To Canberra . . . Eventually

As quickly as it started, our three night stay in Adelaide had come to an end. Time flies when you’re having fun I guess. The good news was that our flight to Canberra wasn’t until the afternoon meaning we still had the morning to explore more of the city. We packed everything up into our rental car and checked out of the Comfort Inn in the Glenelg neighbourhood. Overall, I give the place an ‘Okay’ rating. Our room could have been bigger and the price for wireless Internet was a bit expensive.

We decided to spend the morning exploring the Port Adelaide neighbourhood, located 15 kilometres to the north of Glenelg. On the way to the waterfront, we stopped at a shopping mall in Port Adelaide to have breakfast. Our original plan was to buy some snacks at the Woolworth’s grocery store but instead we found the Fast Break Cafe and ordered scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and coffee.

Prior to the arrival of the Europeans, the area was covered with swamps and mud flats. Port Adelaide was founded in early 1837 after being explored by Colonel William Light in 1836. In the 1840s, the place earned the name Port Misery because there was no fresh water supply, it was plagued by mosquitoes, was far from Adelaide, had a high risk of inundation, and it was difficult for large ships to dock there. But by the 1880s living & working conditions had improved significantly. When containerization was introduced in the 1960s, much of the local workforce was downsized. The neighbourhood went into steady decline over the next several decades and the effects can still be seen today.

During our walk through the neighbourhood we saw plenty of cars parked on the streets and tourists walking along the waterfront and taking pictures under the tall red lighthouse. However, looking more closely, we noticed that many businesses were closed for the day and several buildings were empty and boarded up. It reminded me of Vancouver’s downtown Eastside just not as severe. Thankfully, redevelopment plans are underway by many different organizations such as the National Trust of Australia and the Port Adelaide-Enfield Council. Plans include renovating the old Victorian buildings, promoting commercial & residential development, and advertising what the neighbourhood has to offer. If we had an extra day we probably would have visited several of the six museums in Port Adelaide (ie. National Railway Museum, Enfield Heritage Museum, & South Australian Heritage Museum).

On the way to the airport, we drove through the upper middle class neighbourhoods of Semaphore Park and Tennyson. Just think of big houses, Miami Beach, and palm trees. From what I’ve explored so far, Adelaide looks like a nice city to visit and to live in. I’ll have to come back some time because I haven’t fully explored the entire city.

Now air travel in 21st century is not like it was in the past. Back then it was a fascination and wonder, being able to fly high above the clouds and watch the earth move beneath you. Today the fascination is still there but only accessible after enduring the horrors of checking in your luggage, going through security, and waiting at the departure gate & on the plane before finally taking off. It’s like at the movie theatre where you’re forced to watch 10 minutes worth of previews before the feature presentation. But at least you don’t have to suffer immense delays like at the airport. My point is that in this age of travel, everyone has a ‘horror’ travel story to tell. And I have one to tell you.

The problem didn’t begin until after my family & I checked in our luggage and gone through security at the Adelaide Airport. While waiting at the departure gate, we spotted a massive storm cloud approaching from the east where the downtown core was located. In a matter of minutes, the cityscape disappeared behind the dark grey clouds and a wall of falling water. Lightning bolts sporadically struck the ground putting on a show for everyone to see. When the storm began passing next to the airport, we were informed that all flights would be delayed until the storm was gone. I passed the time staring out the window gazing at the lightning strikes, calculating how far away they were. The delay lasted over an hour because there were several storm cells passing through, and one decided to pass over the airport.

The next hiccup was the changing of our departure gate; thankfully the new gate wasn’t far away. After waiting some more, we finally boarded the Virgin Blue plane bound for Canberra. There was more waiting at the end of runway because the planes in the air had priority to land. When it was our turn to take off, the pilot aimed the plane down the runway but didn’t accelerate to full power. Instead he taxied the plane a few hundred metres before moving off the runway. Since a passing storm cell had prevented the takeoff, the captain had to move the plane off the runway to let several incoming flights land again. The passengers around me were not in the best of the moods. The captain was successful on the second try and the flight to Canberra passed without any trouble. I guess fate decided to have the last laugh because when the plane landed in Canberra, the captain informed us that he wasn’t allowed to park at the gate because the fire alarm at the new terminal had been activated. Thankfully, we only had to wait 5 minutes. Disembarking onto the tarmac brought some relief because you were greeted by a warm gentle breeze and a blue sky overhead.

For this portion of the trip, we didn’t have a rental car at our disposal, so we took a cab to our accommodation. I should note that there are security cameras & microphones in all Canberra taxis so be nice to the drivers. This was my second time visiting the Australian capital. The first time was back in January 2009. Our accommodation for the next several days would be the University House located on the Australian National University campus. My parents had stayed there before on a previous trip and held it in a high approval. The only downside was that our room was on the top floor and there was no elevator meaning we had to carry our heavy suitcases up four flights of stairs.

While walking around the University House during the evening, my father & I noticed a male possum eating leaves in a tree. I quickly ran to our room, grabbed my camera and came back and snapped several photos.