Adelaide, who?

I recently moved to Adelaide.

For those who don’t know the full background story; I’ve decided to move overseas to start a new chapter of my life. I flew to Sydney on 17th September, did a quick trip to Melbourne, and now I made it to my final destination (for a while), Adelaide.

I’ve been here two week now so I can only base whatever I’m about to say on the past 2 weeks of my life which might not seem like a great reference, but trust me, it’s pretty easy for someone who’s lived in as many places as I did to get a good sense of a place in as little as 14 days.

And for those who are asking themselves: “who or what is this Adelaide she keeps talking about?”, the answer is this: Adelaide is a relatively small city in South Australia. With its 1.4 million people, it’s 5th largest city in Australia based on population.

I know this barely means anything to those who never set foot in Australia but compared to the bigger players like Melbourne and Sydney, it’s basically a little town. Which I love.

And as it turns out, it’s the perfect place for me.

Before I move over to the first impressions and things part, let me just say this: I took the train from Melbourne to Adelaide, and I loved it. Having been on a long-distance flight (Amsterdam > Sydney) and a short distance flight (Sydney > Melbourne) in one same week, I wasn’t too keen going on another flight to travel from Melbourne to Adelaide. I was glad to discover there’s a direct train connection between Melbourne and Adelaide called “The Overland” which goes a few times a week.

The train journey 🚋

I got on the train on 10th October at 8 AM and arrived in Adelaide around 6 PM the same day. I already new I liked trains, but this one was even better than the ones I’ve been in before. There is a dining car on board, a sort of decent toilet, and a LOT of leg space. I also didn’t have to worry about my luggage being too heavy as it didn’t get weighed. And all of that for a very, VERY reasonable price. I paid €75 ($125), which was a cheaper rate than the flights at that time (massive suitcase excluded). So, HUGE fan.

I highly recommend and gets the official Domi stamp of approval. Which is not a thing (yet), I know.

After I got off the train, I took an Uber to the YHA hostel, one of the 4 hostels I could find online (which is not a lot for a city this size) where I booked the first few nights. I arranged a room in a shared house in a suburb in Adelaide where I could move into later that week, so I just had to cover 4 nights.

What I noticed straight away, is that there’s a nice vibe in Adelaide. The people in and around the hostel were all laid-back, not trying to be popular or click together. It was all pretty low-key and I felt at ease.

The city itself is not the prettiest I’ve ever seen. I can only compare to cities I’ve been to. I would call it a mix of Washington DC and Canberra. It has blocky buildings that are not tall enough to look like impressive skyscrapers but bulky enough to know you’re in a big city. The city plan is super easy. A very simple and symmetrical structure and even though it’s a good place to wander around, it’s impossible to get lost.

The city center is surrounded by a green strip. It’s kind of like Central Park, but inside out. The city in the center surrounded by a big park. That gives it relaxing feeling driving out of the city.

The first thing I usually do in a new city is just walk around, which I did. I’ll Google search a few supermarkets and other convenient spots to know where to get some basics but that’s it. Walking around those first few times give me a sense of the general city vibe and the distances. Along the way I usually bump into more convenient things, like train stations, shopping areas, parks, coffee shops, etc.

After getting a sense of the size of the city and meeting some people in the hostel it was almost time to move into the shared house in Marino, a coastal suburb about 30 minutes by train from the city. I moved in with 2 housemates who were so welcoming and lucky for me, two lovely women.

I’ve been debating whether to buy a car and I decided to see how far I can get with public transport and a bycilce for now. Which means I was very grateful a friend who I met in Sydney earlier this year arrived in Adelaide at the same time as me. He is travelling around Australia in his van, and he helped me getting my furniture from Ikea to move to my new house. We also explored a few beaches in the area and I must say: I am very VERY impressed by what South Australia has to offer so far.

