Tuesday, June 10
I'M almost ashamed to say I did something recently in Adelaide that has clearly been around for years but I've only just discovered it.

It's the Marion Coastal Walk and judging by the response from other people, I'm not alone.

If you're familiar with Sydney's famous Eastern Beaches Coastal Walk - from Bondi to Coogee  you'll have some idea.

I've done that walk. It's about 6km, takes about two hours, passes by Tamarama, Bronte, Waverley (and its spectacular cliff-side cemetery), and Clovelly.

It's a gentle, sloping walk, that has stunning views and cafes to stop at.

Stunning coastal views is about all it shares in common with our coastal walk.

Five days later, my calves were still rock hard. And these are calves that have been familiar with the Mt Lofty walk and gym stair-walkers no less.

A friend has used the Marion walk to train for the Great Wall of China - the track from Kingston Park to Hallett Cove dips up and down the sides of numerous gullies in the beachside escarpment.

Be prepared for hundreds of wooden stairs, steps and platforms.

There's plenty to sticky beak. Much of the walk is dominated by the hodgepodge housing that perches on this coastal strip. Some show their best face, others their backsides  and their washing.

The whole walk took about four hours return  possibly because we stopped several times to enjoy the mild first-day-of winter weather.

We saw two ink black seals lying on their backs, sunbaking in the mild winter weather.

Their fins, tail and noses were resting out of the water, and they seemed oblivious to the many fishers aboard tinnies and dinghies enjoying the calm waters.

A Nankeen Kestrel was identified sitting on a fence post; a nearby heron was oblivious to our panting; lots of magpies followed our progress; but best of all was the 2m-long sunseeking black snake that slithered under our feet (we were on a timber walkway standing still in shock).

The latter part of the walk passes through the Hallett Cove Conservation Park, which is a declared geographical monument.

To find out more about the glaciated rock faces, nonconformities and erratic rocks you'll either have to do the walk yourself or click here for information.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Hallett Cove Conservation Park. Pic: Ray Murray.  

A view of the trail.

Friday, May 30 

A PAGE 5 story in the Melbourne newspaper the Herald Sun caught my eye this week.

The Victorian Government has leased five new trams from a French company to help cope with Melbourne's booming tram passenger numbers.

These are sleek, stylish, wide-bodied trams that apparently, according to Vic tram company Yarra Trams, are ``beautiful to drive''.

Judging by the picture I saw, there's lots of room inside for standing.

They're airconditioned too.

The rental agreement is for three years, while a new fleet is ordered by the Victorian Government.

Of most interest is that the trams have to keep their yellow exteriors for the length of the lease.

Advertising on the outside will have to be kept to a minimum.

Lucky Melbourne. I'm over our gaudy looking trams.

At first I didn't mind the odd covered tram - say, when they were promoting the Tour Down Under during the actual event.

But as discussed on the Spin Cycle* this week, why did the State Government bother having a competition to pick the colour of our trams if we can't see them anymore?

The trams have become visual pollution on our streets. Give us a break.

The $ argument doesn't wash either.

As if running the tram system - even the free trips between South Tce and North Tce - depends on the income from advertising.

Give us back our silver trams.

* Spin Cycle - Friday mornings from 9am on ABC-891 Mornings with Matt & Dave.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

The new French-owned trams on its trial run through Melbourne.

Monday, May 12

AFTER a fortnight's leave from work, including a week in the picturesque Gammon Ranges, I should be waxing on about how Adelaide does autumn so well. My favourite season, the one I always recommend whenever asked by interstaters, `When's the best time to visit?'

Except I'm still fixated with design - this time the design of affordable and sustainable housing.

From a design perspective, the description ``affordable housing'' suggests something cheap to buy and low-cost to build.

Space is shaved off room sizes (ie: no built-in robes in bedrooms) to max the number of units per block; fixtures and fittings lean towards the utilitarian rather than the substantial and stylish.

In her memorable 1960s ditty lampooning suburbia, Little Boxes, Malvina Reynolds took a pot-shot at the rows of identical housing being built for the new middle class of California. The sentiment remains relevant today, as a reminder of what can easily happen when suburbs are developed systematically, not organically.

Like most Australian cities, Adelaide continues to push its boundaries and expand its fringes because they're affordable. But it's not economical when everyone in the family needs a car to get anywhere, and travel time builds up to many hours every week commuting to work, school, sport or the local shop, doctors, hospitals, services - the nearest pub - and your mates are never close.

South Australia had a great history of public housing in mid-20th century but the design and construction was poor; few Housing Trust homes have become sought-after ``classics'', which is why virtually the entire old Parks area of northwest Adelaide is being demolished and rebuilt.

If you want to see some of the latest in groundbreaking public housing design, check out the website of a Melbourne architectural firm called DesignInc. 

Their clients include the Victorian Office of Housing and WA's Dept of Housing and Works.

The standout is the K2 public housing project in Windsor, Melbourne. This honeycomb design and construction, built to last 200 years, has been lauded for its ``human scale'' and the comfort, dignity and decency it provides for residents even in small spaces. There are 96 units and 52 car parks in just 4800sqm.

