Get ready for a summer of fun & adventure

The weather is heating up which means only one thing, summer is finally here. Now is the perfect time to get outdoors and explore not just our beautiful state but the rest of the country as well and for some of our Adelaide University (AU) Sport clubs, this is the busiest and most exciting time to be involved.

AU Water Ski Club

The AU Water Ski Club celebrated their 60-year anniversary at the 2023 Gala Event recently.

They specialise in teaching beginners to water ski and wakeboard in a great social environment where lifelong friendships are made.

They have two ski sites on the Murray River at Morgan and White Sands, a caravan park near Murray Bridge where they store one of their boats.

David Coupe, Club member and Past President of the AU Water Ski Club said that now was one of the busiest times of the year for the club.

With Morgan being under repair due to flood damage, they were heading up most weekends to White Sands for day trips and even the occasional evening during the week as well.

David said new members were always welcome and it was a great club to be a part of.

“We are a nice network, with a variety of alumni to Adelaide Uni so it’s good for current students and sometimes nice to chat about what Uni life is and to get some sneaky tips to get through Uni,” David said.

“We are a very social club and love to chat and have fun on the river and a good bunch of people to hang out with.”

New members can call David on 0422 075 757 if they have any questions or are interested in joining up or find out more here.

AU Gliding Club

The AU Gliding Club aims to make gliding as accessible and affordable as possible.

The best way to experience what gliding is all about is to try an Air Experience Flight (AEF). During this introductory flight, you’ll experience a flight in one of their two-seater training aircraft with a fully qualified instructor. 

Club President Brodie Hand said January, February and March were a good recruit period and thanks to a grant from AU Sport and Fitness, they will have some free air experience vouchers to giveaway during O-Week.

Brodie said this was a great chance to get up in the sky with an instructor and see what it was all about and the vouchers themselves are valued at $160 – so make sure to head to the Sports Village during O’Week to find out more!

The club operates every Saturday and Sunday every weekend over summer, instructors are always available and keen to help trainee pilots out.

Find out more here.

AU Mountain Club

The AU Mountain Club is Adelaide’s outdoor recreation and adventure club with over 100 members. Core activities of the club include:

• Hiking
• Rock-climbing and Mountaineering
• Canoeing and Kayaking
• Cycling
• Cross-Country Skiing
• Rogaining, including the annual AUMC 24 Hour Walk
• Endurance and multi-sport events

Joining the club gives members the chance to see some amazing scenery, with more trips being organised regionally in SA and rock-climbing trips near the Grampians in early 2024.

Rock-climbing is very popular in the club at the moment, and every Tuesday over summer, Vertical Reality Climbing sessions are held from 630pm to 10pm at 12/560 North East Road, Holden Hill. This is a great way of meeting club members and potentially joining the club if interested. 

Find out more here.

AU Scuba Club (AUSC)

Now is the busiest time of the year and the perfect time to join up to the AU Scuba Club. With local dives organised most weekends, and mid-week night dives also popular, these take place out of West Beach, North Haven and O’Sullivans Beach.

AUSC is one of the largest scuba diving clubs in SA, with over 170 members of varying experience. The Club have a strong focus on making diving accessible to members of all levels of experience. They also have a well-equipped dive boat and all the gear needed for scuba diving.

AUSC will be looking to get the boat out as much as possible and over summer break and some members will head down to the Eyre Peninsula to go diving.

Vice-President of the club Enzo Rugai joined the club in 2020 and said there were some great positives about becoming a member.

“I joined up to the club as it was the only way that I could afford to go scuba diving,” Enzo explained.

“Luckily, we received a grant from AU Sport recently as it can cost nearly $400 to get certified for scuba diving, so we are trying to reduce the costs to make it cheaper for members looking to join.

“The adventures are really special, you jump from the boat into the water where you drop into this completely different world, and it is like an alien planet.

“It is an amazing club to be part of and people love to take photos as you get to see some spectacular stuff.”

Enzo suggested for those that were interested in joining to come along to the club on a Thursday night during summer. It’s a good opportunity to hire gear and find out what the club is all about.

Find out more here.

AU Sailing Club (AUSC)

AUSC was established in 1959 and is the oldest university sailing club in Australia. The club’s aim is to foster and promote the sport of sailing.
They are based at the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia (CYCSA) at Lady Gowrie Drive, North Haven and participate in regular, year-round yacht races in Adelaide. The Club also represents the University of Adelaide yearly at the UniNationals, Australia’s national intervarsity sporting competition. 

They’ve got members racing in the CYCSA offshore series and some are even participating in this year’s Sydney to Hobart.
Charlie Ryan-Kane is a General Member of the Committee for AUSC and a past Commodore and joined the club in 2021 and loves being involved.

“I’d been sailing for eight years before joining the club and it was so nice to be able to sail with people my age who were there for the same goal,” Charlie explained.

“The club ran a come and try session to all different levels, really enjoyed getting out and giving it a go.

“We are very lucky in SA, you go straight out into the Spencer Gulf into the turquoise blue water and you get dolphins playing on the bow almost every time in summer.

“You also get to access parts of SA and Australia that you normally wouldn’t get to access and it’s a tranquil and beautiful way of seeing that.”

In terms of what’s coming up for the club, there will be the Adelaide to Port Vincent from the 9th to 13th of February, AUSC sailing club members will be involved in that and Adelaide to Port Lincoln in the last weekend of February.

Charlie said the best thing to do for those looking to join, would be to come along to the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia on Thursday evenings where you will get the chance to sail and find out more about the club.

You can also find out more details by going to their Facebook page or website.