Just returned from our second trip to Adelaide, before our permanent move in July.

Rather than ramble on with a long winded version, I will try to condense our impressions into a top and bottom five thoughts on the place.

TOP 5

1. The people - Just so friendly and helpful. Trust me I am a natural born cynic and I found the vast majority of Aussies, even the teenagers genuinely went out of their way to be friendly and helpful. Even a Policeman who asked me to move on from a restricted parking spot had a chat with me and ended up appologising for the inconvenience caused. After a while I found myself smiling at everyone and asking how they were doing. I tried continuing with this earlier today, however most people looked at me like I had asked them to massage my genitals.

2. The food - I could not believe the fantastic standard of food that gets served from some of the most humble of establishments. I was astonished when I received my breakfast at a simple cafe in Hutt Street, as the presentation and service was superb. It was almost as if the meal had been prepared for a photo shoot with the baked beans looking like they had been individually polished.

Superb!

3. Weather/climate - for most of our stay the tempreture was around 25c, with a gentle breeze and little humidity. I know that the weather varies with the seasons, however to wake up to so many sun filled days with blue skys, makes me feel great.

4. The City - we walked the city extensively and IMO it is the only way to get a feel for the place. Last year we drove around it due to time constraints, however this time we were pleasantly surprised just how well laid out it is with the newly built buildings giving the City a well deserved dynamic contrast to the classical and somewhat standard 60's architecture in place.

5. Lifestyle and cultural values - Although we appreciate that a month long holiday does not make us qualified to accurately judge the full lifestyle and culture of a city, we did however get a general feel for how the people of Adelaide value their quality of life, which in our opinion places more emphasis on family and time spent away from chasing empty materialistic goals.


BOTTOM FIVE

1. The colour Beige - Most of the architecture in AD seems to be coloured a certain shade of beige.

2. The Marion shopping Centre - we did'nt go inside it because the exterior looked like a beige version of Brent Cross Shopping City, a place that I would have to be taken to kicking and screaming.

3. Hallet Cove - Sorry for those that live there but IMO this place struck me as one of the most depressing areas one could possibly want to live. When approaching it one is immediately struck the stunning view of the oil refinery off the coast, together with the town which looked like an area of Southend during the off season.

I am sure that it has much more to offer, including cheap blocks of land near the sea, however I nearly did a Starskey & Hutch U turn in order to get away from the place, the first impression was that bad. Sorry!

4. Traffic Lights - I found myself falling asleep at them. The red lights seem to last forever and just when you take your eye off them they go green and someone toots you to move on.

5. Adult Emporiums - They are everywhere - now I like a bit of pornography like anyone else, but do we really need and adult sex shop on every bloody street. They are even on Melbourne Street, whatever next. Still if ever we run out of marital aids, we are never far from a 24 hour convenience sex shop. Try and get chicken and chips after 8.30pm and your stuffed, but when you need a 12 inch olympian fully ribbed vibrator, you only have to walk to your nearest corner sex shop.


This synopsis does not respresent my entire trip and I am sure that I have a lot more to learn and take in when I am living there permanently.

Regards

V

Brilliant thread, really made me laugh, my husband lived in a Adelaide albeit a while back now, and has tried to explained what it is like (he did however omit the vast aray of sex shops!!!! :68: I wonder why???????) but I have never been!!

If your five worst thoughts are the worst points of living in Adelaide then I am going to love it!! Especially as I love Beige!! And Shopping!! Hallett Cove - who knows what I will think of that, I had heard it was quite nice?? Slow traffic lights I can live with, and sex shops well each to their own!!

We take our rekkie trip hopefully in June so i look forward to seeing everything you did and More!!

:clap: :clap:

Hi Vespasian
Got To Agree that didn't read bad at all, Good thread, no real minus points,although suprised at Hallet Cove, made up my mind that it seemed a good area to live.
Nothing like seeing it for real :what?: :what?:
Heard about the traffic lights before...
Is it now back to reality ???? Dull cold days again

Keith :dance: :dance:

must have had something to do with your choice of slacks matey

Excellent post V,,you have a fab sense of humour :D

cant wait to see Adelaide now for myself

DEBBIE :D

Glad I'm not the only one who thought Hallet cove was pretty awful.

G

Brilliant post, thanks.

Has reaffirmed my thought's that all in all, Adelaide and the people have lot's to offer.

