I can’t remember how young I was when I got my first camera but I’ve certainly gathered a lot over the years and have never been quite able to part with them, apart from the odd instamatic that probably fell to pieces.

These days I don’t usually travel too many places without my favourite camera which until recently has been a Canon DSLR 1000D. But, after seven years and lots of kilometres it has finally seen better days so it to is being relegated to the collection and making way for an update.

So a trip to Adelaide was required to firstly find out that the old camera really had seen better days and to order the new camera. Of course while in our pretty city though I couldn’t help but get a few pictures of some of its stand out features.

There are quite a few new, different and quirky cafes and bars opening up in the city and its laneways, and along with them drawing people in, so is the street art leading to them, or near them. I’ve been a fan of street art for a while and am starting to recognise familiar artists work. In Hindley Street in Adelaide’s west end there is a café called Peter Rabbit which is built from shipping containers with an outdoor garden seating area.  A very popular and comfortable place for city workers and students from nearby Uni SA to meet for coffee, drinks and eats it also has some very cool street art overlooking it.

This striking and colourful artwork is a collaboration of Vans the Omega and ‘Beastman’, a couple of talented artists who were also responsible for another piece of street art that I photographed in the city of Perth in Western Australia. (See previous posts on street art)

Also in Hindley Street you’ll find this art from Lisa King on the Jive Bar.

Not too far away, on North Terrace you can find the Lion Arts Centre with its distinctive paint splash art. This building is now home to Nexus Arts and has a performance space and room for visual art exhibition but the early 1900s building was once the Lion Factory where the Lion brand of Self Raising flour and other goods were packaged.

Adelaide has some incredibly beautiful old architecture tucked in between the new buildings. Another building that holds its place still is the Colonial Mutual Building.  It was built in 1934 during the Great Depression and was constructed in a Romanesque style.  It was the tallest building in the city for 35 years.  Today, after being worked on by a team of architects and builders for five years, it is home to the Mayfair Hotel, a 4.5 star hotel.

When in the city you must visit Rundle Mall, the central, car free shopping strip where you will find Adelaide Arcade. This beautiful arcade was built in 1885 is the oldest shopping arcade in Australia and now houses over 100 specialty shops on two levels. And…it is haunted apparently, by the original caretaker who unfortunately met with a gruesome end while working there.

Another must see in the city is Adelaide Oval which was recently upgraded in 2014. The oval is home to Aussie Rules Football and Cricket and thankfully although modernised to cope with bigger crowds and the building of covered stands for all weather conditions some things from the past were retained.  Most importantly the old scoreboard.

This Edwardian architecture scoreboard was first used in 1911 and is listed on the City of Adelaide Heritage Register. Any South Australian who has ever experienced sport at the Adelaide Oval will also argue that the second most important feature kept during the redevelopment was ‘The Hill’. This is such an iconic patch of ground, that no one would allow a grandstand to be built there, its far more important to sit, lie, stand there with mates on the grassy hill and enjoy whatever sport is being played.  The Hill was created in 1898 with earth from the banks of the River Torrens which runs through the city and just behind the oval.

A feature of the old Adelaide Oval pre redevelopment was a wooden picket fence that circled the whole ground. When the redevelopment was proposed a scheme was devised where anyone could put their name down to buy an individually numbered picket, as a memento of the original oval.  So I’m happy to say that I did just that and my cricket tragic husband received an original Adelaide Oval picket for his 50^th birthday a few years ago – yep something to go straight to the pool room!  But what a talking piece.

It is a truly stunning arena to watch sport and even concerts at and if you’re lucky you may just catch a brilliant sunset in the spring and summer months. Bring on cricket season!

When the new camera arrives hopefully I can work on more of the stunning sights in my Adelaide.

Cheers

Glenys