City Explorer Bus: Keith looks at the Adelaide City region of South Australia through a visitor's eye
The City Explorer Bus was built to look like a tram without the tramlines but it's a quaint reminder of the days when trams ruled the city. It's also a really good way to find out what's special and what's quirky about our city. So we decided to hop on board with a group of tourists to find out what Adelaide looks like through a visitor's eyes.
The Adelaide Explorer takes a 90 minute loop around the city and our driver and guide, Andrew Smart, doesn't mind if we hop on an off along the way.
Visitor's soon appreciate the key to the distinctive look of Adelaide is its clear design. Parklands surround the square mile city grid and North Adelaide. It's a 'city in a park' - literally. And its revered planner surveys his creation from a pedestal high on Montefiore.
"From here you can see why they call it Light's Vision," said one of our fellow tourists as she alighted from the bus. "It's a very nice view isn't it." said another.
Colonel William Light was surveyor-general of the proposed new colony in 1836 but it was a tough gig. He had to fight all the way with Governor Hindmarsh, who, being a seafarer, wanted the new town at Port Adelaide. But Colonel Light had different plans choosing a site 11 kilometres inland
"Colonel Light worked hard," explained Andrew. "He and his surveyors surveying all one thousand and forty two acres of the city over a 2 month period. Bearing in mind of course, that it was basically virgin scrub-land and they were pushing their surveying gear around in wheel-barrows."
The Kaurna Aboriginal people called their land 'Tandanya' - the place of the red kangaroos. It's the River Torrens now but when the new colonists arrived they wouldn't have found such as attractive waterway. It was a series of muddy water holes that only flowed during the wetter months.
What we see today is part of Light's vision.
"Once the Torrens had been damned they were then able to start landscaping along the banks of the Torrens and really turned the Torrens into an attractive waterway." Said Andrew.
That was in 1881. Not bad considering no convicts, no state religion, classical architecture galore and parklands that take up more than half the city's 10 square kilometres. Our passengers love it. "Oh it's beautiful city," said one. "Plenty of greenery, plenty of open space, very nice. A very nice city."
"Adelaide's a beautiful city," said another. "It's very Mediterranean with a lot of architecture which is something you don't hear about too much in the United States."
Go no further than North Terrace to see what he's talking about.
It's Adelaide's 'cultural boulevard' - home of the University of Adelaide. Its Bonython Hall was named after philanthropist, Sir Langdon Bonython who funded its construction in the 1930s.
"Sir Langdon was quite adamant the hall wasn't to be used for frivolous activities such as dancing," explained Andrew. "So it was built with a sloping timber floor so they couldn't dance in it."
Driving along North Terrace we pass a string of cultural pearls - the Art Gallery, the Museum and the State Library. Its Institute Building houses the Bradman Collection - a cricket lover's Mecca.
To see The Don's famous cover-drive look out for the bronze statue outside his beloved Adelaide Oval.
North Terrace is also the seat of government and Andrew points out an interesting feature of Parliament House.
"It was built in two stages. Look closely and you can see the difference in the colour - the right hand side was built in 1889 the left-hand side was not completed until 1939."
Same Kapunda Marble but they didn't expect a different colour after 50 years!
Across the plaza is the Adelaide Festival Centre that prides itself on its biannual Festival of Arts. Down towards the Torrens - Elder Park - a favourite spot for picnics and outdoor concerts.
After a quick stop for more passengers we move along the main street that dissects the city - King William Street.
While Adelaide was named after the Queen at the request of King William IV - he scored the street. Andrew tells us why the other streets mysteriously change their names when they cross King William.
"Because it was named after the King they weren't permitted to allow a commoners name to cross the King's name. So the streets either side of King William street have different names."
The centrepiece of Colonel Light's plan was Victoria Square. He set aside eight town acres and while it's changed shape and been transformed lots of times, Victoria Square is still an open area smack bang in the middle of Light's city grid.
On one side, the GPO - one end of the overland telegraph line that connected Australia to the rest of the world in the 1870s. On the other side of the square is Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Cathedral. It was built during the 19th century but its Gothic tower came a century later. The law courts also flank the square. And a question about the Sir Samuel Way building still stumps even the locals - what does the C.M stand for?
"The building was originally built by Charles Moore and Co as a shopping centre," explains Andrew. "It was called Moore's Emporium you can still see the 'CM' in the copper-work on the edge of the front verandah."
Save that one for your next quiz night!
After taking the tour I reckon maybe we could all take the Explorer Bus. Even though it's designed for people who are visiting our city there's plenty about the centre of town that we could all brush up on.
Try it yourself - the Adelaide Explorer. It runs all day every day. The city loop runs for one and a half hours and you can also include Glenelg and beachside area.
Book if you like or just wave down the driver.
Adelaide Explorer Tickets valid 2 days. Ph (08) 8231 7172
Published 29th April 2007
