Two days after enjoying a ride along the River Torrens, I was out there again. This time Jane joined me. And this time we headed for the beach. Henley Beach.

Leaving Treadly Bike Shop late morning on the cutely-coloured Brompton hire bikes, we rode over to the southeast corner of the CBD and fuelled up at a small Vietnamese cafe I’d seen while out walking earlier in the week.

Ready to explore, we joined the River Torrens Linear Park near the Adelaide Zoo and rode west. In this direction, the Torrens wriggles around bends and elbows for about ten kilometres before making a final two kilometre dash for the open waters of the Gulf St. Vincent at West Beach.

Pelicans and fisherman. Brown waters rushing. White horses whipped by the wind. A fat cat lazily sunning itself amongst the dune grasses. Salty air and clean concrete paths for walking and riding beachside. Boardwalks and jetties and sculptures made from weathered timbers. People enjoying them. Us too.

Here are some moving pictures of our treadly time along the Torrens:

A couple of footnotes:

• On the day we rode this trail, parts of the usual pathway were under construction and we were redirected (via excellent signage) through the industry-laden streets of Thebarton. Being able to stay on the riverside trail all the way in the future will be more relaxing.
• ‘303 By The Sea’ is a pleasant place for lunch at Henley Beach. They also make cinnamon scrolls 😋 but we were too late and they’d sold out 🙁

[This post is the third in a series of stories from my visit to Adelaide during spring.]