River Torrens Sightseeing Cruise on Popeye Adelaide

Elder Park Landing and the Popeye boats

Elder Park is the lawn that slopes from King William Road down to the river beside the Adelaide Festival Centre, with its white Victorian rotunda of 1882 and views across the water to Adelaide Oval. The landing on the river's edge has been the base of the Popeye boats since 1935, when the first of the fleet began carrying passengers upstream to the zoo. The present boats are modern replicas built in the heritage style, low and open-sided with covered decks, and have become an icon of the city in their own right.

You board at Elder Park Landing a few minutes before the hourly departure; a few steps must be climbed to get aboard, with handrails and the crew's help available. The captain gives a short safety talk and introduces the crew before the boat pulls away. For anyone wondering what to do in Adelaide in under an hour, a Popeye cruise is the easiest answer, because the landing is a short walk from the railway station, the Convention Centre and the main hotels.

The Riverbank precinct and the city skyline from the water

The first stretch of the cruise heads downstream along the Riverbank precinct, Adelaide's cultural and sporting heart, which lines the southern bank of the river. From the water you see the curved roofs of the Adelaide Festival Centre, opened in 1973, the Convention Centre, the glass dome of the medical research institute and the footbridge that links the precinct to Adelaide Oval, the stadium whose scoreboard and grandstands rise above the trees on the northern bank. Behind them stand the towers of the central business district.

The commentary explains how the River Torrens was dammed to create Torrens Lake, how the parklands that ring the city centre were set aside in the original 1837 plan, and how the riverbank was transformed into today's promenade. The low angle of the boat gives a different view of the city from any street, with black swans, pelicans and rowing crews sharing the water. This section is the heart of any Adelaide river cruise.

Torrens Weir

The cruise continues downstream to the Torrens Weir, the dam built in 1881 that holds back the river and creates the long, calm lake running through the city centre. Before the weir the Torrens was a chain of summer pools and winter floods; afterwards it became the ornamental lake that the parks, the rowing clubs and the Popeye boats depend on. The weir gate can be opened after heavy rain to let floodwater through, and the structure was rebuilt in the twentieth century to its present form.

The boat turns at the weir, which marks the western end of Torrens Lake, with views of the historic Adelaide Gaol and the golf course parklands beyond. The commentary covers the floods and the engineering of the river during this stretch before the return journey upstream, past Elder Park again and on toward the zoo. The weir is the turning point of the cruise and the quietest part of the lake.

Adelaide Zoo landing and the Botanic Garden

Upstream of Elder Park the river narrows between the University of Adelaide footbridge and the parklands, and the Popeye boat reaches its far landing beside Adelaide Zoo, which opened in 1883 on the river's northern bank and is known for its giant pandas, its Australian wildlife and its historic gardens. Next to the zoo lies the Adelaide Botanic Garden, founded in 1857, with its glasshouses, avenue of Moreton Bay figs and the Victorian Palm House, all within a few minutes' walk of the landing.

The cruise includes the option to disembark here and spend the rest of the day at the zoo and the Botanic Garden, both of which charge their own entry; ask the crew about the return boat if you plan to come back by water. Otherwise you stay aboard for the relaxed final 15 minutes back to Elder Park, with time for photos with the crew and advice on what to see and do in Adelaide after the cruise.