Category Archives: Australia

Australia, Australia, Hotels and Accommodation, Places to Go

Venus Bay – Peace and Tranquility

August 18, 2020 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

Life as we know it has changed! The coronavirus (COVID-19) has made a huge impact on the way we can now travel. International travel has been placed on hold for the near future with no relief in sight. Alas, there is no need to panic! How about using this time as an opportunity to explore your own countries and states. We thought “Okay, Why Not? Let’s travel locally and see what Venus Bay, South Australia has to offer. It’s road trip time!

Venus Bay

Located approximately 660 kilometres from South Australia’s capital city of Adelaide, on the Eyre Peninsula, Venus Bay is a long 7 hours away. If you are doing the trip by yourself think about breaking up the drive over two days. Otherwise, if you would rather do the whole journey then make sure you stop every couple of hours to rejuvenate or take someone else to share driving duties.

Venus Bay Beachfront Tourist Park is also the kiosk. — Venus Bay Beachfront Tourist Park

Once you arrive in Venus Bay the tranquillity of the place envelops you straight away. With no hustle and bustle, Venus bay is small. With a caravan park/kiosk and general store/petrol station the only shopping businesses. The main attraction is the small hike around the bay and the town’s public jetty, popular for fishing.

Venus Bay offers a nice hike around the coastline. — The town’s popular South Head Walking Trail

What a view from the South Head Walking Trail — A view from the South Head Walking Trail. Be careful on overhang ledges as they can break off!

Where we stayed

Whilst is town we stayed at the Venus Bay Beachfront Tourist Park in their comfortable new Starfish studio cabins with a wonderful beachfront view. These new modern cabins have the luxury of a studio apartment with a functional kitchen, queen bed and ensuite bathroom. Elegantly styled and clean, the cabin was perfect for our 4 day stay.

the newly developed Starfish Studio Cabins at the Venus Bay Caravan Park — The Starfish Studio Beachfront Cabins

Looking out from our beachfront cabin — Beachfront View

Packed with everything you need, the cabin’s also contain a small fridge freezer unit, a combo microwave/grill/convection oven, kettle, television, DVD player and reverse cycle air-conditioning/heating unit. Bore water supplies the cabin’s hot water and rainwater supplies fresh cold water. You will need to be careful when swapping from hot to cold as the different systems need to swap over. So make sure you run the cold tap so the rainwater swaps in before taking that quenching drink.

Modern design an very comfortable cabins — Inside the Starfish Studio Cabin

Ensuite in the Starfish Studio Cabin, Venus Bay — The cabin’s bathroom

Starfish Studio Cabins prices start at $89AUD per night. However, the Venus Bay Beachfront Tourist Park has other accommodation options from powered caravan sites, to various cabin options that is sure to suit your budget. The tourist park has shower blocks, camp kitchens a kiosk, boat hire and a laundry so staying here is quite enjoyable with some tourists staying weeks or months in their RV’s and caravans. During our stay, people were happy to say hello and have a little chat about what is happening in the world or giving me some well needed fishing tips.

One of the parks camp kitchens, incase you need somewhere to cook, or prepare a meal. — One of the camp kitchens, there is also BBQ’s and seated area.

Things to do in Venus Bay

During our stay we did a little driving around the Eyre Peninsula, visiting Elliston and Streaky Bay and doing some coastal sightseeing which I can highly recommend. The views are stunning! I also did a bit of fishing off the local jetty, catching small rock cod and throwing them back. You can catch a multitude of different fish if you are lucky, but the small rock cod liked my bait and just about every cast I was pulling up another fish.

Venus Bay jetty is a great place to try and catch some fish. — Venus Bay Jetty, I just couldn’t catch a keeper.

If you have a boat licence, then I recommend hiring an aluminium boat for three hours and going into deeper water for those larger well sort after species like King George Whiting. The boat will cost $20 per hour with a minimum of three hours, but all safety equipment and fuel are supplied, plus they will launch and retrieve it for you. Bonus! Alternatively, fishing isn’t to your liking then look at some of the local hikes. Otherwise explore the countrysides various rock formations like Murphy’s Haystack or Mt Wudinna.

Decorative boat Erica at the entrance to the caravan park at Venus Bay, South Australia — This is the Erica, she’s not for rent, but the park has aluminum boats to rent for $20 per/hour

If, like me you are unsuccessful in catching your dinner then try the Kiosk or general store for some fresh cooked fish and chips or a burger. Prices are comparable to other fish and chip outlets and honestly, delicious.

The Venus Bay General Store — The Kiosk and General Store are get places to get food if you can’t catch any fish.