Hope you keep enjoying it ;)

Sammy

Tell me about it, we visited my mum last night and she fancied fish & chips, we drove to the local chip shop and decided to eat them in the car whilst the sleet lashed against the windscreen.

As I sat there chomping on my greasy piece of cod, I tried to recall my last meal near the jetty in Brighton, with the sun setting over the ocean and the King George Whiting melting in my mouth, washed down with a bottle of SA Chardonnay. Just as my imagination was running away with itself, some bloke knocked on the window and told me that I was parked over his drive, even though he did'nt want to take his car out, he felt that I needed to be aware that it was his drive that I was parked over.

Back to reality!

V

Hi V,

Excellent post! Really helpful!

We are going on our recce in 37 days :sign60: and can't wait to see for ourselves. We didnt know about the beige, the traffic lights or the food, so looking forward to experiencing them for ourselves!

Hallett Cove is (or should I say was) the main location we wanted to visit to look for a home. I am very fussy, so will remove my rose-tinted specs on the Brighton Road!!


Cheers,
Vera.

Fab post, you really made me laugh !!! :happy45:

It's suprising how friendly the people are, especially the kids, they just seem to beam with confidence, not like the kids back in the UK !

Glad you enjoyed Adelaide :D

Beige? I'm betting you are referring to our heritage listed sandstone buildings, heh heh. Not forgetting all the new buildings, painted to look like sandstone!

Glad your recce went well, I really enjoyed reading your post.

Good post, V. Im very impressed.

Lucy

great post i must say the sex shops are what i noticed too.

Hallet Cove isn't all that bad but a lot of the houses are old, the newer part is lovely and with the shopping center being revamped should be better looking. the veiws from the houses on the hill are spectacular, but we have bought at Blackwood Park and are waiting for our house to be built as the land at hallet cove was too much. Nicer area i think but thats my opinion.

Traffic lights are slow but having been here 9 months my way of life is a slower pace so i don't notice them now.

no worries sally

:clap: mmm well ive never noticed them :happy45:

Must say enjoyed reading your post V glad you enjoyed your visit

Debs xxx

Greatly enjoyed the post, thank you V.

Can't wait to get there now but I'm not saying what for! :rolleyes:

Great post V. you should have arranged a meet while you were here.

BTW eating a bag of chips in the car while its raining dont sound too bad to me. :D

So what did you see on your first trip??? Not alot, bet you were in and out the shops at 8.35pm until the next night!!! There again on your third trip, try out the Crazy Horse and you won't need the corner shop.

Stevo

Sally,

We looked at Blackwood Park and liked it very much. Very peaceful and civilized, with a nice town within walking distance as you no doubt are aware.

Not much in the way of land available though, unless you don't mind abseiling to the end of your garden. I want a 900sqm block that slopes upwards and the one's available are owned privately.

We have been told that there will be a new release of land in 2007, but anyway my wife and daughter are twisting my arm to buy in the city's eastern suburbs.

Our details are with all the agents in Blackwood and we have been told to be patient as blocks do come up for re-sale.

Are you aware that Blackwood Park is becoming known as Pommie Park, surprisingly due to the numbers of Brits that live there.

V

:lol: know what u mean by the traffic lights, I,m sure they wait for you to look away before changing. Straight to green from red, not red / amber then green. Almost change gear and move off in treble quick time before the 'TOOT' comes

We live in Blackwood Park and love it - just don't tell anyone in Blackwood that you live here. Quite a lot of opposition to the new developement. I either just say Blackwood or Craigburn Farm! :)

I do like the Marion Shopping Centre though! Would rather shop there than go into Adelaide city centre.

Carolyn

I hope the place you had baked beans at in Hutt Street was the one where my daughter works!

Hey

I know what you mean just about sums up our thoughts on it too.

Best are the people

We were out for a walk one day round an estate in the hills and a few teenagers in hoodies on skateboards were ahead ....we approached and .......... they looked up smiled and said g'day you new around here? We had a nice chat and moved on slightly dazed. I'm afraid the gangs of kids that hang out on the streets in our town are not quite that friendly ( and we live in a good area ..honest)

The weather was awful whilst we were there floods the lot but still loved it..........
:dance:

Great post - brought back lots of happy memories for us. Blackwood Park was an area that we really liked and will be top of our list to check out when we arrive.

