Hidden Adelaide: Laneways and Street Art Tour

Our story began in a small coal mining town in the middle of country Queensland. A place whose major tourist attraction was a water tower, the nearest Mcdonald’s restaurant was a 10 hour drive away and where people from Melbourne were viewed as exotic foreigners. Into this world a young boy arrived and whose destiny should have been to work beside his classmates in the mines, but whose world changed as a 7 year old after watching the movie, World Safari 2, at the local drive-in starring the Australian adventurer, Alby Mangels. From that moment on he wanted to travel and see the world and preferably do it the “Alby Mangel way” on a 3 masted yacht, with a loyal canine friend by his side. His first step to achieving this was to escape his country town and complete a 4 year tourism degree at University. Whilst he didn’t acquire a boat or canine friend during this time he did manage to gain a wide range of skills in business, hospitality and tourism. These skills served him well as he used them to perform a variety of roles in the hospitality and tourism industry across the world like bartending at Canada’s biggest rodeo to working the front desk of a 400 bed hostel in Ireland. Whilst travelling and working across the world, he developed an appreciation for learning about a country’s history and people and experiencing its culture through food, drink and all its local specialties. He decided a career where he could share this knowledge and help people get the most out of a trip to a new destination would be amazing. There really was only one job that fit this bill of course and that was to work as a tour guide. 15 years later the boy from Queensland had visited 107 countries and guided in over 40 of them. But his heart had always remained in Australia and in 2022 he finally returned… Although, whilst his heart had remained in Australia it had not remained in Queensland and after a few laps of the great southern continent, the fair city of Adelaide finally was able to capture it. Adelaide is a city that can often be overlooked by domestic and international visitors but with its great wine, beautiful location and design, patriotic loyalty to obscure food companies and multitude of festivals it had everything he loved in a destination. He felt Adelaide was not only a great place to live but one that needed to be experienced and understood by more people and that’s why in 2024 he started Radelaide tours. My name is Dale Cottam and today through Radelaide tours, I bring my 17 years of travel and guiding experience to my adopted home of Adelaide. I have a passion for helping people learn about the history of a destination, and understanding its culture through its food, drink, specialties, peculiarities and characters. I’m a self confessed coffee snob, foodie and lover of all sports (Australian and International.. Feel free to ask me about curling), and I look forward to welcoming you on a Radelaide Tour soon!