Park 21 is a rectangle - bounded by South Terrace, Greenhill Road, Peacock Road and Sir Lewis Cohen Avenue Park 21 is 31 hectares in size. This means that in the context of the whole Adelaide Park Lands, it's only about four per cent of the…

It has an unusual roof – what architects would call “a hyperbolic paraboloid” which means curves made of straight lines. This style of roof was chosen so the building would blend in, with its surrounds, in what was supposed to be evocative of an…

Within a week, Mr Veale had backtracked, insisting the garden was from then on to be known as a rock and water garden. Water was always going to be a major part in Mr Veale’s vision for the garden. This creek, though artificial, provides home to…

These are River Red Gums, and they are planted at intervals along the edge of Veale Gardens providing shade for the plants and people below. This species can live as long as one thousand years, though these ones are quite young, having been planted…

This sculpture, named ‘The Couple’, was created in 1962 by Berend van der Struik who had emigrated from the Netherlands five years earlier. It was one of the earliest features installed in Veale Gardens. The sculptor had some back luck with his…

It is a reproduction of one owned by Sir Walter Scott, the Scottish novelist and poet of the late 18th century & early 19th centuries. He is most famous for writing the line “"Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to…

Coincidentally Veale Gardens was built in the same year, 1963. However after the law changed in 1963, to permit outdoor weddings, it took another ten years for the first wedding to be held here in Veale Gardens. That was because the City…

The sculptures first put there were of a kangaroo, a platypus, a koala, and a quoll. For these to be made, specimens were borrowed from the South Australian Museum and delivered to the Town Hall. The modeller, Mr Logger, used the real specimens…

The hills which host the Adelaide Pavilion, the grottos, and the grove of trees on top were created in the 1960's. The needed 70 000 cubic metres of soil, to be carted from other places within the Park Lands, where excavation works had been…

Pan was sculptured by well known artist John Dowie. Unfortunately, during its construction, Pan fell and was damaged, forcing Dowie to redo parts of the statue. John Dowie was also the sculptor of the 'Three Rivers' fountain in Victoria…

Qingdao is a city in north-east China, and regarded by some as one of the most beautiful and clean cities in China. Qingdao was chosen as a sister city because of its similarities to Adelaide and the expected positive impact on trade relations…

The western boundary of this park is Sir Lewis Cohen Avenue. Heading north, this road becomes Morphett Street and goes right through the city and North Adelaide, passing three of Adelaide's six squares on the way: Whitmore Square, Light Square…

Until 1975, male homosexual acts were was illegal in South Australia, and police often patrolled known beats with the intention to arrest, entrap, or worse. Even after decriminalisation in 1975, the remaining cultural stigma of homosexuality forced…

The earliest recorded use of this Park after European settlement was in the training of volunteer military forces. A well-trained militia was seen as an important asset to the colony. A rifle range nearly a kilometre long was set up in the 1860s,…

It opened in 2009, after five years of lobbying Council by several gardening groups in the South West quadrant of the City. Some of these groups had been gardening vacant building sites in the neighbourhood. So-called “guerrilla gardeners” had…

“UAV” stands for 'unmanned aerial vehicle' – meaning radio-controlled model aircraft and helicopter drones. This area is one of only two sites in the Adelaide Park Lands where model aircraft are officially permitted. The other site…

Photographs from 1865 show nothing but a bare expanse south of the city (apart from the rifle butts) However, ever since the 1880s, re-vegetation has been attempted in several different periods and still continues. Firstly, to allow larger species…

Many of these families owned a family cow, and the 'family cows' of the neighbourhood were allowed to graze in the southern Park Lands. Up until the 1960s, most of the Park Lands were fenced to keep stock inside. To enter a park, you…

The southern end of Veale Park / Walyu Yarta is mostly given over for use by recreational sports. Next to Greenhill Road, there are two tennis courts licensed by the City Council to the Victoria Tennis Club. Eastwards, another fenced area…