Glenelg is probably Adelaide’s most popular beach destination. It's certainly the most commercial one and the most geared up for tourism and income generation. It was the first place to be settled on the South Australian mainland back in 1836, so has a fair amount of history behind it.
The newly reinstalled tramline connects it directly to Adelaide’s city centre and the Anzac Highway cuts diagonally across the grid style road layout for a direct route between the city and Glenelg.
Fountains in Moseley Square
The tram ends at Moseley Square, which is a hub for cafes and where the Town Hall is located.
The tram comes up to the tree in the centre of the photo
The Town Hall houses the information centre, the Bay Discovery Centre Museum and a gallery. It closed at 4pm, so we missed the opportunity to look around.
There isn't any parking directly around the main Glenelg beach, so most parking can be found on nearby streets and in the odd carpark. Parking is generally free, but time limits apply. Jetty Road is the main thoroughfare for shops and eateries, some of which present themselves in attractive and interesting ways.
The ice cream tasted as good as it looked!
On the foreshore is the BeacHouse entertainment complex and amusement park. It's not somewhere I've ever been in as I have an aversion to spending money on...well just an aversion to spending money really...
There is a playground right next to it, which requires no spending, anyway.
High rises frame the beach and closer to the jetty are memorials and other decorative works.
The Sturt River comes out to one side of the beach and break waters frame the mouth.
Unfortunately, signs tell people not to climb on the rocks which make up the break water and rocks are where we often enjoy exploring. There is, apparently, a strong undercurrent around the rocks, so there are warning signs for that and swimming is not recommend, so I guess falling off the rocks wouldn't be ideal either.
The beach was clean and despite the chill of autumn creeping in there were still some people in swimwear and out in the water. The seagulls probably outnumbered the people. They obviously know where to get an easy meal, because they flock to the busiest beaches and are nowhere to be seen on the more isolated ones.
The jetty is modern in comparison to many of the ones along the Adelaide coastline and is mostly concrete. Fires and storms caused so much damage to the original and washed so much of it away, that what was left had to be demolished. The current jetty is not as long as the original and dates from 1969.
As always, I love to find what the sea has washed in and while it was mostly sea grass, there were some shells and a piece of sea glass too.
Just a word of warning, if you're looking for a quiet beach, this isn't the one. Glenelg isn't far from Adelaide's airport and sits under one of the flight paths. Expect to have the odd aeroplane flying over and sometimes they come in much lower than this picture illustrates.