It’s just a different vibe from what I’m used to in Australia. It’s almost a combination of everything I enjoy: beautiful beaches with calm water (because Adelaide is located in a bay just like Melbourne), no visible concrete block buildings along the coast, a nice Mediterranean-like climate, and most of all: not too many people anywhere. It’s quiet and rural and peaceful and everything I wished it would be. At least, up until now. Who knows what summer will bring.

A quick starterskit for new Adelaideans like myself:

• Getting there

  • Travelling from Melbourne?

    • Easy answer: train

    • But you can also fly there quite cheap

  • Travelling from another city?

    • Flying would be the easiest option here

    • BUT if you have the budget, there are overnight train connections between all the big cities in Australia so if you’re a fan of trainrides and have a bigger budget, those trips sound like great fun!

• Domi’s CBD recommendations so far

  • Walk around and try to see every park (there are 5, one in every corner of the city, and a nice green patch right in the middle)

  • Check out some shopping centers and stroll around (I personally don’t really shop anymore, but I do like being in shopping malls, especially on rainy days).

  • Go to the Adelaide Markets, they’re great for fresh, local food and organic products!

  • There are A LOT of coffee places, but for fellow chai lovers amongst us; there is a café called Simply Sarj in the community center, The Joinery on Franklin Street) where Sarj herself serves the best traditionally brewed chai I’ve had so far. And great Indian food as well!

  • I had lunch at an authentic Turkish street food place called Hatun and I loved their desserts.

• Domi’s outside CBD recommendations so far (low budget and/or completely free of charge 💁🏻‍♀️)

  • The train to Seaford: so far, I’ve taken the train to the place where I live, Marino, a few times now and the ride itself is worth it. Once you hop on it and leave the train station it only takes 10 minutes before you forget you just were in a city at all. It’s crazy how big the contrast is between the center and outside parks surrounding the city.

  • Brighton Beach and Jetty Road: easily reachable by train from the city (about 25 minutes) with lots of restaurants and cafes. It’s a pretty quiet beach (at least now in early spring) and the beach is really stretched out, which is quite unusual for a beach near the city.

  • Coastal walk Marino to Hallett Cove: Marino is in the south of Adelaide and there is a beautiful coastal walk between Marino and Hallett Cove. It’s stunning with wooden paths and (A LOT of) steps and vieuws overlooking the ocean on one side and national parks on the other.

  • Sunsets: With the ocean facing west in Adelaide, the sunsets are pretty insane. So, catch an ocean sunset at least once on a beautiful day.

  • Marino Conservation Park: Marino Conservation Park islocated on a hill about 15 minutes from Marino Rocks train station. I was so impressed by the view up there. You can find a lighthouse on top of the hill which is surrounded by the most beautiful nature and it’s just so peaceful and quiet and you can see all the way up the coast and the city skyline in the far distance from up there. It’s truly remarkable.

• And a final secret little hidden gem tip for all those low-key people like myself out there: Seacliff Beach: even though Brighton Beach is a great and lively beach, I do like the beach in Seacliff a little better. This tiny coastal suburb is right in the middle of Marino and Brighton and only a short walk away from Brighton. The difference is, it’s quieter only a few cute venues and a quiet, beautiful almost Caribbean-like beach.

And that’s about it so far.

No, wait. I skipped over the best part: it’s a bicycle friendly city! 🥳🥳🥳 So the inner Dutchie is satisfied as well. I bought a beautiful pink bike with a bright yellow helmet and have been cruising around and staying in shape because of all the hills. Adelaide was supposed to be flat, but I guess that was a lie.

TADAAAAA 💛

Now I’m going to continue exploring and going on adventures so I can write more chapters about living in Adelaide. I’M DOING THIS ALL FOR YOU, GUYS 😄. Haha no, I’m partly kidding, I do this very much for my own benefit as well. I think it’s an underrated city and even though I love that it’s not as touristy as the bigger players I mentioned earlier, I do like to contribute in showing the world Adelaide is a beautiful place live a happy, healthy, and peaceful life.

I’ll be back with a new story soon!

Cheers,

Xoxo Domi