A Walk Along The Seafront In Adelaide

A Walk Along The Seafront In Adelaide

After our experiences in Brisbane - a beautiful city, where we have some dear friends, but is now also tinged with sad memories of what happened to Uncle John - and Melbourne, which is quite the bustling metropolis, Wendy and I fell in love with Adelaide. Apart from spending time with a delightful friend, Adelaide is beautiful city - not too busy, it's vibrant enough, with a gentle feel to it. Adelaide is a place full of churches; it is very English and all the place names resonate with areas in the UK. It was strangely comforting, knowing we were in fact so far away from home, it still felt as though we had stepped some twenty or thirty years back in time, to a gentler age: one less violent, and a place where people are thoughtful and polite, and have time to talk to you. 

Many people think Adelaide is on the Southern Ocean, but the expanse of water we had the pleasure of walking beside one evening, is the Great Australian Bight. Bight is another name for a large bay, and this is definitely one very large bay! Checking on a geographical definition of the area, I read that the Great Australian Bight is generally considered part of the Indian Ocean, but that the AHS (the Australian Hydrographic Service) considers it to be part of the Southern Ocean.

We parked the car near Henley Beach and walked up to the seafront, enjoying a long stroll along the esplanade. All the way towards the far pier, we admired that great expanse of water ending its journey as gentle waves, lapping up on to the beach. Clearly, it is not always so tranquil; there are large boulders forming a barrier against the tides when the weather gets rough, and then we noticed some of these stones had been imaginatively decorated with paintings of a variety of sea creatures: crabs, fish, lobsters... a delightful entertainment for anyone willing to take the time to look and admire them! It was an impressive art gallery in the open air...

 Henley Beach

 And some sea-defence boulders used as canvases: we would love to know what medium the artist(s) used, to ensure their paintings could withstand the weathering in such an exposed place!

We wondered, who - or what - does "K" refer to? 

And with the flowers, is this a memorial for someone?

Getting closer to the pier, we admired "The Dream" sculpture:

Fish supper - and the pier!

After which, it was time to return to our apartment for some dinner. Salmon, anyone?!