Tag Archives: #outback

Poddy Dodger’s- Wilpena Pound Resort – Flinders Ranges

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
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.

Wilpena Pound Resort
Three small beer battered Flathead fillets served with chips and salad.

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.

Wilpena Pound Resort
A fresh Mediterranean salad. They also have a chicken option available

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.

Wilpena Pound Resort
The Pavlova with mixed berries, unfortunately the meringue had no crunch.

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.

Wilpena Pound Resort
Cherry-ripe cheesecake with passionfruit sauce and biscuit crumb.

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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Travelling to Wilpena Pound Resort

As we get closer to our international departure date, we are trying to fit as much in as we can in our remaining weeks in Australia. Therefore on this trip, we excitedly hop into the car and drive towards the Flinders Ranges. The Flinders Ranges holds a special place in our hearts as Josie’s parents owns a farm in the township of Wilmington. So with this in mind we decide to head to Wilpena Pound for a night book-ended by a couple of nights on the farm.

Snowtown's town sign
Every town has their own town sign to show who they are. This was Snowtown’s town sign.

Once again, time is on our side and we take advantage of it to get to our destination. We stop at various small towns along the way to stretch our legs, have a coffee, a toilet break or just to take a look around. We stop at the country towns of Port Wakefield, the unfortunately infamous Snowtown, Crystal Brook, Laura, Melrose and finally to Wilmington.

Flinders Ranges
Crystal Brooks feature rotunda in a well maintained park.

A catch up with family, a walk around the farm and some time with the dogs all goes past relatively quickly. Then it’s a few drinks, a BBQ, some light conversation and finally a comfortable bed. I know Josie’s got me back in a tent when we reach Wilpena Pound.

A working dogs life
Farm dogs Bob and Tim relaxing after a hard day’s work.

Early next morning we head off towards Wilpena Pound and after a night of discussing our travel plans we heed Josie’s father’s advice and head towards Parachilna Gorge, Blinman and then back around to Wilpena Pound.

Wilpena roadtrip
The road to Quorn

The first thing you notice when heading north towards the townships of Quorn and Hawker is that there is not much traffic. We drove along the straight highway without really seeing anyone except….cyclists. It was unusual seeing a group of around 20 cyclists riding along a highway in the middle of nowhere, but cyclists seem to be everywhere. Since we were the only car for miles we stopped to take some photos of the landscape and surroundings.

Sheep Jump to nowhere
Our young MacKenzie performing a sheep jump.
Handstand on the road
Those ten years of gymnastics has paid off!

It wasn’t too long before we started ticking off the kilometres. We travelled through Quorn, Hawker, and a closed Parachilna. The whole town was shut for the summer… too hot. Then we went through Parachilna gorge where we met some of the local wildlife. Once out of the gorge we immediately came across the small yet beautifully maintained township of Blinman.

Wilpena pound
A friendly kangaroo on the side of the road in Parachilna gorge
Emus
Emus crossing the dry river bed at Parachilna Gorge

Blinman has the honour of being near the end of a few walking trails. The Heysen Trail is a massive 1200km trek which ends at Parachilna Gorge and the 900km Mawson trail ends at the Blinman Township. We stopped here to have lunch, a coffee and to stretch our legs. I meet a lovely lady in the town’s cafe who told me the population of this incredible town was only 12 people. There was 14 but the owners of the towns pub shut the doors and left. I have noticed the trend of country pubs shutting down. I recommend visiting them if you are staying overnight in a township and showing your support for country pubs.

Blinman South Australia
Blinman also offers tours of their old mines.

After lunch we travel the remaining distance to Wilpena Pound. Surprisingly we once again come across the cyclists at the turn-off, this time with their support vehicles. As a bit of history, Wilpena Pound is a naturally formed amphitheatre approximately 430km’s from Adelaide’s city centre in Adnyamathanha Country. Wilpena Pound is a part of the Ikara-Flinders National Park and visitors can stay within the Wilpena Pound Resort as a base for their National Park Adventures. With various walking tracks and the Aboriginal culture on show, the Wilpena Pound Resort is a good place to learn and be at one with nature.

Wangara Lookout
The view from the Wangara Lookout hike

Wilpena Pound resort has a variety of accommodation options available for visitors. We stayed within the caravan park this time with non-powered and powered sites starting from AUD$25 and AUD$10 for additional people. The public facilities are quite clean and the water pressure is excellent. If you prefer not to camp then the resort has comfortable rooms starting from AUD$193 per night. Also, if you are looking for a little luxury, their Glamping (or glamorous camping) safari huts are available from AUD$320 per night. And to make your stay memorable the resort offers other activities for its visitors which can be booked through the visitors centre or online. Scenic Flights, 4WD tours, bush walks, mountain biking and Aboriginal Cultural Tours are some of the activities available to visitors.

Visitors Centre
Entrance to the Wilpena Pound Resort Visitors Centre

All camping and overnight visitors have access to the resorts pool, bar and restaurant. If you forgot something, supplies can be purchased from the resort store. In addition, if your vehicle is low on fuel, don’t worry because the resort also has on-site petrol bowsers.

Wilpena Pound Resort is a perfect base for any stay in the Ikara-Flinders National Park. If you are going to be doing some of the longer hiking trails like the St Mary’s Peak hike. Make sure you are wearing proper enclosed shoes; take plenty of water and food. Log your time of departure in the book provided or at the visitor centre. You know, just in case! Safety First! So enjoy yourself, breathe in the fresh air and tell them Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Additional Information Wilpena Pound Resort

Resort Reservations: 1800 805 802
Email: reservations@wilpenapound.com.au
Resort Reception: 08 8648 0004
Campground Bookings: 08 8648 0048
Website: www.wilpenapound.com.au

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