Around Adelaide–Sept. 22 &23

Spent 2 days walking around the town (all right, maybe a few fill-ins using the free loop bus).  Very interesting town: lots of old buildings engulfed by modern ones.  There seemed to be a major building boom around the 1860’s with very fine structures being built – money was coming into the area aided by gold strikes around that time.  This was all done in a relatively short timeframe as the settlers didn’t even arrive here until 1936 so it was all marsh and scrub until then.  Adelaide was the first settlement of free people in Australia – all the others were based on convict settlements.

The people are proud of their heritage structures, but they are pretty well buried and built around by the newer buildings – quite a contrast.  The town is very clean and seems to function smoothly.  This was a very religious settlement – lots of churches.

I toured the Art Gallery, Museum, Botanical Gardens, and shopping arcades.  My feet are hurting.  I will rent a car tomorrow and tour some of the surrounding area including the Barossa wine region.