Slow travel in Australia: Adelaide and the wildlife

The way you arrive in a new country, after a long journey that, with a 14-hour stopover in Kuala Lumpur and a daytime rest in a hotel, lasts 48 hours, creates what psychology calls imprinting, the first impression, the one that stays and that counts. Passport control is easy, and we skip customs because we are winter tourists, a rare species. On the way back, 31 days later, we will be checked and treated like dangerous terrorists for having rashly bought two bottles of perfume, sealed in a double gift pack and confiscated because, besides exceeding the maximum allowed, they tempted someone who had found the gift for a wife, girlfriend or lover, whoever it was. But the imprinting was good, and throughout the trip we recorded nothing but extreme kindness from all the Australians we met.

Outside the airport we look for the Shuttle to take us into the city, but, given the early hour and the sudden change from the thirty degrees of Italy to the 10 of 7 am in Adelaide, we take a taxi. Out of ingrained habit and distrust of giving out credit card details, to be used only in desperate situations, we haven't booked hotels, but we have the addresses along Hindley Street. The taxi takes us to the first hotel, the Hotel Plaza, but it's full. So we move on to the Breakfree, where we find an apartment for five nights. They keep our luggage in a garage, but they are inflexible about check-in at 14.00. We leave the hotel covered in wool jumpers and kways we brought in our backpacks, and soon we meet the first jogger in a vest and shorts who goes trotting along the North Terrace.

We're not equipped to run, but we can walk along the Torrens River together with families, cyclists and everyone doing sport. In the following days we visit the city, which is structured in a central part formed by a square one mile per side and the part outside the square. Along the North Terrace are the museums, the Art Gallery and the University. A little outside the square, to the north-east, are the Botanic Gardens and the Wineries Centre; on Hindley Street are the entertainment venues; in Rundle Street and Rundle Mall are the main shops. During our eight-day stay we devote one day to Glenelg and one to the Cleland Wildlife Park. We skip the planned trip to Kangaroo Island for fear of the morning and evening cold, but the visit to Cleland Park is already more than enough direct contact with Australian wildlife.

The Wallabies and Kangaroos in the park come up to the tourist and eat from your hand. Adelaide turns out to be a quiet little city, on a human scale, with plenty of greenery, ancient trees, numerous shops, bars, cafés and restaurants. Ideal for a first encounter with Australia for anyone who wants a peaceful trip.