Regional South Australian Bookstores

While in South Australia this past week my wife and I not only visited book stores in suburbs around Adelaide but also in several regional areas, including the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Hahndorf and Mt Gambier.  During our travels we've also stopped at many book stores.  Here's a few of them in no particular order:

1) Unbound And Unwired, Port Willunga (near McLaren Vale)

This secondhand store has only been open for around 2 months however the owner used to operate another book store close by.  This shop had lots of interesting books on its shelves; plenty of Summer reading for locals and visitors alike.  Sadly I couldn't find a website or Facebook page.

2) Chapter Two Books, Stirling

We visit this store every time we visit South Australia, but sadly it was closed on this day.  I managed to take a couple of photos through the front window though.  Hopefully I can go inside next time I visit S.A..  Here's their website:  https://chaptertwobooks.com.au

3) Matilda Bookshop, Stirling

This book shop sells new release titles.  The staff are friendly, the store is well organised and the selection of books is great.  Their website is:  https://www.matildabookshop.com.au/

4) The Book Shed, Stirling

This secondhand book store shed was my wife's favourite from our entire travels.  Not only are there thousands of well organised quality books but the prices are great.  They have plenty of books featuring James Bond too.  Also, there's a table out front covered in books that just require a gold coin donation as payment.  Their website is:  https://www.thehut.org.au/the-book-shed-d/

5) The Raven's Parlour Book Store, Barossa Valley

The friendly and helpful person I spoke told me this store once sold secondhand books but now specialises solely in new releases.  It's a lovely, clean store and seemed to fit in perfectly with the other businesses in the Barossa Valley.  Here's their website: https://www.ravensparlour.com.au/ 

6) The Book Place, Mt Gambier

Another book store closed on the day we visited, this time in Mt. Gambier, however I managed to take these photos through the front window.  I'm also glad I couldn't see any James Bond novels inside as it would have been very frustrating to be so close yet so far.  Here's their Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057303136070

7) Roz Greenwood Old And Rare Books, Dunkeld (near the Victoria/South Australia border)

Like the Book Place above this store was also closed as we drove through Dunkeld on our way to Mt. Gambier and then Adelaide.  The store closed at 4pm and we arrived at 4:20pm.  Alas I hope to visit it again another time.  Obviously I managed to take a photo through the front window anyway.  Here's the closest I could find to a website:  https://www.visitgreaterhamilton.com.au/roz-greenwood-old-and-rare-books

South Australian Holiday - Part 2 of 2

As mentioned in my last blog entry my wife and I visited South Australia in October of last year.  After visiting Adelaide we then spent a few days on Kangaroo Island (KI).

On our way to catching the ferry to KI we first stopped at The Book Room in Myponga. Ian has been running this store (next to The Spare Room) since March 2016.  There's plenty of books for sale so it's a great place to pickup a holiday read prior to travelling to KI.  On this day I picked up these three Ian Fleming Great Pans which were in excellent condition.

Next stop was Yankalilla Book Exchange, another book store to pick up some great holiday reading.  Plenty of books in the back room but on the day I visited there were no Bonds.  It's good to see a book exchange still around.  I don't see many of these in Melbourne anymore.

We continued on toward Cape Jervis and easily made it in time to catch the ferry to KI.

 

 

We spent two nights on Kangaroo Island and found it very relaxing.  There are so many beautiful sights it would have been easy to have spent a week there.  The weather was great too.

 

 

 

After returning from KI we spent another night in Adelaide before beginning the drive home.  First stop was Chapter Two Books in Stirling, the Adelaide Hills.  It's a nice little store with quality books.

Just a few minutes walk away is The Book Shed.  This "shed" contains a huge range of second hand books.  They're all really well organised on aisles of shelves that seem to go on forever.  This is the second time I've been here and every time I walk in I have to remember I'm not in a library !

Here's a snap from the car as we were driving home via the Western Hwy.

On our way from Melbourne to Adelaide we passed Ararat Books And Collectables but didn't have time to stop.  However on our return journey, with a little more time up our sleeves, we were able to stop and take a look inside.  Marion, the owner, wasn't there at the time but her husband was.  We spoke for a while about the many books (and records) they were selling, and I bought two books: a Jonathan Cape "Thrilling Cities" by Ian Fleming with a really nice pink spine, and "The Man Who Saved Britain" by Simon Winder.  If you're travelling between Melbourne and Adelaide anytime in the future be sure to allocate time for a stop at this store in Ararat.  It may prove very worthwhile for you too.

Our trip to South Australia was five months ago now but my wife and I still talk about it often.  If you ever go to Kangaroo Island, don't stay for just two nights.  It deserves at least three... no four nights.  And Adelaide is a book collectors delight.  I highly recommend visiting all the stores mentioned in this and the previous blog entries too.

BTW: If you're interested this wasn't our first trip to South Australia.  Here's a blog entry I wrote in September 2012 about our first visit.