Living in Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital of South Australia and is Australia’s fifth largest city. It has a population of around 1.2 million people and is situated on the south coast of Australia about 600 km north west of Melbourne. It has a reputation for being calm and relaxed with a feel more like a big town than a city.

It ranks well according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2010 Liveability Survey, being placed as joint eighth most liveable city in the world, alongside Perth.

The city centre is divided into North Adelaide and Adelaide by the narrow Torrens River. Then both of these central areas are completely surrounded by green park lands which separate the centre from the suburbs. The city is small and compact and easy to navigate being laid out in a grid like fashion. The heart of the city is Victoria Square.

Adelaide claims to be the “20 minutes city”, meaning you can get anywhere within 20 minutes by car. That’s probably a slight exaggeration, but it is an easy city to get around and there is little by the way of traffic jams.

Adelaide and the surrounding areas are a beach goer’s paradise. The city itself sits on the east of the Gulf St. Vincent and is just 10 km away from those sandy shores. West Beach, Henley Beach, Glenelg Beach and Semaphore Beach are all close by and may well be some of the best metropolitan beaches in Australia.

For even more beach options, jump into the car and head north for about an hour and a half. You can then begin to explore over 700 km of beaches on the York Peninsula. Take your pick, there’s plenty to choose from. If you want to drive your car on a beach, go to North Beach at Wallaroo.

If that’s not enough for you, take a trip out to Kangaroo Island, just a short ferry trip about an hour and a half’s drive south from the city. Enjoy the natural wildlife of the island, kangaroos, penguins, koalas, wallabies, goannas and a lot more.

Oh, and Adelaide is also internationally recognised for its winemaking at vineyards such as those at the Barossa Valley and Coonawarra regions.

Sounds nice doesn’t it?

What’s the weather like?

Adelaide’s climate has been described as “Mediterranean” and summers can be extremely hot but what is most notable of all, is how dry it is. It’ll play havoc with your skin.

Summers are really sunny but winter is not so good, being quite cold and dull with a fair bit of rain.

The heat and the dryness do, of course, indicate the dangers of bushfires. Other severe weather would include thunderstorms and gales.

Adelaide can be broken down into five main areas:

• Inner Adelaide  – includes City, Inner North, Inner South, Inner East and Inner West
• North Adelaide – includes Port Adelaide Area, Outer North East and Outer North
• South Adelaide – includes Outer South
• East Adelaide – includes Adelaide Hills
• West Adelaide – includes Glenelg and Brighton

Here’s a map of Adelaide with the location of each of those areas: