City of Adelaide clipper ship leaves Netherlands on final journey to South Australia City of Adelaide clipper ship wrapped up and ready to begin her final voyage to SA. THE City of Adelaide clipper ship will leave Rotterdam on Saturday on its way to Adelaide for the last time, 149 years after its first journey to the city. The clipper ship, which brought thousands of settlers to South Australia between 1864 and 1886, has been in the Netherlands for the past four weeks for fumigation and is set to arrive in Adelaide between January 18 and 20. MORE: Clipper ship journey finally funded It will be loaded on to the MV Palanpur cargo ship today before leaving tomorrow on its way to Adelaide via Norfolk in the US and Port Hedland, Western Australia. City of Adelaide Preservation Trust director Peter Christopher said the heavy-lifting operation would take up to 12 hours to complete. MORE: Clipper ship to be moored in 'backwater' He said it was great to see the City of Adelaide finally on its way to Adelaide 13 years after the trust was formed in 2000. "One hundred and forty-nine years after its first journey it's incredible to think it's on it's way to the city of Adelaide again," Mr Christopher said. It's almost a surreal experience for that to occur. There's a lot of satisfaction that a hard-working band of volunteers has been able to secure such an outcome. Follow the ship's journey here .