Chances are if you’re sight seeing in Adelaide you’re going to end up walking up and down North Terrace. On the edge of Adelaide’s CBD, this street contains a number of different attractions including Adelaide Casino, Parliament House, National War Monument and the State’s Library, Gallery and Museum! You also have the Adelaide University complex as well as being close to the Botanic Gardens, which contains the Adelaide Zoo!
The other big plus North Terrace has going for it is a large number of the attractions are absolutely free! One location, plenty of attractions, most of them free! What’s not to love?
Well then, let’s take a closer look at some of the attractions shall we!
National War Monument
I’ve seen quite a few War monuments in my time. Each monument tells it’s own story, representing so much loss, emotion and history. You can’t help but being moved and Adelaide’s Monument is no different.
A tribute to all those who lost their lives during the first World War, the Monument consists of two sides. The side facing the road shows the spirit of duty appearing before South Australian youths, a prelude to the war. Whist the reverse side shows the spirit of compassion holding aloft a stricken youth as an epilogue to the war.
It’s quite a striking monument and as the spirits look down imposingly upon you, you can’t help but reflect on the ultimate sacrifice that those before us made to ensure we have the life we have today. A worthy site to visit for sure.
State Library
I had read somewhere that Adelaide’s State Library contained a collection dedicated to Don Bradman. Being a little bit of a cricket buff, especially in my youth I was quite eager to check it out. Unfortunately I couldn’t find it! All I managed to find was a section with a few of Bradman’s bats and balls, certainly not what I was expecting! It may have been that I just missed the main exhibit, but I must say I was a little disappointed!
Still the Library had a few other interesting sections including the impressive Mortlock Wing. Restored to it’s original 1880′s style, walking inside the wing certainly gives you a feel for how Library’s were back in the day! The wing also includes some interesting exhibits on the history of the Adelaide region.
On the whole, whilst I was a tad disappointed not to see a large Bradman collection, the Mortlock Wing is worth a look, especially given the free entry!
State Museum
Do you like Taxidermy? If you do then you’re in luck with the SA State Museum. With two entire levels dedicated mostly to Taxidermy exhibits covering of animals native to South Australia as well as animals from across the globe. I’m actually quite a fan of Taxidermy so I quite enjoyed myself. They also had a fairly extensive Mineral collection, another favourite of mine!
The other main feature of the museum is the Aboriginal section. South Australia was home to quite a few Aboriginal tribes, especially in the Adelaide area. The arrival of European settlers displaced a lot of Aboriginals and you’ll learn about this and a lot more at the Museum.
The last little gem the museum’s Egyptian section. It’s on the top level and a little out of the way, so it’s pretty easy to miss it but do make the effort to track it down. There is a collection of Mummies, artifacts and hieroglyphs but probably the most interesting find is a mummified Bilby and a mummified Platypus! The story goes that these two native Australian animals being mummified is proof that Egyptians travelled to Australians thousands of years before European settlers made the journey. It’s a fascinating concept!
The Museum reminded me a lot of Cliffe Castle in West Yorkshire, England although Cliffe castle was quite a lot smaller! I enjoyed Cliffe castle and I enjoyed the State Museum, especially at the wonderful price of FREE!
Art Gallery of SA
Can I just say of the bat that I was thoroughly surprised by SA’s Art Gallery. When it comes to browsing through Art Galleries I have a habit of taking photos of the information plaques so I can reflect on the pieces at a later date. I entered the SA Gallery without any great expectation of having to many pieces to follow up on…..
I actually ended up with nine pieces that I wanted to look at again, comparable to the returns of some of the more illustrious galleries I’ve visited around the world! I’ve encountered quite a lot of pieces in galleries where the emotions or drama of the scene have in my opinion been lost and as a result they left no impression on me. What really struck me about some of the pieces in this gallery was the way the individual artists had made the effort to capture the emotion and drama.
My favourite piece from the gallery was this one below by Joseph Wright. The stark contrast between the whiteness of the moon and the red of the lava really sets the atmosphere and I found myself transported to Naples for a moment, imagining the sensation of being witness to such a remarkable event.
All in all another thumbs up from me for the SA Art Gallery!
Vesurvius from Posillipo - Joseph Wright of Derby
Adelaide’s North Terrace is a central point for a large number of Adelaide’s sites. Whilst perhaps not as famous as their more illustrious counterparts in Sydney and Melbourne I found the War Monument, Museum and Art Gallery to be well worth a visit and if you’re in Adelaide I’d definitely recommend you allow some time to check them out!
Have you visited Adelaide’s North Terrace? What was your impression? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Share them below 
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