Adelaide, the city of sunsets

The latest news from Sydney about several deaths after several unrelated knife attacks shows that Australia is not all sunshine and cheerfulness. No, (also) this country is (unfortunately) much more in a negative sense and has deep abysses. The mood in the city over the last few days has been tense.
This text was written previously and shows the sunny side of Australia, not the shadows. There is still a text missing here about the latter and perhaps I will add it, if not, then it should be included.

From the perspective of many Sydneysiders and Melbournians, Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, is not considered particularly exciting. And if it is, it is usually associated with festivals - almost all of which take place almost simultaneously every year in March. Or there is the association "wine", because Adelaide is surrounded by several world-famous wineries. But that's mostly it.

In the last few months I have been to South Australia several times, and particularly to Adelaide. I heard "Again?" more than once, and with a certain arrogance. There isn't much going on there in Adelaide. It's not Sydney. And it's not Melbourne or Brisbane either.

“It's like a big country town.” - It's just a big small town; or rather, with the local emphasis, just a big small town, just about 1.3 million, in a rural area, far away. With this emphasis, Adelaide sounds even more boring.

In internet forums and on Facebook, etc., I keep reading questions from travelers asking whether Adelaide is worth it. So far away, so far from everything. Should you go there?

Some of the Sydneysiders I met - and I have to admit this - were also a little more kind. They said that Adelaide had much more of the original Australia. When asked what they meant by that, however, my interlocutors often couldn't really explain it.

Maybe the matter?

Just a little further away?

So that you can't get there directly; it's too big to walk over and yet it's too small for a direct connection?

Hmm, yes, maybe it is. It could also be a general description for Australia as a whole.

But maybe it is also because you can see red earth, rocks and cliffs on the coast and thus the trademark of the “real” Australia.

Maybe it's the sharks - and shark attacks?

My feeling and my experience on the ground tell me that Adelaide is pretty cool and "underrated". Adelaide and South Australia are often warm, hot in summer, far away, red earth, kangaroos, koalas, sharks, snakes, spiders.

Just Australia.

But there is also a lot of time spent outdoors and, above all, relaxed people who know how to enjoy themselves (beach + wine) and obviously don't let themselves get stressed (or don't want to); neither by poisonous animals, by other people, nor perhaps by the world in general. That's my impression.

So I'm biased, because I like this Adelaide. The doors that didn't open via email opened like a snowball and in no time at all once I was there - and kept coming back. "Yet again!" I was often greeted in Adelaide with a warm smile.

Perhaps - and proud Sydneysiders and Melbournians may be right - I would get bored after a while in South Australia. Maybe. But for a few weeks I found it very comfortable, somehow homely and above all "welcoming" - open and warm. It wasn't difficult to get to know people. I don't know whether it was me or the people in Adelaide. Maybe it was a combination of both.

The beaches are beautiful and the sunsets are phenomenal due to the city's location.

And that's Australia for me: sun, water and beach, that's exactly what makes many people go outside and be on the move; and maybe that's why Australians seem to me to be somehow and mostly more resilient to stress.

In Adelaide, this is obviously multiplied again. Lots of things take longer here: small talk, time at the hairdresser, even car journeys. I also get the impression that most people want to talk to you. Either there is less stress here than in other cities or people are less stressed. Life in Adelaide is also more affordable. For groceries in Adelaide, I often pay half (!) of what I spend in eastern Sydney.

South Australia - the historical special case Down Under

Historically, South Australia is a bit of a special case in Australia. People here are often proud that the region was colonized by "free settlers" and not by convicts like in other parts of Australia.

Absolutely everyone here told me that I had to go to Hahndorf . Absolutely and no argument! The "typical" Little Germany, founded in 1839. It is known for German beer, wine, German food and, above all, typical German architecture, so I was told. When I replied, somewhat irritated, that there was no Germany in 1839 and that perhaps it was not as "German" as it is marketed today, hardly anyone wanted to listen. "Mh, interesting" was often the answer. But then I also said that I was much more interested in Lesser Poland (now Polish Hill River) further north of "German Hahndorf" and that I wanted to go there.

But no objection.

Everyone, even the Australian Poles or Polish Australians, wanted to go to Hahndorf with me. I heard that it was a must, even outside of South Australia. The small village is famous far beyond the region. "Okay," I replied, " but only if we go 'to' Poland. That's a must for me."

In the end, I went to Hahndorf with my acquaintance from the ride - as I said, everyone likes to chat here. And several day trips followed. Also to Lesser Poland, in Sevenhill in the Clare Valley, an hour north of Adelaide. It is known for its wines, especially Riesling, but also for a small Polish church, today called Polish Hill River.

A small museum describes the history of (probably) the first Polish settlement in Australia. Just like the German-speaking Lutherans in Hahndorf, Catholics and Polish-speakers from Prussia and especially Silesia also came to South Australia. Most of them took a ship in Hamburg or Bremen.

Polish Hill River was long forgotten, but when many Polish DPs and now "New Australians" arrived after the Second World War, a new phase in the history of the small church and settlement began. Polish Hill River became so important in the Polish diaspora that Polish immigrants in particular, including many former DPs, wanted to be buried in Polish Hill River. If you're going to die in exile, then you should die in the "most Polish" soil in Australia, that's often the thought. This influx from all over Australia recently led to the cemetery being closed. Burials are currently no longer possible there.

The tour, steeped in history, can be wonderfully concluded "Adelaide-like" with wine, good food and later a beautiful sunset on the beach. Trust me: Adelaide is worth a trip and after a total of about four weeks here. I'll be back!