Adelaide a treat for the senses
Many Kiwis make a beeline for Melbourne as the cool metropolitan Australian city, but with its laneways, boutique bars and street art on nearly every corner, Adelaide is the new cool kid on the block, writes Juliette Sivertsen.
‘What school did you go to?’’ For a moment, I thought I was back home in Christchurch, where this is the necessary follow-up question to ask absolutely anyone who reveals they hail from the Garden City. But no, I was in its sister city of Adelaide – and I still couldn’t escape that infamous interrogation.
I had heard much about Adelaide before my first visit there, that it was similar to Christchurch in terms of layout, design, personal connections and obsession with high school education, but on a bigger scale accommodating its population of
1.3 million versus Christchurch’s 381,000.
But after just one day in the South Australian city, I realised Adelaide was far more than just a bigger version of my home city and, in recent years, it has transformed from big-country-town vibes to a mini Melbourne, without the private school snobbery.
Laneways jazzed up with speakeasies, bold street art, historic cottages and an impressive, authentic historic food market – Adelaide has become a humming hipster city.
It is also a designated Unesco City of Music, as well as home to one of the oldest and largest Fringe Festivals in the world, Australia’s first Festival of Arts and even the world’s first writers’ festival. The cultural hub has no signs of slowing down its art installations, as the City of Adelaide has a strategic plan to increase public art throughout the city while celebrating the living culture and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
That means at nearly every corner of the city, from car park buildings to restaurant laneways, you will find colourful, bold street art adorning brick walls, apartment buildings, shopfronts and garage roller doors. Adelaide is one giant canvas.
One of the best ways to get around the city’s public art with a bit of guidance is through an Eco Caddy tour. A guide with insider knowledge on an electric pedal-powered environmentallyfriendly rickshaw will meet you at your accommodation then take you across the city.
One of our first stops is to a small car park down one of Adelaide’s many back alleys, which our guide Kristen O’Dwyer introduces as ‘‘the world’s biggest car park’’. I’m looking at the car park and can see only half a dozen vehicles parked there and am a bit confused.
But on closer look, I realise there are thousands of miniature toy cars stuck to the wall above.
Created by Matej Andraz Vogrincic in 2000, the matchbox car park has 15,000 toy cars installed on a 22m2 brick wall, inspired by the many garages and car parks of Adelaide. I would have walked right past it had it not been pointed out.
Throughout the tour, O’Dwyer weaves in stories of Adelaide while pointing out incredible, colourful works of art. Some are concealed behind rows of rubbish bins, others are loud and proud, taking up the entire facade of an apartment building.
There are abstract works splashed across walls and incredibly detailed portraits of Indigenous leaders in bold colours, captivating visitors and locals.
I realise that everywhere I look, there is more art, hiding in plain sight. Each wall, fence and door in the city is a blank canvas waiting to come alive with art.
Every year, more works are commissioned for local and international artists, emerging and established, especially for events like the Sanaa and Fringe festivals, further helping anchor Adelaide’s cultural identity.
O’Dwyer points out local hot spots, advises us on the best bars and laneways for cocktails (Peel St and Leigh St are where the cool kids hang out), and introduces us to iconic characters of the city, such as Frank Vaiana from Frank’s Barber Shop, an institution in the area. Vaiana has been running the shop for 64 years after emigrating from Sicily.
In true Adelaide style, just as we turn a corner, a man comes up to O’Dwyer and says ‘‘I used to have your job once.’’ A couple of streets down, a woman involved in the commissioning of another artwork for the Sanaa Festival happens to be wandering by and strikes up a conversation.
That’s Adelaide for you – full of personal connections and two degrees of separation. As a Kiwi, it is delightfully familiar.
‘‘The real difference to Adelaide is our focus on really meaningful connections,’’ O’Dwyer says.
One part of the city that has stood the test of time and really showcases those meaningful, personal connections is the Adelaide Central Market.
One of the largest traditional produce markets left in the southern hemisphere, it began in 1869 as a simple market on a stretch of land selling fresh produce.
The market is now under cover, and while it is one of the city’s biggest tourist attractions, it is still very much a local market.
There are traders who have been there for decades selling their finest produce and wares, and generations of Adelaide families who still have stalls today.
Cheryl Turner is one of the guides sharing her passion for the market to tourists through Food Tours Australia.
‘‘The people are all my friends, [and] the produce is amazing,’’ she says. ‘‘Adelaide people need to be reminded how special it is. We had toilet paper here the whole time [in the pandemic], and pasta and flour.’’
While you can wander around the market yourself, a food tour with a guide such as Turner will mean being introduced to stallholders for that personal connection that Adelaide does so famously. That is one of the beauties of food markets like this one; it is not only about supporting local traders, but it helps build authentic connections with the people helping feed you.
Now more than ever, it is crucial to support the communities in the places you visit and help – especially smaller traders – get back on their feet
after the pandemic. And knowing where your food is coming from is another step forward in creating a more sustainable future.
‘‘We’re supporting local when you shop here and supporting local farmers and producers. South Australia first, then Australia,’’ Turner says. Of course there are also some imported goods such as pastas and sauces, as Italians are a strong part of South Australia’s history.
Some stalls have delightful small-town names, such as The Smelly Cheese Shop and Happy Little Clucker. I met Irene Noakes and try her awardwinning marmalade at Gourmet To Go, chat to Stephan Oulianoff from Central Organic who has been running his produce shop for decades and speaks half a dozen languages fluently, I try a sweet from The Old Lolly Shop where generations of Adelaide families have bought traditional boiled lollies, and watch the mesmerising art of cheese wheels being cut right in front of us.
I even try some Aussie bush tucker, learning about native ingredients and Indigenous produce from Something Wild, including protein-rich citrus-flavoured green ants, and sustainably harvested karkalla, a juicy refreshing succulent that would be delicious in summer salads.
The market, which is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, is a bustling hub. The vibe is one of a friendly, country town, but within a big vibrant city atmosphere, which appears to be the theme throughout Adelaide.
Ironically, during just a few days, I meet a number of people from Adelaide who have Christchurch connections – someone’s daughter went to school in Christchurch, another one has family who lives there and, on the final day, a bartender who happened to be a fellow Cantabrian who went to school down the road from me about the same time. I love the connectedness that Adelaide seems to offer to visitors and locals, and I think Kiwis feel quite at home there.
It is a humming, artsy city with great, unique sub cultures, but with a familiarity and kinship you simply can’t find anywhere else.
Staying safe:
For the latest Australia travel requirements, visit australia.gov.au/international-travel. For rules on returning to New Zealand, visit covid19.govt.nz/international-travel.