climb up out of Adelaide through the forested hills which is like being on a tree-top walk- looking down through the trees to the valley below. You then pass through rolling farmland towards the Murray River. This country is BIG - mile after mile of farmland, small towns, and the occasional level crossing. Intermittent announcements on the p.a. system draw your attention to key tourist information such as the WW2 oil storage tanks, or the towns in which Australian Premiers Sir Robert Menzies and Bob Hawke grew up, and the largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere, all delivered in an almost reverential manner. There was one town where the line goes up a slight incline and, years ago, the local youths covered the rails with boot polish. The train lost grip and eventually had to stop. The youths got beaten by their parents not for stopping the train for a day, but for using up all the town's supply of boot polish.




















View from the train


If we liked Adelaide, we loved Melbourne. With unbroken sunshine throughout our three days, we walked everywhere. The buildings are majestic. The 19th Century originals built from stone are intermixed with elegant modern designs, some towering high above the city. The city is set on the Yarra River with sports arenas and lovely parks to the east, and recently developed docklands to the west. There is a Southbank arts centre, and shops, restaurants and cafes abound. A bit like London but smaller, smarter, and sunnier!

We will return to Melbourne in the new year – something we will look forward to.