Venus Bay Houseboats: In the Eyre Peninsula region on South Australia’s West Coast

Over the years the Postcards team has jumped on board its fair share of houseboats. Some are the epitome of luxury, the ideal platform from which to take in the beauty of the Murray. Every so often houseboats and boats of every persuasion for that matter, take to the water for the regular River Ramble.

The common theme in all of this is the River. But head over to Venus Bay on the West Coast of Eyre Peninsula and you'll rethink your notion of what constitutes a houseboat holiday.

Here on a sandbar in this idyllic bay Carmel Chapman and her daughter pull up anchor with the Port Kenny silos in the distance and soon their little beauty named Dreams is on her way.

With dad at the wheel this salt water wanderer is soon dwarfed by the mammoth prawn trawlers that fish the waters of the Great Australian Bight which opens out just beyond the entrance. Here the secluded waters of Venus Bay offer the logical place for Gavin Chapman's houseboat experiment.

“Venus was a logical place. It's very calm and sheltered. The only part that's not sheltered is the entrance that we're coming up to now that's got a two hundred metre opening.

“Most people associate houseboats with the river. But on this you're not looking for callop are you? You're off in search of whiting or gar or tommy ruffs or mullet or whatever?

“Yes, after all of those as well as abalone. You can actually dive for abalone from just over the reef.”

Venus Bay offers the houseboat crew days of lazy motoring as you cruise by other holiday makers all with the same goal - forgetting the cares of the workaday routine and maybe catching a fish or two.

Space on board Dreams is at a premium. The seating area in the main galley doubles as the bunkspace come the evening. But during the day there's plenty of room upstairs to trawl for salmon and take in the view. And down below there's room enough to cook up the day's catch and sample seafood on the move.

Carmel says the houseboat was originally Gavin’s idea. But she was impressed when she found that it had toilet and cooking facilities on board.

“Quite often myself and the kids or Gavin will take it in turns. But mostly the kids and Gavin do the driving of the boat and one of us are out there trawling and catching tommies, salmon trout. Now and again we'll drop anchor and try for whiting.”

The water depth varies considerably. Sometimes you're inching over sandbars a foot or two below the waterline and come the end of the day you can always pull up and anchor on your very own island.

“We go where no-one else goes. Mainly right around past Port Kenny. There's water over there that's six foot deep all the way over and it's basically unexplored.”

You can contact Gavin and Carmel Chapman at Venus Bay Houseboats on 61 (0)8 8625 5015. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards.sa.com.au