I maintain that every human collective environment develops a soul of its own.
A unique one that is different from other cities, settlements and districts.
I have visited a number of the larger cities in Australia – lived in quite a few.
They all have their own personality.
As do the states they are located in.
Adelaide and South Australia have taken a time to get used to.
Jammed firmly into the crack that runs up the bottom of the mainland, the state is arid, swampy and tough.
There is an edge to it, something that means you must take it or leave it as it is.
There are those who would say that Adelaide is behind the times, lacking skyscrapers.
Or that it is the younger sibling of Melbourne – trying to establish itself culturally.
The thing is that any and all of these things may be true in a small sense.
But it is a combination of these things that make it uniquely itself.
There is a rather lackadaisical attitude to development of any sort…compared to particular states that progress at any cost.
It still has the dated entertainment precinct leaning on the edge of the Torrens, despite the fact that they have worked so hard to put Adelaide on the cultural map.
It will remind a traveller of what Southbank in Brisbane was like when the Expo infrastructure sat, fading in the sun, for years before they developed the precinct it is now.
Many will think of it as Perth – before it won the lotto and gussied itself up.
Indeed we can’t help but compare.
But would be unfair indeed, to any city, to stop at comparisons.
The more I get up to Adelaide the more it trusts me, I feel.
The more I wander (we never drive around the city) and the Gurus and I discover new favourite corners.
This stay we got an apartment in the Eastern precinct, the old Markets.
And it turned out to be the best location from which to woo Adelaide.
We found duck ponds and tree lined avenues.
Mock Victorian apartments that brought to mind New York and cafes so small they must have been parking spaces before this.
We discovered the beauty of the greenness and open skies only found in a city where there is no ‘cyclone alley’ of towering glass.
The moment I say this I know that, with a certain sadness, Adelaide cannot remain like this – social norms would have any city progress.
But would it not be nice if they kept it green, open, rustic and arty?
So here are some photos from this city – flawed and troubled as any other but still with its toes touching the earth.
The parrots moved faster than my old camera – creating a fuzzy image. They lived in holes in the old trees on the streets and in the parks, creating a lovely noise over the top of the traffic.
Down at the duck pond.
Hens and ducks compete at the pond.
Then the doves arrived. These doves have punk doos and squeaking wings.
Of course a baby magpie brought his parents down to try and muscle some snacks.
The last of the aggressive birds rock up for a piece of the action (or bread).
Old and new and green mix.
Textures in the city centre.
The winter trees compare to the stone buildings gorgeously.
One of the laneways that move between the new-to-look-old apartment buildings in the East End of Adelaide.
More new and old and green.
The hills curl around Adelaide protectively providing an almost rural feel to it constantly.
I wish Adelaide’s skyline would forever remain like this.
Old and green create lovely wintery pictures.
The rain blotches my lens constantly but I can’t help but fall for the peeking sun shot anyhow.
A decidedly old bandstand in the drizzle.
The river – where art uses water.
Art using water
Water using art.