Overall, the Venus Bay Beachfront Tourist Park was a nice, comfortable, and affordable place to stay. Excellent as a base to discover the Eyre Peninsula on some day trips. Don’t forget that some of the best places to travel too are in your backyard. Book your stay at the Venus Bay Beachfront Tourist Park today and tell them, Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Additional Information for the Venus Bay Beachfront Tourist Park

Address: 32 Matson Tce, Venus Bay
Ph: 08 8625 5073
Email: stay@venusbaybtp.com.au

Prices of accommodation per night at the Venus Bay Beachfront Tourist Park

Booking and Accommodation Prices here

Check in: 1400hrs Check Out: 1000hrs

*Post Contains Affiliate links, please help us maintain this site by booking your accommodation via the booking.com link or Tour via the Urban Adventures Link.

Australia, Australia, Places to Go, Restaurants

Poddy Dodger’s- Wilpena Pound Resort – Flinders Ranges

March 6, 2017 OurWorldinReview 2 Comments

The Wilpena Pound Resort offers an incredible amount of natural beauty. The National Parks amphitheatre and the possibility of having interactions with kangaroos and emus in their natural habitat is heart-warming. Visitors who stay at one of the available accommodations has use of the resorts facilities. During our time, we make sure we fill the car with fuel, shop at the resort store and test the resorts bar and bistro, Poddy Dodger’s.

Wilpena Pound Resort's Poddy Dodger's — The dining and bar of Poddy Dodger’s

With a well-maintained bar and dining area, Poddy Dodger’s has a good range of South Australian wine and beers available. The staff is friendly respectful and helpful in choosing that right drink for you. The bar area is comfortable with a lounge area overlooking the swimming pool and a dining area looking out into the front gardens.

Resort Swimming Pool – All visitors welcome

The garden area is where the resort performs its welcome to country presentation nightly. Our recommendation is to make sure you visit the bar between 5pm and 6pm for the resorts happy hour. The resort also has a restaurant called Captain Starlight which is adjacent to Poddy Dodger’s. During our stay the majority of visitors we saw ate at the bistro. A bonus while eating or drinking at the bar is that if you wait long enough you just never know what kinds of animals may visit the garden.

Garden area at Wilpena Pound Resort — A very thirsty kangaroo drinking from a sprinkler

We initially sit on the lounge and take advantage of the AUD$5 glasses of wine. Honestly, you can’t go wrong. We also grab some menus to see what types of food they have on offer. After some glasses of wine, we move to a table and prepare to order dinner. The bar doesn’t have full table service, so ordering of your meals is done at the main counter.

Lounge Area at Wilpena Pound Resort — Resting in the lounge area overlooking the swimming pool

Since we are hungry from a long day of adventuring the Ikara-Flinders National Park we decide to order some garlic bread as a starter. Our mains consist of a Mediterranean salad for MacKenzie, a fish and chips for myself and a chicken schnitzel with pepper sauce for Josie. For dessert, we selected two Pavlova with mixed berries and a Cherry-ripe cheesecake.

Is isn’t too long before the garlic bread is served which disappears from the plate just as quickly. Soon the main meals come out. First to arrive is the chicken schnitzel with pepper sauce. The lightly panko crumbed chicken fillet is a good size, it doesn’t encompass the whole plate and is served with chips and salad. The pepper sauce comes in a small pot and is quite nice. Overall the whole meal is evenly cooked and meets our expectation.

Wilpena Pound Resort — Lightly panko crumbed chicken schnitzel with pepper sauce.

The next meal to arrive is the fish and chips. This mouth-watering beer battered Flathead fillets are golden brown and served once again with chips and salad. The Flathead fillets are small but as the serving comes with three fillets it is enough to satisfy my appetite.

Finally, the third dish to be served is the Mediterranean salad. Mac’s Mediterranean salad consists of mixed salad leaves, Spanish onion, feta, artichokes, olives, caper berries, cherry tomatoes, butternut pumpkin, cucumber and bell peppers dressed with a bush tomato balsamic. A chicken addition option is also available, but as Mac’s a vegetarian she eagerly consumes her fresh and tasty salad.

Once we finish our main meals, the staff efficiently clear the table and commence bringing out the three desserts. The girls both selected the Pavlova with mixed berries, cream and toffee crumb. The Pavlova was an interesting combination of ingredients with the large dollop of cream and the toffee crumb. Unfortunately, the girls were a little disappointed as the meringue base didn’t have that meringue crunch that you expect from a Pavlova.

