Outdoorsy Adelaide

Image : Bikemap

 I have been playing with my blog. That had not been on my mind but I had given permission for Google to put ads on my blog and it went haywire! It is fair , if I have a free blog, that I do something to help the host fund things like offering me free website place. I had specified to put the ads in the sidebar or under the posts. That does not destroy the look of my blog. The ads are not intrusive and we are all happy. Somehow banner ads were turning up in the Header of my blog and it was an abomination. Not on Edge, not on Safari but on my iPad and on my Android phone and , presumably, on Chrome. It looked horrible. Nothing like problem solving and puzzling. I could not find anywhere  or anything to take the image ad from my Header. Soooo, I decided I would put my own image in and then I went on to do a bit of decorating and I am well pleased. 

For a start, Christies Beach is my favourite beach. Always has been. It is a great view, the ocean sounds are powerful and it is not overly crowded. People walk on the beach, take their dogs for a walk, go for a bit of a surf or swim if they feel brave. The undertow on this beach is powerful. Some puddle  around on their boats or jet skis. Little kids get to build sand castles and it is just nice, outdoorsy fun. You can walk around that cliff on the left of my image and get yourself to Port Noarlunga, the next beach down and a little town full of atmosphere. 

Further down the coast again , on the Seaford train line, is the bike track , The Shiraz Trail, which takes you through beautiful countryside to another lovely village, Willunga. Adelaide people are not full on fitness fanatics per se, but we do like to get out in the fresh air and walk, cycle, do a bit of sport or enjoy the wide open spaces. We have some good places to visit and Christies and The Shiraz Trail get you to some of them. 

Christies Beach

I wrote the original post on August 18th 2016 and Christies has only improved since then and is a vibrant, happy area. It has encouraged an active, positive enjoyment of the great outdoors. People walk and exercise their dogs, they bring themselves and their children her for some fresh air and exercise. Sailing seems to have picked up again after all the coronavirus restrictions and Rotary Park has some outdoor events which are well attended. It is not a crowded Beach. There are times when you can see dolphins and whales and not that long ago we had a ship offloading oyster shells from the oyster farms onto the reef. It disrupted the beach quite a bit but was really interesting to watch. You can now walk around the cliff face to Port Noarlunga and that has really encouraged people to get fit. Deja vu has gone and has been replaced by the very popular Flavas and Espy's bakery has gone from strength to strength. There are good places to eat close by. For many locals it is just a good place to get away from the worries of the world and take in some fresh air and listen to the rhythm of the waves. 

 Original post:

Christies Beach is changing in a good way. Some people will miss the empty, natural beach front with just the green railing fence but the improvements are welcome and have been well thought out. The big  wooden walkway onto the beach means you can get down there more easily and people keep jogging down it or take their dog and it is easy. The trail along the cliff face is well used and popular and seems to have been improved. When the wind dies down and the rain holds off I intend to go and explore that to see what they have done. It is better with more people and more life at the beach front. It makes it safer. It has become a beach where people enjoy the outdoors and exercise. It is not a good swimming beach unless you stay in the shallows. There are rip tides which are very difficult to deal with.  Deja vu is a newish cafe right on the Esplanade at Christies and overlooks the ocean. Very friendly and very civilised. A lovely spot. The park on the corner has been upgraded with play equipment for children and seated areas so people can have a picnic. The apartments have food and shops and I guess that will expand and the views from those apartments will be spectacular. Without Port Stanvac Oil Refinery it has returned to being a a really great place to be on a nice day where you can just relax and enjoy the laid back, ocean life style