Recent reviews Adelaide
[magdadh, 20/11/2010] Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art is technically part of the University of South Australia, and is located at the edge of the City West campus, in the western part of Adelaide's cultural precinct, the North Terrace, within a minute's walk from the arts and craft centre of the JamFactory and about fifteen minutes walk from the South Australia Museum and Art Gallery.
The "museum" name is a bit of a misnomer, as the Sansom Museum is an art gallery par excellence, and is devoted to changing temporary exhibitions of contemporary art. The Hawke Building itself is quite impressive, an unashamedly
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[magdadh, 19/11/2010] Considering how expensive many "dolphin watching cruises" can be, the excursion in the Port of Adelaide that pretty much guarantees seeing those playful marine mammals must be one of the best value dolphin-watching trips in the world.
The trip, offered on the Port River by several operators, cost us 5 AUD per person for an hour-and-half cruise on Port Princess (they charge lower prices on Sundays and Public Holiday Mondays). There are longer trips by them and other operators that take the visitors further out towards the sea and cost 8 or 10 AUD respectively for a two and two-and-a-half hour
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[magdadh, 19/11/2010] The title pretty much says it all: it's busy, it has a lot of shops, chains and not chains, including some department stores. It could do with more normal food places in addition to a selection of fast foods but there are restaurants down the road.
The brass pigs are cute, the double balls shiny.
All in all, a shopping street like many out there.
[magdadh, 19/11/2010] South Australian Museum is located in Adelaide on the North Terrace, near other Adelaide's cultural institution, within a short walking distance of the state's library, Migration Museum, Art Gallery of South Australia and the cenotaph.
The Museum's collection covers a mixture of areas, as is typical of smaller national and regional (state, provincial etc.) institutions, with galleries devoted to natural history, anthropology and ethnography, history and specific local interests.
It's not a huge collection, but an enjoyable one and worth at least a stroll (or a more detailed exploration if yo
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[magdadh, 19/11/2010] The Migration Museum in Adelaide is devoted to charting the story of the colonial (and post colonial) settlement of South Australia in particular (but to large degree Australia as a whole).
The museum is located on Kintore Ave street, just off the North Terrace in the vicinity of other Adelaide's cultural institution, within a short walking distance of the state's library, South Australia Museum, Art Gallery of South Australia and the cenotaph.
The old buildings in which the museum is located (a former workhouse!) enhance the impression of stepping into the history, and even before enterin
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[magdadh, 30/10/2010] Adelaide Comfort Hotel Rivera is one of those large, middling hotels that pass for “budget among the hoteliers, but has some rather polyester pretences to, ummm, “class. We found hotels in Australia extraordinarily expensive for families (it's possible we didn't know where and how to look, and the fact that we had no car and thus didn't want to stay in out-of-town holiday parks or motels didn't help), and when we located this one in Adelaide, we were happy enough with what it offered (especially in comparison with prices of other city-centre places) that we stayed here four nights, one night i
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[Caradawn, 01/07/2009] I have to admit I was a bit dubious about taking my children to visit the Migration Museum despite wanting to visit it myself. My parents had been for a quick look around whilst in Adelaide and didn’t seem very impressed. I also thought that it might be a bit boring for young children. However, my children wanted to give it a go and we didn’t regret it.
You enter through the gates into a courtyard where there is a statue on display depicting a family arriving in Australia. The central bricks of the courtyard have names and the home countries inscribed on them of people or families who have
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[Caradawn, 30/06/2009] Fasta Pasta is a franchise restaurant with locations all over Australia. However, not all Fasta Pastas are the same. I have visited one in the south of Adelaide a couple of times and it was okay, but for me the restaurant at Gilles Plains stands out more.
The outside of the building isn’t in brilliant condition, but step inside and it looks like it has been recently refurbished in a clean, modern style. A member of staff greeted us promptly and politely with a friendly smile as we entered and let us choose a table while she brought some menus. My husband doesn’t like pasta much so it was g
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[Caradawn, 27/06/2009] My first birthday in Australia was spent on the beach; which is quite a strange feeling when your birthday is in November! A decision was made to end the day with dinner at one of the beachside restaurants and the Thai Orchid was chosen. We were a hungry group of six which included two children and went in fairly soon after they opened. The waiter asked whether we had a booking and when we replied that we didn’t he said he would just check if he could fit us in leaving us gazing around at an empty restaurant.
