adelaide | The Ambitious Drifter

April 21, 2015
by Ambitious_Drifter 4 Comments

The Train Still Leaves From Here

This is the final photo safari post from my last Adelaide trip. Over the years Adelaide’s city fathers have done much to diminish the railway station. The (underused) marble entrance halls were turned into a casino. An uninspiring conference centre was plonked on top of the tracks. Exotic trains such as the Ghan to Darwin and the Sydney – Perth Indian Pacific still run, but not from here.

Not all is lost. The station retains some of its character, it hasn’t been turned into a bland mega mall full of franchise stores.

Seppelts still makes fine wine, so this isn’t quite a ghost sign.

The columns are interesting, they look like they’re ceramic.

The old ticket booth, now a coffee shop.

You can get some sense of the vaulted ceiling.

Street art from a nearby side street.

April 20, 2015
by Ambitious_Drifter 5 Comments

Birdwatching At Largs Bay

More from my latest Adelaide safari. The Largs Pier Hotel is a sacred site for me. The photos can’t capture the excitement of the 1970’s, when I saw Australia’s greatest bands there. What remains is an elegant pub that does a good lunch and the local birdlife. There’s lots of memories too, but I’ll write those up later.

The Largs Pier Hotel.

The View From The Jetty.

The Largs used to be the German Consulate, the eagles remain.

A rare sighting of the Largs Bay Street Emu.

A proper bird.

April 19, 2015
by Ambitious_Drifter 7 Comments

Photo Safari 3

I’m planning three Photo Safari posts this week. They’ll all be more sights of Adelaide, architecture, the railway station and the legendary Largs Pier Hotel.

Despite the best efforts of successive generations of councils, there are still some interesting buildings left in Adelaide. Often you have to look up to see them. One floor above the underwhelming Rundle Mall ‘shopping experience’ you can still find quirky buildings with personality.

A standout is the CML building on the corner of Hindley and King William Streets. The odd decoration scheme makes it look like the headquarters of some gothic super villain. You can spot Aztec style owl gargoyles, rampant lions, green men and a host of odd shapes.

Boring clothes shops and fast food joints cropped out using Aviary

February 12, 2015
by Ambitious_Drifter 3 Comments

Photo Safari 2

Like all good drifters, sometimes I ride across the dusty plains back to my home town. I stride like Clint Eastwood through the wide streets while men dive back into the saloons and women peer out from behind the curtains.

The dusty plains are now covered by smart new housing estates and some of my favourite saloons are long gone.

It’s Adelaide, South Australia. There’s nothing like being a tourist in your own town to start noticing the quirky buildings and slightly mad architecture. I’d taken it all for granted.

Here’s a selection of some of the sights I’d forgotten.

One for the door fans. I like the Inca motifs.

A deco Inca/Aztec temple in the backstreets, just round the corner from the ancient Pancake Kitchen, site of many exploits.

The Beehive corner, where Adelaidians still meet. Over the top Italianate stylings, it’s got gothic crocket finials and moorish hints too…. and, of course, a bee on the top. This one’s worth clicking on to enlarge for the details.

The East End Markets, now developed into housing and posh shops. I miss all the musty mysterious smells. Highly recommend the Eros Kafe for lunch.

NB. There’s a weird thing on top of the roof, it’s a TV aerial, a relic in itself now.

Taken from a car window, another closed down cinema, such a brilliantly modern look. On the Anzac Highway.

Ah memory! Such fun I had there in my youth. Next trip (soon) I’ll take the SLR and make it a proper photo safari.

The Ambitious Drifter

Words, Images and The Occasional Noise

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