Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CAR & MOTORCYCLE
If you're driving between Adelaide and Melbourne, make sure you go via the Great
of the best coastal drives in the world, with awesome views and more twists and turns
than a Hitchcock plot.
To hitch a ride (sharing petrol costs) or buy a secondhand car, check out hostel notice-
boards.
The Great Ocean Road route is considerably longer than the inland route via Horsham
(around 960km and 12 hours versus 730km and eight hours), but it's worth it.
TRAIN
Adelaide Parklands Terminal (
Click here
)
, 1km southwest of the city centre. The follow-
ing trains depart from Adelaide regularly:
The Ghan
To Alice Springs (seat/sleeper $431/1190, 19 hours)
The Ghan
To Darwin ($842/2290, 47 hours)
The Indian Pacific
To Perth ($553/1750, 39 hours)
The Indian Pacific
To Sydney ($375/850, 25 hours)
The Overland
To Melbourne (from $116, 11 hours)
ADELAIDE
POP 1.29 MILLION
Sophisticated, cultured, neat casual − this is the self-image Adelaide projects, a nod to
the days of free colonisation without the 'penal colony' taint. Adelaidians may remind
you of their convict-free status, but the city's stuffy, affluent origins did more to inhibit
development than promote it. Bogged down in the old-school doldrums and painfully
short on charisma, this was a pious, introspective place.
But these days things are different. Multicultural flavours infuse Adelaide's restaur-
ants; there's a pumping pub, arts and live-music scene; and the city's festival calendar
has vanquished dull Saturday nights. And, of course, there's the local wine. Residents
flush with hedonism at the prospect of a punchy McLaren Vale shiraz or summer-scented
Clare riesling.
That said, a subtle conservatism remains. 'What school did you go to?' is a common
salvo from those unsure of your place in the social hierarchy, while countercultural urges
bubble up through Adelaide's countless sex shops, kung-fu dojos and huge bottle shops.
