Activities for a 15 year old male in Adelaide

July 6, 2008 6:10 PM

How do you entertain a 15 year old male tourist in Adelaide?

A young Scandanavian cousin of mine will be visiting me in Adelaide, South Australia, for about a week.
He's not quite old enough for "grown-up" venues and interests (aka. the wine regions) but far too old old for kids activities.
What does one do with a young man on his first really big overseas trip that won't bore the pants off of him, and will leave him saying "oh, yeah. Adelaide? That was one FUN city."

posted by tabubilgirl to travel & transportation (15 comments total)

I enjoyed my time on the beech in Glenelg. Might be a little cold this time of year, and I think the've torn down the "amusement" park and put up a hotel, but the beach there is pretty good. And you can tell him that a few years ago some dude was eaten by a great white there as well.

But really, what does he enjoy? Camping? Sports? X-Box? If we know more, we might be able to respond a little betteR?
posted by Neale at 6:37 PM on July 6

And by "beech" I mean "beach", not a tree I was particularly interested in.
posted by Neale at 6:39 PM on July 6

Unfortunately, it has been a decade since I last saw him. I know that he is reasonably athletic, but beyond that - I know very little about his tastes.
posted by tabubilgirl at 6:43 PM on July 6

...a 14-16 year old Australian female to hang out with?

That's what I'd have wanted when I was 15.
posted by toomuchpete at 7:10 PM on July 6 [1 favorite]

Cold or not, I think the beach would be pretty attractive to someone from a temperate climate. Would the water be tolerable in a wetsuit? If so, how about a surfing lesson?
posted by Popular Ethics at 7:32 PM on July 6

I enjoyed driving down to the south coast, even though I'm not much of a wine drinker. Is a day trip to Kangaroo Island a possibility?
posted by jessamyn at 7:46 PM on July 6

Find some cool animals - kangaroos and koalas etc seem to be a big hit with the exchange students at my daughter's school. Dependent on the kid, hiking in the bush could be excellent.
posted by b33j at 8:31 PM on July 6

Where do the 15yo girls hang out in Adelaide? (just kidding, but only just)

The museum's not bad from memory (you gotta love that huge sperm whale skeleton in the foyer!) and it's next door to a good art gallery, which is right near the zoo. That's gotta be worth at least half a day.

Other than that, backpackers visiting Australia tend to get heavily into the nature. Kangaroo Island has been suggested. The Coorong is nice, too. Closer to home, maybe just head up into the hills...? A drive around the Stirling area is quite picturesque, and you can do bushwalks around Mt Lofty - the Mt Lofty Botanical Gardens are worth a visit, as well.
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:42 PM on July 6

ps - surfing lessson?!?? adelaide has no surf. you'd have to head down to victor harbor or thereabouts for that. pretty damn cold this time of year, though.
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:45 PM on July 6

The guided walk at Warrawong Sanctuary would probably be a good bet. Go to the one at dusk if you can, as our native animals tend to be more active at dawn and dusk.
posted by Coaticass at 10:52 PM on July 6

There's some good stuff about Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson at the South Australian Museum. Though perhaps snow and ice will be of little interest to a Scandinavian.

Or you could check out some Aboriginal Culture at Tandanya where they're currently celebrating NAIDOC week.
posted by Coaticass at 11:09 PM on July 6

Corrected link for Tandanya.
posted by Coaticass at 11:18 PM on July 6

Cleland is always popular with overseas types. Pat a koala, feed a roo. Hike/picnic in Belair National Park, Waterfall Gully and Morialta Falls. Head down to Deep Creek conservation park, continue on to Waitpinga for roos at dawn. You can do a 2-hour dolphin-spotting cruise on the Port River for around $3.50. Botanical Gardens are fun. What about a game of Aussie Rules? The SANFL games are pretty cheap.
posted by Wolof at 11:30 PM on July 6

Yeah take him to the footy. Cricket clearly isn't an option. I was going to suggest Cleland as well, but another slightly cheesy but no less fun option might be the Big Rockinghorse at Gumeracha, because the "wildlife park" there is pretty sweet. But 15-year olds are notoriously hard to please, most of my suggestions are probably aiming too high or too low.

Sorry, really struggling here to think of something that would make anyone declare "Adelaide...what a FUN city!"...

He into camping / hiking? Feel like taking a trip up to the Flinders Ranges to experience the famed "Outback"?

If all else fails, sneak him into the Crown and Anchor for some noisy music.
posted by Jimbob at 1:33 AM on July 7

Agreed, unless he's totally jaded Cleland is a good time. You could bring a picnic and also go walking up around Mount Lofty as Ubu suggests. I am nowhere near 15 but I enjoyed doing both of these things when I was there. What made ME think that Adelaide was a fun city was a few nights out drinking with completely crazyfun librarians (yes, I know) so I feel like something more on the social end is going to appeal more than any of the venerable but somewhat staid institutions they have there - immigrant museum, state library, etc.

And to mention more specifically, driving down south has some nice little seaside towns, I think I went to Victor Harbor where there is a good place for walking around and also camel rides! I also really liked driving around the Coorong. Seeing animals in the wild that I'd only seen in picture books was a relly big deal.

Also, the public libraries all have free wifi (if you have a library card, you can register once and let him use your login to get online if he has a laptop/wifi device) and are fairly nice, so if he's an internet afficianado, this may be something he cares about. My apologies if you know all of this, I was suprised how many people in Adelaide were wifi-indifferent the two times I was there.
posted by jessamyn at 6:34 AM on July 7