Internal and external noise control - so essential in high-density living - was a priority, as were privacy, natural ventilation, water harvesting, solar power and shading.

The units also have private balconies that are actually useable, as opposed to being windswept which happens in high-rise buildings (just ask anyone who lives a few storeys up at the Glenelg foreshore).

K2 may be public housing and affordable but it leaves many fancy and expensive apartment buildings looking decidedly unimaginative.

The K2 public housing project in Windsor, Melbourne. Should Adelaide be striving to create more public housing like this?

Wednesday, April 23

APPARENTLY Adelaide is undergoing a building revolution.

New city buildings, so I read on the weekend, are displaying a design edginess that went missing in the `80s and `90s.

Evidence for this creative resurgence are namely the Commonwealth Law Courts - with its Liquorice All Sorts facade, facing Victoria Square; the Hawke Centre, at UniSA on North Tce; and the wall of glass emerging on the southern side of Waymouth St.

Certainly groundbreaking for Adelaide but nationally, or internationally? I don't think so.

Dynamic? Possibly. Adventurous? Yes, if you're idea of adventure is catching the Manly ferry from Circular Quay.

If you think Adelaide is in the midst of a design resurgence - check out the new opera house in Oslo, Norway.

Its Norwegian architects, Sonhetta, also designed the Bibliotecha Alexandrina, in Egypt, recreating the Seven Wonders of the World library as a new cultural centre on the shores of the Mediterranean. Its exterior is described as a giant, half-sunken sun.

The Oslo opera house has a white marble and clear glass exterior, mountain-like, that can be walked over and sat on; it's expected to be used for sunbathing by Oslo's residents in summer, and for snowboarding in winter.

This is a monumental building but with a friendly exterior and interior, where timber ramps and detailing inside pay homage to Norway's ship building heritage.

The main entrance is cut like a crevasse into the marble, leading to an informal lobby. And it was all completed five months ahead of time, and on budget.

It's not that we don't have talented architects in Adelaide, it's just that their clients are often too timid.

For every building that pushes the design envelope, we get two or three that sit right back in the square box.

The Commonwealth Courts building has its detractors but I personally enjoy its glass patchwork of earthy colours and the juxtaposition of its green funnel.

Immediately opposite, we have the boring box being built by the Catholic Church to house SA Water.
Green features are now basic requirements and I certainly support facades that have a people scale at ground level.

However, city landlords need to be more courageous and aware they should be leaving us with a footprint - or legacy - that future generations should admire for its audacity.

SHARP DESIGN: The Oslo Opera House.

Wednesday, April 16.

WHAT is the most popular place in Adelaide, especially on a Saturday and Sunday, where it's practically impossible to get a car park?

Not the Willunga produce market or the Wayville Showgrounds - busy as they are - nor is it having a coffee at Jetty Rd, Brighton, after a walk on the beach.

In fact it's a place associated with mental and physical torture  hiking up to Mount Lofty from Waterfall Gully.

This track is busier at weekends than Rundle Mall during the post-Christmas sales. I know someone who has been doing this walk with a group of friends for years but, for some reason, its popularity seems to have soared of late.

Children and senior cits are putting themselves through this extreme walking, which is even used as a training route for those about to tackle the Kokoda Track.

I've been walking with a mate who's about to walk along a section of the Great Wall of China. I'm preparing myself for a week of hiking in the northern Flinders Ranges.

By 10.30am on a Saturday or Sunday morning, the Waterfall Gully car park is overflowing, with cars hugging the verges for hundreds of metres back down the windy road. Everyone first does a sweep of the car park, hoping for a ``rock star'' park, but invariably they end up down the road  by the time you've reached the kiosk you feel as if you've already done half the walk.

It's about a 4km walk up to the Mt Lofty lookout. The first 400m or so are enough to make you want to turn back. The next 2.5km are actually enjoyable, your heart rate is up and while you are steadily heading uphill, you're also walking through different micro-environments including a misty fern gully.

The last 800m are the killer. You are walking bent over because of the slope and everything hurts, especially the lungs. Then some fit bugger runs past - yes, runs - and you realise that's the second time he's passed you.

You must not stop. In cycling, you chant: ``The wind is my friend.'' Here, it's: ``I know I can, I know I can.'' Puff-puff-puff.

Over the weeks, you can slice minutes off your up-walk but there's no trimming your down-time - not unless you run and there's no way I'm doing that, ever. I value my ankles and knees.

Other things:

- How hard is it to keep a tissue in your pocket? Dropped tissues litter the Mt Lofty track.

- When someone's panting hard on their way up, especially in that killer 800m zone, don't tell them, ``it's not far,'' or ``the coffee's nice up there,'' or some other smug remark. Not unless you want to experience track rage.

- The 4km Waterfall Gully Rd that leads to the car park is used by hundreds, if not thousands, of cars every week, not just by local residents. There's enough traffic to justify a State Government upgrade of this road, which shows the wear-and-tear of 25 years of bitumen patchwork. Surely, a really thorough reconstruction could stand up to the next major flood of First Creek? The Transport Department should inspect the road on a weekend morning to see why the upgrade should be fast-tracked.