Autumn in Adelaide

3 April 2013


The sunrise is a bit later, sunset a 
bit earlier, mornings and evenings chillier - autumn has arrived in South Australia, and we can feel the changing weather in Adelaide.  It's still a beautiful city, with gorgeous architecture and crazy public art hidden in little nooks and crannies around the city.  


But it definitely isn't summer any more!

The air has that definite cool quality that signals autumn is here.  Mornings require jackets, maybe even a jacket and sweater.

The sky begins each morning covered in grey clouds, pretending rain will fall at some point sooner rather than later.  

The weather, like most of Australia, has a sense of humor and is just teasing us - the sun burns off the clouds and fog, and the sky turns the gorgeous blue we've come to expect.  And while the sky is only painted onto this building, much of the time it matches the real sky up above.

Our motel/backpackers is located in the northwest corner of Adelaide - if we walk down the street heading east, the street changes names (from Hindley to Rundle) and becomes a pedestrian mall.

It's a wonderful walk on a clear autumn day - people are out and walking, musicians are performing, there are various statues and vendors and everything is bathed in warm sunshine.  People slowly shed their sweaters and jackets, and enjoy this last sunshine.   

 

Even the fruit seems to change with the seasons - fewer berries of early summer, more and more apples, peaches, pears, plums, the fruits of autumn.  Pomegranates, figs, dates, nectarines, bananas.  The colors get darker, the fruits denser.  Winter is coming, and the produce will become more geared toward cold weather.  

There are all kinds of old buildings along Rundle Mall - a favorite is this old government building featuring the national seal of Australia, complete with emu and kangaroo!





And the sculpture - Roy René, born Harry von der Sluys, originally from Adelaide, and Australia's best known comedian.  (Yeah, I know, I've never heard of him either.)  A little girl on a slide - and if we want to get metaphorical about it, we could see her sliding out of childhood, summer, and into her teen years, autumn.
































 Two giant reflecting spheres, almost like a mirror snowman - just in the middle of the mall.  Just because.



And I have to admit that the pig checking out the trash can is one of my favorites!  There's an entire family of bronze pigs, but this one checking the litter is the best!  The others are just milling around, waiting for food - this pig is going out and searching for his own meal!

 





And of course there's the requisite fountain for children to play in - we had fun watching toddlers try to fall in and parents frantically trying to keep them out.

Even the colors of the flowers for sale have changed to autumnal reds, oranges, golds, and yellows.

Autumn is in the air, in the produce, in the flowers.  We see it everywhere.

Except the trees.  We're waiting for the leaves to turn colors.  Haven't seen that yet, and might miss it.  We leave for Darwin on Sunday.

So we're enjoying our last week in Adelaide.