6 December 2011 - Belair National Park Caravan Park, Adelaide, South Australia

This morning we woke at a more acceptable hour, more in tune with habits of months ago as opposed to the more slothful ones we have embraced more latterly. The temperature was much warmer, so there was a greater sense of eagerness to get out early and see the world. And so we found ourselves on the road with the eski packed and route planned very soon after nine. Our intention was to explore the coastal suburbs of Adelaide starting with Kingston Park all the way to Le Feve Peninsula, the sliver of land protecting the Port River outlet and the Barker Inlet, the location of the port of Adelaide, a distance just short of thirty kilometres as the seagull flies. Intentions are a good starting point, and sometimes only that.

We stood on top of the cliffs at Kingston Park and looked south to a promontory we understood to be the disused Port Stanvac Oil Refinery, now being redeveloped as a controversial water desalination plant, and north to the seaside high rises and white sandy coastline. Kingston House, once an elegant residence, now council owned and hired out as a reception and function venue stands on a rise overlooking the sea. What a beautiful place to hold a wedding!

Less than five kilometres north, we arrived at Brighton with its pier busy with fishermen and fisherwomen. We walked out to the end, dodging the stains of blood and guts on the concrete surface and grumbled about the fact that it is always travellers such as ourselves who get blamed for rubbish and mess. This is not true; it is day trippers and fishermen. We walked up and down Jetty Road, wending our way through the alfresco customers; dogs with their fawning owners and babes and pre-schoolers with their coffee swilling mothers. It is astounding how many people have time on their hands and money in their purses to patronise these places on a Tuesday morning.

Less than ten kilometres on, after following the seaside streets north, we arrived at Glenalg. Apart from being Adelaide’s premier seaside destination, it is also where the first settlers came ashore to begin the colony in 1836.

The powers that be, including Wakefield who was instrumental in bringing settlers to Wellington and having a reputation of child kidnapping (having “captured” his two child brides), set the soldier and surveyor Colonel William Light the task of examining all the harbours along 1500 miles of coast, to determine the site of the first town as well as secondary towns wherever possible, to lay out the new capital and survey about 100,000 acres of country sections, all without the necessary staff and without a single horse, pony or ox to carry the equipment. In fact this brilliant man did survey Adelaide within two months of setting up camp in January 1837 and in fifteen months had surveyed 150,000 acres, mapped large areas and staked 150 sections.

Glenalg Beach

Unfortunately he was at odds with Deputy Surveyor-General George Kingston, and once he had accomplished his brief, he resigned and left them all to it. Despite the sour taste, he has been immortalised in street names and in form; bronze and stone. He is considered the Founder of Adelaide.  The mere fact that we have come upon him in our travels in the past month and I have mentioned him in this blog before is proof that he is remembered with pride.

Glenalg is just full of historical buildings, both residential and public. The town hall is now the home to a wonderful small museum, the Bay Discovery Centre. We had parked in a pay and display area and had paid only for one hour. We had wandered in by chance to this museum and then found ourselves frustrated by the time limit when there was such a wealth of information to be absorbed.

The Bay Discovery Centre.

Back at the cruiser we drove about in search of a grassy park with shade for lunch and finally found the Old Gum Tree where the British province of South Australia was first proclaimed. The bent form of the old gum is now more cement than organic material and is now even questioned as to the authenticity of its fame. The park in which it stands is a pleasant place to enjoy a picnic and so we did. It was while we were having our coffee that a couple of women engaged us in conversation. Barbara lives just along the street and had “adopted” Stine and her husband, brand new immigrants, she had met at the same Bay Discovery Centre. Before we knew it, Stine was suggesting that her parents might be interested in doing a swap; their motorhome in Europe for our car and caravan here in Australia. We swapped email addresses and marvelled at the meeting for the rest of the day. Serendipitously we bumped into Barbara up the street later shopping.

The Marina Pier

We returned to the centre of Glenalg and found free parking near the marina. We walked along past the replica of the HMS Buffalo, the vessel captained by South Australia’s first Governor, John Hindmarsh in 1936. It is now a family restaurant and sits in a rather stagnant pool of water above the tidal flow of the marina. The Marina Pier is just beautiful, and as with most such places, caters for the rich and famous, however we were able to walk along through the bars and restaurants and on around until we found ourselves on the wide esplanade that stretches along Holdfast Bay, which in turn is of course all part of the Gulf St Vincent. The sun was warm and bright and the masses were on the beach, many choosing to act ignorant of skin cancer or even sun burn. There were many in the water and many just enjoying feeling the sand between their toes. We walked along the paved area above the shore and delighted in the beautiful residences along the beach, many old and quite grand.

A long stretch of park along the waterfront is named after Jimmy Melrose. He and the geologist of Antarctic Expedition fame, Douglas Mawson, have links with this particular part of Adelaide, and are both lauded in the Bay Discovery Centre. Charles James “Jimmy” Melrose was a golden boy of aviation in 1934 after his success in the London to Melbourne Centenary Air Race. Not only did he set a new record for the flight over, but at twenty one he was the youngest pilot in the race, the only Australian to finish and the only competitor to fly solo. I do wonder if Captain Henry Butler whose hijinks we became acquainted with in Minalton on the York Peninsula, just across the Gulf, was an inspiration to young Jimmy. Both died young and after having just celebrated great success. Jimmy was dead at twenty two.

The jetty at Glenalg is interesting in that it was once upon a time rather like the entertainment centre the one in England’s Brighton still is. Opened in 1859, it was originally 381 metres long and at various times, a platform for a lighthouse, an aquarium, public baths, a three storey kiosk with tearooms and a police shed. In 1943 a storm wrecked the kiosk and 1948, a freak hurricane finished it all off. It wasn’t until 1959 a replacement jetty of just 215 metres was completed, a more modest construction still standing today.

More recently an archaeological dive project has sifted through the rubbish below the original structure and the results are displayed in an interesting display at the Bay Discovery Centre, serving as a reminder that all those lost or discarded bit and bobs we may ourselves have been guilty of, may well turn up in a museum in some distant future.

Returning to Moseley Square, we walked up past the old town hall and up the busy and bustling shopping precinct of Jetty Road. The fact that many senior students are now on holiday added to the summer holiday atmosphere, and we agreed that Glenalg was just a lovely seaside place.

By the time we returned to the vehicle, we decided that we would call it a day, and return another day to continue with the original planned route. The promotional literature for Port Adelaide alone suggests there is a day’s worth of activities, but all for another day.

Back at camp we paid for another week and spent a little time beneath a gum tree close to our posse watching a koala chewing his leafy dinner. So close! I wonder if he will be there in the morning?