“Hmmm that’s four pairs of shoes for five days away… that sounds about right.” I say out loud, more to myself than anyone else. Mr NQN looks at me. “You know I’m not coming so you’ll have to carry those” he warns. The poor dear can’t come with me so I am flying solo and luggage is the bane of my existence when I travel and this issue with my luggage rears its ugly head when I travel solo. I put a pair of boots away reluctantly and try to carry my bag. It will do.

A few hours later I find myself in Adelaide, for the very first time. The driver takes me to the Crown Plaza Adelaide where I check in. The porter deposits my bags by the reception desk and I am given my key. When I start to reach for my bag (admittedly grizzling about the extra pairs of shoes) a voice shouts out “Madam! Madam!” and rushes over. “You shouldn’t have to do that” he says and takes my bags. I couldn’t agree more

The room is modern and nicely furnished although there is an odd smell coming from the bathroom. I call reception and they send housekeeping up to spray it with lots of air freshener as there is a bit of a drainage problem in some of the rooms.

I’m running late (of course, I got lost) to meet with Mark Gleeson, a former chef and restaurant owner who now owns a stall at the Adelaide Central Markets and conduct’s chef’s tours of the markets. Formerly from Sydney he has lived in Adelaide for the past 20 years. The Adelaide Central Markets themselves have run for 140 years and the grounds are actually owned by the people of Adelaide with the caretakers being the council. It is also the most visited destination in South Australia and sees 1 million people through its doors a month. There are 80 stalls in total.

We start off with the camera loving and flirtatious barista at Zedz where they have a new menu every day. They source ingredients from around the market and design the menu according to what is best on the day.

What I didn’t realise was that there was such a large Asian population in Adelaide. Of course this may be because the Adelaide Central Markets are alongside Chinatown too but there is also a large student population of 40,000 students. There is a Korean/Japanese stall run by Sun Mi who is an ex Olympic volleyball champion. And why is the Taxi Driver’s Bibimbap named that? Because it is easy for them to eat it in the taxi!

We walk past the Seven Hills deli-Seven Hills is an area in the Clare Valley. It started off as a Polish deli but now has food from all over Europe including a tongue wurst and capsicum pariser as well as quark cheese and kefir.

Mark Gleeson

Mark picks up a tomato from the Green Side stand. The owner is also a grower and his fruit and vegetable look real-not those identical specimens you see at the supermarket but what you might find at a farmer’s market.

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