Adelaide

As the Ghan departed from Adelaide we enjoyed a few days exploring the city, strolling the beautiful River Torrens Esplanade , and the city parks including the Botanical Gardens. We stayed at the InterContinental Hotel (the big orange building) overlooking the river.

Lowitja O'Donoghue AC CBE DSG (August 1932–February 2024 was an Australian public administrator and Indigenous rights advocate. She was the inaugural chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) from 1990 to 1996. She is known for her work in improving the health and welfare of Indigenous Australians, and also for the part she played in the drafting of the Native Title Act 1993, which established native title in Australia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowitja_O%27Donoghue

The Palm House is an exquisite, painstakingly restored Victorian glasshouse that was imported from Bremen, Germany in 1875. It is thought to be the only one of its kind still in existence – and it's in the Adelaide Botanic Garden!
Designed by German architect, Gustav Runge, the sophisticated engineering techniques used in its construction make it a benchmark in glasshouse design. The hanging glass walls are similar to those used in today's city buildings and were very advanced for the time. This sophistication, and Adelaide's dry climate, probably account for the building's survival.
In 1986 corrosion of iron glazing bars made the Palm House unsafe for public use and it was closed. A conservation study carried out in early 1991 recommended full restoration and after a successful public appeal, and a donation from the federal government, this was carried out.
Roll on another 27 years to 2018, and further works were required to treat salt damp and corrosion, and to prune plants to allow light to reach smaller plants. After an eight month closure, the heritage-listed building opened to the public again.

In 2024, this stunning glass sculpture created by one of the world's most celebrated contemporary glass artists, Dale Chihuly, became a permanent fixture in the Palm House thanks to a generous philanthropic gift from Dr Pamela Wall OAM. The piece, Glacier Ice and Lapis Chandelier, was designed by Chihuly specifically for the Palm House as part of the Chihuly in the Botanic Garden exhibition, which ran from 27 September 2024 to 29 April 2025.

The grotto is made from rocks especially imported from Germany