The restaurant was quite large and decorated in those deep oriental reds with gold h
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[Caradawn, 12/05/2009] A couple of people had recommended Caffe Buongiorno to me, yet on my first visit I was not very impressed. I gave them another try when I heard they had won local business awards and again after reading an article in the local newspaper recommending them. I thought that maybe I had just chosen meals that weren't so good the previous times and so gave them more chance. However, I am afraid that I am still not overly impressed by their food.
I can't fault the service. The staff is always friendly and welcoming. They will seat you and bring you menus, but you need to go to the counter to order
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[Caradawn, 30/04/2009] The Botanic Gardens is one of Adelaide's free and easily accessible attractions. It can be reached on foot from North Terrace in the city centre and there is paid parking on either Plane tree drive or off Hackney Road. Plane Tree Drive is the access and parking road for the zoo as well and sometimes, ususally on bank holidays, it can get very busy. So on these occasions if you don't find parking space on the neighbouring roads then you should still be able to find some on War Memorial Drive, which runs alongside the river. This will add a bit of a walk to your journey. Disabled visitors, howev
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[Caradawn, 31/03/2009] You wouldn't think there was much difference in the shoreline which stretches along the west of Adelaide. Indeed, the natural changes are only subtle with erosion to the south and build up to the north. However, each suburb seems to add its own bit of character to its little stretch of coastline. West Beach is an area which suffers from a little bit of erosion. So in areas where the road and houses come closer to the water, they are protected by a build up of boulders.
The beach here seems to be quite shallow leaving sand bars, so when you walk out the water will get deeper then shallower a
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[Caradawn, 12/03/2009] The South Australian Museum is by no means the largest museum around. In fact its Egyptian exhibit is in a room about the size of my bedroom. I was prepared to be disappointed by it, but was instead rather impressed. Even my young children enjoyed it and got rather excited by some of the exhibits.
The museum is located in the Adelaide central business district across from the train station and close to the main bus route. Very easily reached on public transport, but a little bit of a walk if you are entering the city by car as parking tends to be a few blocks away. The building has lifts an
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[Caradawn, 11/12/2008] If you go directly west towards the shore from Adelaide city centre you will come to Henley Beach. This close proximity to Adelaide Central Business District is probably one of the reasons it is such a popular beach. Other possible reasons for its popularity could be the white sands which typify this section of the coast and the clean, clear water.
Henley Beach is subject to erosion and it is because of this that the water tends to be fairly clear of debris. Go further north and the surf washes up a lot of weed, shells, sea life and sand eroded from the southern beaches. Go further south an
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[Caradawn, 27/11/2008] Located in North Adelaide, the zoo is easy to reach from either the main entrance on Frome Road or the Children's Zoo entrance on Plane Tree Drive where parking is available. If arriving by car, then parking will cost around $2 depending on the day and the amount of time you plan to stay for. If using public transport then there will probably a short walk to reach the zoo.
We arrived by car and entered via the Children's Zoo. I have to say that the entry prices made us think twice about going in, particularly as the neighbouring Botanic Gardens had free entry. However, we'd got the children
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[Caradawn, 24/11/2008] Drive down St. Kilda Road, not forgetting to veer left at the fork and you should come to St. Kilda's adventure playground. On the left you'll pass a car park for the boat ramp and tackle shop come cafe, then a turn to the right leads you in to the parking area for the playground. You can't mistake it because you can't miss the playground. It is huge and I have never seen anything like it anywhere else.
One of the first things you will probably see is a castle like structure. This houses three long slides, some tunnels and the bit of climbing structure which ultimately leads to the slides.
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[Caradawn, 17/11/2008] Semaphore was Adelaide's first seaside village, but it is not the most popular beach today. That dubious honour goes to the resort of Glenelg, currently the busiest beach. Semaphore still has a natural, calm feel to it, despite the foreshore area which hosts waterslide, cafes, Miniature steam Train and the oldest carousel in the southern hemisphere at over 70 years old.
Semaphore has and protected dune system which has built up over the last 30 years. This is fenced off in places to protect both the wildlife and likely the public from the wildlife. Signs warn of the possibility of encounter
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