Adelaide's port in the new colony was at first a rather primitive landing place which became known as Port Misery: the early settlers arrived at a muddy swamp, and both passengers and goods were landed unsatisfactorily at the site.

Artist John Skipper was noted for his vignettes of colonial Adelaide. Pioneers landing at Port Adelaide (1839) captures with humour the difficulties and frustrations encountered on landing at the colony. Without a wharf at the port, ships could not reach the shore and so goods were 'floated' to land and people were carried or ferried in small boats. In 1840 David McLaren built the first wharf which extended into the deeper waters of the Port River, alleviating some of the new arrivals' difficulties.

In addition to problems with landing from the ships, for several years prior to the completion of a proper road, newly arrived migrants had to walk the considerable distance to reach the settlement at Adelaide. Migrants with sufficient finances had their goods transported by bullocks, but many carried their possessions or used wheelbarrows for transport.

Early German settler Carl Gustav Schedlich described in his memoirs his disappointment upon landing at Port Adelaide in December 1846:
But speak of Adelaide. O Holy Moses. ...Adelaide was a perfect mudhole...
Schedlich continued about the colony: All my grand ideas were vanished...we found a priest-ridden, narrow-minded community. Not a sign of intellect or refinement; the country nearly bankrupt, the only industry was the grand Burra Burra copper mine.

Skipper, John Michael, 1815-1883

Lock-Weir, Tracey Visions of Adelaide, 1836-1886 Adelaide : Art Gallery of South Australia, 2005

Parsons, Ronald Port Misery and the new port (early Port Adelaide) Lobethal, S. Aust. : R.H. Parsons, 1997

Port Adelaide State Heritage Area [SA Deptartment for Environment & Heritage]

SA Memory: A rich tapestry Landing at Port Adelaide in December 1846