The Cherry-ripe cheesecake was served with ice cream, a passionfruit sauce and biscuit crumb. Rich and strongly flavoured the large cheesecake slice was a little sickly. It had a creamy smooth texture and looked nice with a bright pink colouring, but it was very sweet.

Overall Wilpena Pound Resort’s Poddy Dodger’s was a nice bar and bistro. There is a good selection of dishes on the main and specials menus. The room is clean, the food is good and the adventurous wildlife is a bonus. So, visit the Flinders Ranges, head into Wilpena Pound Resort, have a meal at Poddy Dodger’s and tell them Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Additional Information for Poddy Dodger’s

Poddy Dodger’s – Wilpena Pound Resort
Ph: (08) 8648 0004
Website: www.wilpenapound.com.au

Main Meal Price Range AUD$23.00 – $40.00

Trading Hours

Lunch 12 noon to 2pm
Dinner 5:30pm to 9pm (last orders)
Happy Hour 5 ~ 6 pm daily
Daily Specials board

Poddy Dodger’s rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Decor =8
Atmosphere =7
Service =8
Price =7
Food =8

Overall = 7.5

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Australia, Australia, Places to Go, Restaurants

Making our way to the Marion Bay Tavern – South Australia

March 1, 2017 OurWorldinReview 4 Comments

South Australia has a lot of things for visitors or tourists to do. The problem is most of it is a couple of hundred kilometres away. Sure the city of Adelaide has plenty to do around this time of year as the festival season is upon us and the city comes alive. Yet, South Australia offers much, much more. With a few days to spare we pack some gear into the trusty car and just decide to drive and see where the road takes us. We drive out of the city and make our way onto the Yorke Peninsula and head right down to the foot of the peninsula to Marion Bay. Once there we try out the Marion Bay Tavern.

Welcome to Marion Bay — Hello from Marion Bay

Marion Bay is a popular stopover for fisherman and surfers. This is due to some of the beaches providing great surfing conditions and long jetties stretching out into the Great Australian Bight.

As South Australian’s we have been to the Yorke Peninsula before, usually just rushing to the place we need to go. But this time we know, time isn’t an issue and take our time visiting some of the small towns along the way.

Ardrossan's coastline — The small town of Ardrossan’s coastline

We have a quick lunch at a local tuck shop in Ardrossan, and stop for coffee and hot donuts in Port Vincent before arriving at our final destination of Marion Bay.

Port Vincent foreshore — Having coffee and donuts at Port Vincent

As we haven’t booked anywhere to stay we locate the Marion Bay Caravan Park and pay for a non powered site for AUD$25. Now I must admit I’m not the best camper around, preferring 5-star camping in big fancy hotels. My wife is the camper in our family, so in the name of being a good sport we quickly erect our two man tent before heading into the town for a meal.

The Marion Bay caravan park is a large spacious family park with playground equipment and an impressive kangaroo jumper (jumping pillow) for the children.

Marion Bay’s caravan park has a range of accommodation options with powered and non powered camping sites available. Don’t worry if you haven’t got a tent or caravan, because the park also has a variety of cabins available.

After my impressive display of erecting the tent (see above) and subsequent victory lap, we took a walk around the township to watch the sunset, take a stroll along the foreshore and find a place to have dinner.

Making our way past the popular fishing jetty we find the Marion Bay Tavern and head in for a meal. Uniquely, it has a pizza shop at the front for takeaway pizzas with a more casual dining area and front bar if you prefer to dine in.

Marion Bay Tavern dining area — Casual dining area with friendly staff and locals

The tavern has a good sized menu with a variety of dishes available from their popular pizzas to your more traditional pub fare. The wine menu was also impressive with an excellent selection of South Australian and New Zealand wines.

We decided to have a serving of their crusty bread with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and Marion Bay’s local dukkah. The warm crusty bread was fresh and the Marion Bay dukkah was spicy and full of flavour. Unfortunately we ran out of bread and olive oil both before the dukkah was finished.

Beautiful warm crusty bread with Marion Bay Dukkah

Since we were in a fishing town we once again opted for a Seafood Basket. I mean unless you are allergic to shellfish, how can you resist fresh local seafood. The seafood was nicely cooked, but the scallops were tiny.

Seafood Basket Picture — Marion Bay Tavern’s Seafood Basket, unfortunately the scallops were tiny.

Finally our last food selection was a roasted field mushroom stuffed with baby spinach, caramelised onion and sweet potato. This was served with a dressed rocket and citrus salad. The dish was a perfectly constructed success, full of flavour and wonderfully cooked.

Marion Bay Tavern food picture — Roasted Field Mushrooms stuffed with spinach, served with a rocket and citrus salad.

