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Visitor Centre: Adelaide is the capital city of the Australian state of South Australia. It is a coastal city on the Southern Ocean and was named in honour of Queen Adelaide, the consort of King William IV. It is situated on the Fleurieu Peninsula overlooking the Gulf St. Vincent, bordered by the low lying Mount Lofty Ranges to the east giving the suburbs a roughly north-south rectangular layout. The population is 1,072,585 (census 2001). In terms of population, it is the fifth-largest of the Australian capital cities. Getting to Adelaide is easy. Adelaide Airport, the fourth largest in Australia services both Domestic and international flights and is centrally located close to the CBD. With international flights direct from Asia and Europe as well as domestic Australian air services getting to Adelaide is easy. Car hire at Adelaide's airport is available through DriveNow™ 's partners, Avis, Hertz, Budget and Thrifty at the International and Domestic terminals. Both Car and Campervan rentals are also available in central Adelaide from Britz, Apollo and Network Rentals along with Avis, Hertz, Budget and Thrifty. Late 2005 will see the opening of the most modern airport terminal in the Southern hemisphere when Adelaide reveals a new facility to service regional, domestic and international traffic all within the one complex.
HistorySouth Australia was officially settled as a new British province on December 28, 1836 (now commemorated as a public holiday, Proclamation Day) and the site of the new city was surveyed and laid-out by Colonel William Light, the first Surveyor-General of South Australia. Light chose, not without opposition, a site on rising ground close to the River Torrens, which became the chief early water supply for the fledgling colony. "Light's Vision", as it has been termed, has meant that the initial design of Adelaide required little modification as the city grew and prospered. Usually in an older city, it would be necessary to accommodate larger roads and add parks, whereas Adelaide had them from the start. Adelaide was established as the centre of a planned colony of free immigrants, promising freedom from religious persecution and civil liberties and as such does not share the convict history of other Australian cities, like Sydney and Hobart. Coincidental to that fact, the name Adelaide comes from the German words meaning “Noble Birth�. Arts and SportsAdelaide hosted the Formula 1 Grand Prix from 1985 on 1995 on a street circuit in the city's eastern parklands. The Formula 1 Grand Prix became a source of pride and losing the Grand Prix to arch-rival Melbourne under questionable circumstances left a void that has since been filled for the most part with the highly successful 500 V8 Supercar race event, held on a modified version of the same circuit. Adelaide is the home of two Australian Football League teams: the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power, as well as a state-wide league, the SANFL. It is also the host of the annual Tour Down Under bicycle race. Adelaide's cultural life flourished in the 1970s under the leadership of Premier Don Dunstan, removing some of the more puritanical restrictions on cultural activities then prevalent around Australia. Now the city is home to events such as the Barossa Music Festival, the Adelaide Festival of Arts, Adelaide Film Festival, and the Fringe Festival, among others. Womadelaide, Australia's premier world music event, is now annually held in the scenic surrounds of Botanic Park, emphasising Adelaide's dedication to the arts which has prevailed since the days of Don Dunstan. Landmarks and tourist informationOne of the best sources of information on things to do and visit in Adelaide is World Guide's Adelaide site which can be found www.adelaide.world-guides.com and comes highly recommended. This site is packed full of information on the city of Adelaide and the surrounding area. RestaurantsWith more restaurants per person than any other Australian city Adelaide has variety and selection of cuisines, price range, and styles to meet all your expectations and needs. Detailed guides to restaurants are available through the South Australian Travel Centre on the corner of King William Street and North Terrace. Adelaide's cafe culture has seen a remarkable upturn in the last few years. A visit to the East End will quickly demonstrate this, Rundle Street is famous for its sidewalk table-service, wonderful coffee and wine bars. In this mix you will find great Greek, Thai, Japanese, Italian, Malaysian and vegetarian food. For good, tasty, cheap eating in the city, try one the many eateries in and around the Central Market where you'll find seafood along with Asian and other cuisines. The International Food market offers a variety of fast foods predominately Asian. Close to AdelaideFor ideas and information on what to do and visit outside Adelaide we recommend World Guide's Adelaide site which can be found www.adelaide.world-guides.com. Prominent AdelaideansProminent artists, bands, and musicians to hail from Adelaide include film directors Scott Hicks and Rolf de Heer, actors Anthony LaPaglia and Jonathan LaPaglia, and musicians Jimmy Barnes, John Farnham, The Mark of Cain, Undertone, Guy Sebastian, Testeagles, and Snap to Zero. Of recent note are hip-hop outfit Hilltop Hoods, who have attained nationwide recognition. North Carolina pop pianist Ben Folds has been living in Adelaide since 1999. Famous people who grew up in Adelaide include Alexander Downer ( Australia's current and longest-serving foreign minister), Sir Mark Oliphant (physicist and Governor of South Australia), Nobel Prize winners William Henry Bragg, his son William Lawrence Bragg and Howard Florey (honoured for his role in making penicillin readily available), Andy Thomas (astronaut), Lleyton Hewitt (former world number one tennis player), Ian, Greg, and Trevor Chappell (past international cricket players). Adelaide was also home to pioneer Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson and Australia's first female judge and first female Governor, Dame Roma Mitchell. Though born in Melbourne, media mogul Rupert Murdoch ran his first newspaper in Adelaide. In 1952 he took over management from his father of the afternoon paper "The News", turned it into a success and went on to build his now far-reaching media empire News Corporation. ClimateAdelaide has a Mediterranean climate that is generally mild with wet winters and hot, dry summers. Of all the Australian capital cities, Adelaide is the driest. Rainfall is unreliable, light and infrequent throughout Summer, where rain does not fall for months at a time. In contrast, Winter weather is fairly uniform with June being the wettest month of the year, averaging 80 mm. Climatic Averages: Sister Cities
Adelaide has several sister cities. They are: Inter-City Routes
Rental partner locationsOur Adelaide Car and Campervan rental partners are located at the following:
AcknowledgementsThe information in this city guide has been compiled with the grateful assistance of www.wikipedia.org and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Adelaide". DriveNow™ welcomes any feedback you may have. We're dedicated to making this site the best it can be for our customers. If you feel we offer a valuable and useful service, remember to tell your friends about DriveNow™. If you have any questions or comments about the services we offer, please don't hesitate to contact us at savemore@drivenow.com.au. |
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