Things to do in South Australia
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Urban Cow Studio
The catch-cry at Urban Cow Studio is ‘Handmade in Adelaide’ – a brilliant assortment of paintings, jewellery, glassware, ceramics and textiles, plus a gallery upstairs.
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Australian Museum of Childhood
The Australian Museum of Childhood is an overflowing toy box with toys from the 1890s through to Mouse Trap and today's faves. The best part? You can actually play with them.
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Balnaves of Coonawarra
The tasting notes here ooze florid wine speak (dark seaweed, leather or tobacco, anyone?), but even if you’re nosing skills aren’t that subtle you’ll enjoy the Cab Sav and Chardonnay.
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C
Bradman Collection Museum
At the Bradman Collection Museum at the Adelaide Oval, Don devotees can pore over personal items of the cricketing legend. Call or check the website for tour details.
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D
Vego and Lovin’ It
Get your weekly vitamin dose disguised in a scrumptious vegie burger, wrap or focaccia at this artsy upstairs kitchen. Dreadlocked urban renegades order ‘extra alfalfa but no hummus’.
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E
Dan O’connell
An Irish pub without a whiff of kitsch Celtic cash-in! Just great Guinness, open fires, acoustic music and a house-sized pepper tree in the beer garden (161 years old and counting).
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Salt Bar & Restaurant
Sassy Salt pulls the punters to dine (upper-crust oysters, fish and steak) or just for drinks from the island bar. Live DJs and duos Thursday to Saturday; jazz on Sunday afternoon.
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F
Nu Thai
Dripping with accolades, this contemporary Thai restaurant is regarded as the best in town. Tuck into dishes that include crispy chilli barramundi and scallops with wild asparagus.
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Wheatsheaf
A hidden gem under the flight path in industrial Thebarton, with an artsy crowd of students, jazz musos, lesbians, punks and rockers. Tidy beer garden; live music Friday to Monday.
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Cleland Conservation Park
Clambering up the slopes from the foothills to Mt Lofty, this conservation park has some steep bushwalking trails through tall eucalypt forest and cool gullies. Inside the park, the fab Cleland Wildlife Park lets you interact with all kinds of Australian beasts. There are keeper talks and feeding sessions throughout the day, nocturnal tours (bookings required), and you can have your mugshot taken with a koala ($30, 2pm to 4pm). There's a cafe here too. From the city, take bus 864 or 864F from Grenfell St to Crafers for connecting bus 823 to the park.
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Steam Exchange Brewery
Down on the wharf, the Steam Exchange Brewery is a locally-run brewery, turning out manly stouts and ales. There’s a small fee for tastings; tours by arrangement.
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Homestead Park Pioneer Museum
The Homestead Park Pioneer Museum features an original pine-log homestead (1850s) furnished in period style and a well-preserved rail carriage among its exhibits.
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Shaw & Smith
Picture-perfect Mt Lofty Ranges views almost steal the show at this mod winery, run by two cousins. Outstanding Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs, holding hands with grand Shiraz.
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Jetty Food Store
The motto here is ‘Coastal food hunted and gathered for you’. Grab a dozen Kangaroo Island oysters, some locally caught fish and chips, or a gourmet pizza, from Friday to Sunday.
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Woodstock Winery & Coterie
Their reds are grand but hold out for the stickies and fortified drops. The Coterie does great platters ($30) for lunch, while the surrounding native garden is full of birdlife.
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Petaluma’s Bridgewater Mill
In a restored 200-year-old flour mill, this is one of SA’s premier winery restaurants. Book for a tasting followed by lunch. Exquisite Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc.
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H
State Library of South Australia
The newspaper reading room in the State Library has publications from around the world - these come by surface mail, so don't expect yesterday's (or even last week's) editions.
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Pier One Bar
A cavernous sports bar with voyeuristic beach views and fold-back windows for when the sea breeze drops. As many screens as staff (a lot of each), and raucous Sunday sessions.
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Signal Point River Murray Centre
The Signal Point River Murray Centre is in the Goolwa visitors centre. Inside are interpretive and interactive displays on the life and ecology of the Murray.
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Kangaroo Island Outdoor Action
Rents out sandboards ($29 for four hours) and toboggans ($39) to skid down the dunes at Little Sahara, plus single/double kayaks ($39/69). Quad-bike tours are also available.
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Annie’s Lane
Annie’s flagship wines are Copper Trail Shiraz and Riesling. The attached winery museum and art gallery contain personal touches like the VE Day closure notice from WWII.
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Gaucho’s
Low on iron? Book a seat at this Argentinean meat house and order the 300g full-blood Wagyu steak, grain-fed for 500 days and air-dried for 14. Eighty dollars well spent!
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Majella Wines
The family that runs Majella are fourth-generation Coonawarrans, so they know a thing or two about gutsy reds. Their Sparkling Shiraz and Riesling are unexpected bonuses.
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Beach Hire
Near the visitors centre, Beach Hire hires out wave skis (per hour $14), bodyboards ($5) and bikes ($12), plus deck chairs, umbrellas and cricket sets.
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Clifford's Honey Farm
It's almost worth swimming the Backstairs Passage for the honey ice cream here, sourced from a colony of rare Ligurian bees.
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