For a country pub, the Marion Bay Tavern is a great place to have a meal. The friendly staff and local atmosphere is inviting, I could see myself spending the evening there and watching a band and getting to know the locals better.

Once dinner was over we took a leisurely stroll along the foreshore to the bluff (Penguin Point) to catch the spectacular sunset.

Sunset photo — A spectacular sunset from the bluff lookout at Marion Bay (click the photo for the full effect).

After watching the sun fade away, we headed back to the caravan park to settle in for an early night, ready for our early morning trip into the Innes National Park. Visit Josie Wanders for our experience in Innes National Park.

Additional Information Marion Bay Caravan Park

17 Willyama Drive, Marion Bay SA 5575
Ph: (08) 8854 4094
Website: www.marionbaycp.com.au

For other accommodation options on the Yorke Peninsula click here.

Additional Information Marion Bay Tavern

5 Stenhouse Bay Road, Marion Bay SA 5575
Ph: (08) 8854 4141
Website: www.marionbaytavern.com.au

Main Meal Price Range AUD$18.00 – $36.00

Marion Bay Tavern rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Decor =8
Atmosphere =8
Service =8
Price =8
Food =8

Overall = 8

*Post contains affiliated links

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Australia, Places to Go

The Amazing Adelaide Central Market

September 29, 2016 OurWorldinReview 2 Comments

We have recently had some helpful comments from our readers telling us that the reviews and photos we are posting is making them hungry. Here’s this posts disclaimer. Warning this upcoming post may cause hunger pangs, and a genuine desire for you to go to your local produce market! With that out of the way, if you’re in Adelaide or travelling there soon, head to the Adelaide Central Market and purchase some of the fresh local and internationally sourced produce available.

The Adelaide Central Market is located in Chinatown, between Grote and Gouger Streets in the city centre. There are many small Asian shops leading into the main market area with a popular Asian food court. Once in the market, take a walk around and experience the hustle and bustle of local chefs and shoppers purchasing their produce for their restaurants and families. Our recommendation is to make sure you take your time discovering what’s on offer.

Continental Smallgoods — A large selection of mettwurst, salami, and sausage. Everything has its place, everything in its place.

Fresh Fruit and Vegetables — All stacked neatly, how can you resist this fresh fruit.

The market has a large assortment of quality goods, and you don’t have to go to far for that hard to get recipe ingredient. On our discoveries we found whole fresh truffles at a mushroom vendors.

Proudly Kangaroo Island selling local KI products including Mulberry Gin

Whilst there you will notice trendy business people sitting at the many eateries around having a quick bite to eat or conversing over freshly made coffee.

Everybody wants to eat at Le Souk, quick get those four seats before someone else does!

The Coffee Bean Shop — Which coffee bean would you select? Choices, so many choices.

The Adelaide Central Market’s range of stalls doesn’t just revolve around food. Shoppers have the opportunity to purchase wine, flowers or books as well.

Adelaide Market Florist — Did I miss an anniversary? Better buy flowers, just in case

The Olive Tree — Maybe a nice bottle of wine to go with those flowers

Books for sale — Wine and flowers might not be enough, I’ll just grab a book, what does she read again.

The market has a little bit for everyone. Street art murals, cooking classes from some of South Australia’s best chefs and chocolates, and sweets for the children.

Wall mural — Adelaide is full of great street art

Sweets and chocolates — Can’t go past the raspberries and pineapples

Charlesworth Nuts, a local nut institution

When is it open?

The Adelaide Central Market trades from Tuesday to Saturday and is closed Sunday and Monday.

Tuesday – 7am – 5:30pm
Wednesday – 9am – 5:30pm
Thursday – 9am – 5:30pm
Friday – 7am – 9pm
Saturday 7am – 3pm

For more information visit their website here. Depending on how much time you have available, you could easily waste a day exploring and enjoying the Adelaide Central Market. So do yourself a favour and indulge in some of South Australia’s local produce. Remember, when you’re purchasing from the stalls, don’t forget to tell them, Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Smelly Cheese Stall — If you love cheese, the Smelly Cheese shop has plenty on offer

Different grains — Grains, Legumes, pesticide free.

Various Olives — All the makings of a great antipasta

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Where we stayed

Things to do in Venus Bay

Additional Information for the Venus Bay Beachfront Tourist Park

Prices of accommodation per night at the Venus Bay Beachfront Tourist Park

Additional Information for Poddy Dodger’s

Trading Hours

Poddy Dodger’s rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Additional Information Marion Bay Caravan Park

Additional Information Marion Bay Tavern

Marion Bay Tavern rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

When is it open?

Our world is an amazing place, so go out there and enjoy it!