I love tools, but mostly I love woodworking tools. This place is one of THE woodworking tool places…read morein Adelaide (and Australia). They have bandsaws, panel saws, routers, planers, thicknessers and lathes; clamps, drill presses, mortise gauges, sliding bevels, chisels, vises, handscrews and mallets. Japanese tools and high end planes such as Veritas brand from Canada. Everything you need to build a table, guitar, boat or even probably a house. I could go on and on but if you like woodworking and spending all your money, head down there or have a look at their website. These guys are great. They also have demonstrations on Saturdays including by guitar makers, wood carvers and master cabinet makers.

From the owner: iGen_ACC_1073846808: No matter your skill level, we have the product, service and expertise to get…read moreyou out in the shed.

Legit, locally-owned hardware store with knowledgeable staff. The cashier was really young, but he…read moreknew what he was doing. I picked up some gardening stuff: plants and potting soil. Turned out to be a few bucks cheaper than what you'd pay at Bunnings. Quick access from the city along North Terrace. Takes about 10min by car. Booyakasha! Will be back.

I know for a lot of people, Bunnings is synonymous with hardware. In the same way that people who…read moreshop at woolworths and think that they are getting the best price possible just won't visit a foodland, a lot of Bunnings customers are loyal to the point of self-punishment. I on the other hand, would prefer to spend my money at somewhere like Banner Mitre 10. The first reason is that like Woolies, Coles and Dan Murphy's, Bunnings are owned by one of those dominating behemoths (in this case Wesfarmers) which squeeze their supply chain, their staff and everyone else involved in the process. Like Woolies and Coles, what you end up with is not the best products, but rather products with high margins that can be bought in bulk, and if they break it just goes in the bin and you get a new one, and a new one, and another new one. Don't get me wrong... Bunnings has its place. It's a good place to go for say Stanley tools, Hills products etc, but if you want a good chainsaw, like the Stihl I bought on the weekend, there's no way you going to get it at Bunnings. What you're going to get is a piece of crap Ozito or something for $100 less which you can only cut 2x4 pine with before it craps itself. Now, onto my Banner Mitre 10 review... I used to work for these guys about 9 years ago while at uni and they are a great family run business. They treated us well as staff and had great discounts for staff and end of year parties. I felt like I was part of the family. After a few years living too far from the store, I've moved back fairly close to the area, so I popped in to look at ladders. They have a great selection of Bailey ladders and don't stock the cheap crap that Bunnings do. They also price matched a quite ridiculously low price I had for the chainsaw from one of my work's suppliers, so I'll definitely be back. They have a great trade section and friendly staff. What I'm trying to get at here is that there are other options apart from Bunnings for hardware/tools and home improvement products. Give these guys a go because they know their stuff, have better brands and service and are family run.

In a dusty and fairly dingy building on Payneham road sits one of the strangest shops I have ever…read morebeen to. Like something out of a novel, I am quite surprised this place even exists. Inside the walls are lined with gigantic conches, rocks containing fossils of trilobites and other archaic sea creatures, crystals of all manner of shapes and sizes and crates of colourful shells and dried starfish. I don't know wether they are used for ornamentation, scientific purposes or as ingredients for magic potions, but either way it is a fantastic place.

This is Adelaide's best kept secret and absolutely THE best place for crystals, a place Indiana…read moreJones would be proud of! You need not bother going anywhere else ever again to buy crystals as Naturally Wild has got them all and is a wholesaler to shops where you buy them at higher prices. The guy running the shop is a explorer, adventurer, traveller, archaeologist, encyclopedia of knowledge plus purveyor, importer and wholesaler of everything the shop contains...I've probably missed a few titles but this pretty much covers it. He will answer any questions you have about the stones, nautilus, shells, crystals, puffer fish, shark jaws, and truly alot more amazing and real specimens and I really mean EVERYTHING...he knows exactly all about it. Want to buy a Salt Lamp? They've got them...did you know they work! And I discovered they are actually used by cancer patients. Seriously you have to open this link - http://www.hunzacrystalsalt.net/Salt_Lamps/salt_lamps.html - and read all about the surprising facts about the wonderful power these lamps possess. Yes of course I had to buy one. School holidays are almost here and I highly recommend taking the kids for a visit as it's a touchable museum but please be careful as there is stuff everywhere and definitely not big bag territory.