Bit of a shock to the system to come back to this weather though...brrrr

Heather x

I called it the Orange place, but my wife advises me that it's named S&B's. I don't remember any young girls working there, just three really nice family members who treated us like we were their most important customers ever, even though we spent no more than $50 dollars in three visits.

Another great cafe on Hutt Street was 'The Queen of Tarts' this place is run by an openly gay guy, whom has his mother or auntie out the back cooking this great rustic home made food. There were no menus, just what had been prepared that day, he has a great sense of humour and is very kind and helpful, although I did find his gazing at my sun tanned legs, whilst he sang along to Jimmy Somervilles 'don't leave me this way' a little intimidating.

Oh and whilst talking about Hutt St, we went into Video easy to buy a DVD and the manager asked if we wanted to become members. I told him that we were on holiday and he said that's not a problem, just give us the address of your apartment and show a copy of my driving license. On our last day we rented 10 of the latest dvd's and didn't return them in order to teach him a lesson.

Only joking! In fact my daughter took a dvd back a day late and this other guy said not to worry.

Happy Days!

V

Won't tell where she works but you missed out on seeing a younger, slimmer, more beautiful version of me then!

hi V

we were in the right place at the right time and got an 1150m2 block on the down side but with fabulous views and a sliver of a sea view. there may be loads of poms but i have only met aussies there. we know of some poms one being an electritian but not sure where he lives. must say its the nicest place i have found with everything close by. i love being in the hills and the countryside.

my husband loves magil and surrounding areas but i like the more hilly parts

sally

[QUOTE=ovenater,Feb 25 2006, 10:01 PM] [QUOTE=vespasian,Feb 25 2006, 04:55 PM] [QUOTE=ovenater,Feb 2

Are you aware that Blackwood Park is becoming known as Pommie Park, surprisingly due to the numbers of Brits that live there.

V [/QUOTE]
hi V

we were in the right place at the right time and got an 1150m2 block on the down side but with fabulous views and a sliver of a sea view. there may be loads of poms but i have only met aussies there. we know of some poms one being an electritian but not sure where he lives. must say its the nicest place i have found with everything close by. i love being in the hills and the countryside.

my husband loves magil and surrounding areas but i like the more hilly parts

sally [/QUOTE]
You probably would have seen us driving around there in our silver Mazda. We drove around the place almost every day whilst there, so much so that I have the street names indelibly etched on my brain. Grand Boulevard, Bluebell Court, Richman Court, Tassie Road, Cochrane Ave, Sundew Ave. Now there are 3 blocks on Sundew that would suit me, so if you hear of anything, please let me know.

V

Hi V,

excellent insights, every one of them.... have to admit I haven't even ventured out to Hallet Cove yet though...

Annette
:dance:

PS: I LOVE the Queen of Tarts :D

PS I love the sex shops! I go to my local one so often the manager makes me a cuppa and we sit out the back and have a chat and a fag or two usually.

And I suppose that the service there is brilliant too, I can see it now, "What sort of 'strap on' you lookin for mate, Ahh! take it home and try it out free of charge, Oh by the way we have a 2 for 1 offer on love balls this month".

I can't see why you would want to visit a sex shop that often, his tea must be very good.

v

His tea is excellent!

Hmmm I can think of one perfect reason for visiting a sex shop often, better sex! The one thing definatley worth living for and free!

Well, Hallett Cove is now known as 'Little Britain'!!!!!!!!
So there's Pommie Park, Little Britain any more???????

One should not be influenced by others practical experiences, as reality often doesn’t stand up in theory. we all know that one’s practical experiences do not live up to what one expects in theory therefore leaving one disconsolate when one is left, as one certainly will be, to grasp the fantasy of one’s presumptions.

Furthermore, if one is to be tempted to locate to a particular area, purely based on the practical experience of others, then one is leaving oneself open to realistic expectations, whereas one may find that one is better suited to locating to an area where one’s castle in the sky is better suited to one’s vision of utopia, therefore one’s mental picture becomes the fantasy that one was dreaming of in the first place.

And just to add, one should not be taken in by what one perceives as friendliness, one’s awareness may be in error due to the practicality of the situation in which one finds oneself and the premise you had that Australians are rude and obnoxious may indeed been correct in theory.

In theory it would be more practical for you to release yourself from the shackles of your torchered existence.

V

who is one?

I’m one and so is Don

two is four and three's a door