On photo: National Museum of South Australia, Adelaide
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Adelaide is a wonderful place to live. With one million inhabitants, it is not as busy as Sydney or Melbourne, and combines gorgeous Victorian architecture, serenity of national parks, vibrant festivals and lovely beaches. The weather is Mediterranean, with dry, hot summers and colder, wet winters, which means that you can enjoy the outdoors all year. You can grow your own fruit and vegetables in your garden, and spend evenings and weekends surfing the local breaks.
Flinders University is south of town, which means that living in the city or the southern suburbs is ideal, but people in our lab do commute from the northern suburbs on a daily basis. Using public transport to commute to Flinders has recently become even easier, with the opening of the new Flinders line and train station. The trip from the City to Flinders takes slightly more than 20 minutes, with frequent services during peak times and services on weekends and late nights. The Adelaide Metro website contains a journey planner tool, as well as ticketing and timetable information. |
History
You might think European history is old, but wait until you see what Australia has to offer. Both Aboriginal heritage sites and historical buildings from 19th century worth a visit. On photo: Arkaroo Rock, Flinders Ranges Family friendly
Adelaide is safe, and most kids are active doing outdoor sports year round. There are many good public schools, and private alternatives for those who prefer that. Daycare is expensive compared to Scandinavia, but very reasonably priced compared to UK or USA.
Hiking
There are so many beautiful places to hike. From short 1-hour hikes in the Onkaparinga gorge, to more strenuous hikes that take several days, and impressive 1500 km long-distance Heysen trail.
On photo: Heysen trail, Deep Creek CP Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island is like an isolated miniature version of Australia. Echidnas, goannas, seals, splendid beaches and dunes of Little Sahara.
Well worth a visit! On photo: Snake Lagoon hike, Kangaroo Island |
Fauna
The South Australian environment is beautiful. We see kangaroos when driving home from work, koalas on campus, gazillions of parrots brighten up our days, and when camping you might encounter some more exotic creatures.
On photo: Aldinga Scrub CP, Adelaide BioMed City
The Adelaide BioMed City project puts new health research facilities and the new Royal Adelaide Hospital within walking distance of each other, built next to a tram line on North Terrace. On photo: Adelaide BioMed City, Adelaide Snorkelling&Diving
Adelaide is full of perfect snorkelling spots. Most popular is Port Noarlunga Reef, which is protected as an aquatic reserve. Other locations, such as Seacliff, Aldinga or Antechamber Bay on Kangaroo Island, also offer encounters with beautiful aquatic wildlife.
On photo: anemone in Aldinga Surfing
The long coast line is perfect for kids wanting to learn to surf. For more experienced surfers willing to drive, there is Victor Harbor, Yorke's, and Cactus.
On photo: surfing in Adelaide |
Food & Drink
Adelaide is surrounded by famous wine regions, Adelaide Hills east of Adelaide, the Barossa Valley and Clare Valley north of Adelaide, and McLaren Vale to the south. There is also plenty of good restaurants in the city centre, offering both modern Australian and International cuisine.
Camping
There are many beautiful camping spots, from as little as 1 or 2 hour's drive out of town. Especially popular camping sites are located in Deep Creek CP, Newland Head CP or Coorong NP. . On photo: Camping in Deep Creek CP Festivals
Did you know that South Australia is also called "The Festival State"? There are plenty of events all year round. The Adelaide Festival and Adelaide Fringe, full of art performances and music, OzAsia festival, with impressive lantern parade, Tasting Australia festival and many more!
On photo: OzAsia festival in Adelaide Flinders Ranges
The Flinders Ranges are amazing place to visit for camping and hiking.
Meet mobs of emus, be amazed by Aboriginal paintings and experience a bit of an outback, just few hours drive from Adelaide. On photo: Flinders Ranges |
COST OF LIVING
Adelaide is a surprisingly affordable city to live in. Many people manage to buy their own home in suburbs that are either close to the beach or the picturesque Adelaide Hills. For shorter stays, Adelaide offers lots of reasonably cheap rentals.
If you are wondering, how much money your stay in Adelaide would take, read further, or try this calculator.
If you are wondering, how much money your stay in Adelaide would take, read further, or try this calculator.
Rent
Average rent for a single room in a shared house in southern suburbs (nearby Flinders University) is around 130-250 AUD per week, bills and internet included. Simplest option is to look it up on specialized websites such as flatmates.com.au, au.easyroommate.com, sharehouses.com.au.
Food
The cost for food could differ a lot according to your lifestyle. You could count on something between 50 AUD (really modest person) to 150 AUD per week. If you like dining out in local restaurants, you would pay more. There are plenty of quite good bistros in Flinders University campus, one of them (Café Alere) was even recently ranked as “South Australian Café of the Year 2018”.
PhoneThere’s myriad of phone providers. Some of them offer year or two-year long plans (for example Telstra, Optus, Vodafone), some of them offer prepaid tariffs with no bond at all (for example Aldimobile, Amaysim, Boost Mobile), which we recommend for shorter stay. You could count on 3-30 AUD per week, according to the tariff and your phone usage habits.
Entertainment
Culture and entertainment often comes for affordable prices in Adelaide. There are plenty of free events all year round (concerts, festivals, science cafés, some open-air cinemas).
Most of the cinemas offer tickets between 8 to 20 AUD per movie. Tickets to theatre plays are a bit more expensive, with prices between 20 and 40 AUD. |
Transport
Public transport in Adelaide is comfortable and widespread. Full-time students could travel on lower fare (concession), which is 1.95 AUD per 2 hours trip, internship students pay a regular fare, which is 3.95 AUD per 2 hours trip. Tickets are cheaper in the middle of the day (inter-peak hours) and on weekends. For people who travel often, there is possibility to prepay a monthly tariff. See Adelaide Metro website for more information.
If you want to explore other parts of South Australia on your own, you might consider buying a car – second-hand ones could be an affordable option. Travelling by car is the easiest and most comfortable way in Australia. Refer to licencing information to know that you can legally drive in South Australia. Bike riding is a cheap and nice option, however, biking tracks are usually part of the road. Roads could be busy in Adelaide, so you have to be careful & make sure you know the rules before you start cycling. There are cycling maps and cycling journey planner available for South Australia. |