ADELAIDE

Clementine Ford uncovers a hidden gem in Adelaide   As a former South Australian with a particular fondness for divine indulgence, I have great memories of nights spent on the Chinatown strip of Gouger Street. Accompanied by friends with an equally robust appetite for cheerfully cheap Asian food, we’d settle in for feasts of shantung chicken and e-shand eggplant, washing the lot down with the kind of carafe wine that can really only be justified because you’ve spent the previous three hours having pre-dinner drinks at the bar next door. But the best part of these nights were how cheap...

AT’s Alissa Jenkins finds a stay with a twist in Adelaide’s north. I am surrounded by fire engines. But there hasn’t been a house fire, an accident or the handiwork of a local pyromaniac. Rather, I am spending the night in a restored fire station. The Fire Station Inn is located in the affluent suburb of North Adelaide, within walking distance to a smorgasbord of great cafes, restaurants and bars. And staying true to its former glory, it offers boutique accommodation that is furnished in all kinds of fire-engine memorabilia – but more on that later. This historic landmark -...

If you thought the Adelaide hinterland was all about Devonshire teas and lace doilies, think again. The Hills are alive with art, fine food, great wine and cool, contemporary interiors, writes Elisabeth Knowles How do you get here? The Adelaide Hills are in South Australia’s Mount Lofty Ranges, a mere half-hour drive up the South Eastern Freeway (M1) from the heart of the Adelaide CBD (or 45 minutes from the airport). You’ll drive through the Heysen Tunnels, which are named after respected local landscape painter Sir Hans Heysen (more of him later). Why are the Adelaide Hills so great? Because...

Where is it? West of Adelaide city, overlooking Gulf St Vincent How to see it for yourself? At the northern end of the beach is Grange Jetty (pictured). The beach is just south of Henley Square -– a popular Adelaide dining spot. Why I love it “Sunsets are always different on one of Adelaide’s most beautiful beaches.” – Ann Clarke Image by Ann Clarke...

Adelaide sometimes gets a bad rap as a tourist destination with allegedly little to do. But just like in any city, there’s good stuff to find if you care to look. Elisabeth Knowles discovers a local secret. “Are you here because of John?” asks the waiter. It’s not what I am expecting to be asked, so I’m stymied for a moment. “No, I’m sorry. Who’s John?” “A reviewer from The Australian newspaper,” says the waiter. “He wrote something about us last week and now we’re getting lots of people in from Sydney.” The waiter gives me the impression this is...

South Australia's affordable beach accommodation - caravan park Where is it? Adelaide, SA East Coast. Located on the shores of Adelaide’s West Beach, Big4 Adelaide Shores Caravan Park is in prime position to soak up the beach and explore the capital city. As part of a 135-hectare tourism and recreation reserve, it is surrounded by conveniences such as golf, boating and skating facilities and dining venues. What’s it like? The caravan park boasts a licensed café, laundry amenities, on-site tourism information and bookings, barbecues, bike hire, games room, playground, jumping pillows, heated swimming and wading pools, and a half-sized tennis...

The South Australian capital has loads of affordable accommodation on offer for business travellers. But what if you want to go five-star? Quentin Long finds out. Evenings can be lonely times for business travellers. Nowhere is the solo nature of a business trip more cruelly reinforced than on a Sunday night in Adelaide, when the small city’s wide, lamp-lit streets hold no-one but you and your taxi driver. (To be fair, even Sydney CBD resembles a country town on a Sunday.) Adding to the melancholy mood is the fact that the hotel scene in Adelaide is not great. Its CBD...

 Once known as the city of churches, Adelaide is the capital and most populous city of South Australia. The only free-settled city on the continent, Adelaide’s founders carefully planned the wide boulevards, large public squares and extensive parklands that visitors and residents now enjoy.    More then 1.3 million people call the city home, with the population swelling during the many festivals and sporting events on the Adelaide calendar. Foodies and wine lovers flock to this gateway to the Barossa, Lake Eyre and Flinders Ranges but don’t be misled; there’s a burgeoning defence and manufacturing presence nestled between the Victorian ironstone buildings. Summers are...

AT has seen the future – and it's in hotels like Adelaide’s Majestic Minima. But, like many things about the future, there will be those who embrace the new order and those who resist with every fibre of their being. Which kind will you be? Words by Nigel Herbert, who paid his own way and visited anonymously. Images by Majestic Minima & Nigel Herbert  When it comes to booking hotel accommodation, there are two different kinds of people. The first group can be heard saying, “Who cares what the hotel is like? As long as it’s clean. I won’t be spending...

In the middle of three and a half acres halfway between Laura and Wirrabara north of Adelaide sits the Old Bakery Stone Hut. Dennis and Margaret Wheatley moved the bakery to their property five years ago from nearby Wirrabara. The old stone hut on the site dates back to the days when mail coaches trundled past and is the property’s namesake. Today, loyal customers travel to the new site of this old bakery for a range of homemade treats. Margaret says Saeid’s camel pie, made using a spicy Iranian recipe, is a popular lunchtime choice along with the roo, venison...

Australian Traveller Magazine’s 100 Great Australian Holiday Homes Charles Dumas was something of a pioneer in the Mt Barker area in the Adelaide Hills. He founded the local Mt Barker Courier newspaper in the 1860s, which remains alive and well today, and in fact his son went on to become the legendary Sir Lloyd Dumas, MD of the Advertiser, AAP chairman, Australian Reuters director and many other illustrious positions. Their now heritage-listed home on Druids Ave was painstakingly restored and re-opened by Dayne Bartlett in 2006, and it now provides a warm and welcoming opportunity for visitors to relive the...

Carrick Hill,  in the Adelaide Foothills, is one of Australia’s few period homes to retain its grounds and contents fully intact. By Dennis Coleman Nestled within Adelaide’s verdant hillsides, all within 20 minutes of the CBD, are various 19th Century stately homes. Mt Lofty House, Beechwood, Springfield House, Beaumont House... all have their own tales to tell and – in varying degrees – are open to the public. Yet there is one which stands out as a living monument to the fabric of Adelaide’s cultural history. Carrick Hill, the enigmatic and gracious home of Sir Edward and Lady Hayward. Driving...