3 – 6 September 2017

We are starting our next Australian adventure in Adelaide. On this trip we plan to drive from Adelaide to the unofficial capital of Outback country, Alice Springs, and to the country’s most iconic land formation, Uluru, otherwise known as Ayer’s Rock.

The timing of the trip was based on anticipating moderate weather in the Outback, if you can ever classify it as moderate. As a result, our first trip to Adelaide is in early Spring which we found can be cold and rainy. By far this is the coldest weather we have experienced in Oz to date, but it’s still not that bad.

Adelaide is the capital of South Australia. At 1.3 million residents it is the fifth most populated city in the country, which is roughly equal to U.S.A.’s 43rd largest metro area, Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, the place we call home. Adelaide is a study in urban planning. The layout of the city and its parklands is superb.

We got a hotel in the northwest corner of downtown and walked extensively throughout. We have a lot left to see in our next visit but we covered a lot of ground in a few days. Based on my research in preparation for our move to Australia, it seemed Adelaide was a fantastic place to raise a family but might lack some of the glamour and excitement of other cities. Our first impression is in line. It’s a fantastic city with a great balance of size, scale and livability. It just lacks that marquee place or event needed to draw tourists that other communities in Australia have. In that way, we see another parallel with our hometown of Raleigh.

Adelaide City

The Oval

Adelaide, the “City of Churches”

Rundle Street Mall

Central Market