FromDC

Hello again, been reading and trying to figure out, with so much to see, the tradeoffs that will work best for us. I’m finding things in the SW quite appealing and although we do enjoy our time visiting vineyards, I don’t think we need LOTS of that. We mostly want to take in beautiful scenery, do some foodie stuff and a little walking. Here’s draft #2 and would appreciate more feedback:

Day 1, and 2: Arrive Perth, stay 2 nights. First evening and next full day sightseeing

Days 3-6: Fly to Albany on early morning flight, pick up car. Spend 2 nights Denmark and 2 nights Margaret River area. (I could reverse this and drive there, fly back to PER and make connection to ADL on Day 7 but that might be risky – comments welcome on this).

Day 7: visit Freemantle on the way to airport. Fly to Adelaide in late afternoon (arrive late evening) or skip Freemantle and take mid afternoon flight to ADL

Day 8: Spend day sightseeing Adelaide

Days 9-11: Kangaroo Island (fly in and out). Must be on KI on Day 10.

Days 12-13: Arrive ADL airport, pick up car, 2 nights either Barossa or Adelaide Hills

Days 14-16: Drive to Grampians, stay 3 nights (if I decide this is too much driving for day 14, maybe spend night in Coonawarra area)

Day 17-18: Leave Grampians, drive to coast to GOR. Spend 2 nights in Apollo Bay

Day 19: Finish GOR drive, arrive Melbourne

Days 20-21: Stay in Melbourne, sightseeing TBD

Day 22: Leave early morning for flights back to DC

I was thinking about skipping Adelaide but realized that the Adelaide Festival will be taking place at that time, thought it would be neat to attend an event. I could also do this by taking an early morning flight to ADL on Day 8 (which would give us a little more time in WA). I’m sure there are lots of Adelaide fans out there, and the Botanical Gardens and some of the museums look interesting but those aren’t high priorities for this trip.

Grampians looks lovely and it seems like there’s plenty for us to do even if we can’t do much hiking. Walking on easy trails is no problem. We missed the Blue Mountains during our Sydney trip so I was thinking this might “make up” for it.

If any of this travel looks unreasonable for a 70 and 75 year old couple, please comment. Any other responses, if I’ve made an awful mistake(!), but again, I’ve had to make some tradeoffs. PS, we don't need beach time, we live several months a year in the British West Indies and have some of the worlds most beautiful beaches only minutes away. But we do love gazing at the water from our lodgings when we travel.

Melnq8

WA is HUGE.

Have you priced one way car rentals? They can be quite steep in WA, with substantial drop off fees.

Do I understand correctly that you plan to visit Freo on your way to the airport on the same day you've driven up from Margaret River? If so, this isn't going to work. MR to the Perth Airport will take well over four hours, possibly longer if there's traffic.

I think four nights in the SW of WA is rushing things, especially considering how much time will be spent getting there. If memory serves, Denmark to Margaret River will take about four hours too, and that's not including stops, so you've really only allowed yourself one full day for MR - keep in mind most businesses there close quite early (4 -5 pm) and the attractions are widely spaced - MR is a vast region. The town of MR is only the tip of the iceberg (and not the best bit IMO). Fear not, there's a lot more to MR than wineries.

Do you plan to stay in the Perth CBD or elsewhere, such as Cottesloe, Scarborough, etc?

FromDC

Mel, thank you, those are the kinds of comments I need, especially about feasibility of stops (Freo).After reading your comment, I started looking for OW rental cars from Albany to Perth and couldn't even get anything priced online. I will call Avis or Budget directly in Australia to see if it's even possible. If it's not possible or ridiculously expensive, then likely will eliminate Denmark and only drive to MR area for 3 or 4 nights. Haven't determined where we will stay in Perth, I'm assuming CBD for now. BTW, I was using RomeToRio to estimate travel times. I found their estimates quite reliable for driving in Japan.

FromDC

PS, An alternative to MR area only is to fly in and out of Albany airport and concentrate on that area instead. Any thoughts?

Melnq8

Given the choice above, if it were me, I think I'd make the drive to/from MR instead of flying in/out of Albany.

There's plenty to see en route, especially if you take the back roads (I can post specific suggestions with details if you'd like) and so much to see and do in the MR region that I suspect you'll wish you had even more time. You can return via the highway, and thus make a loop.

If you can fit it in, you might even consider a day trip to Pemberton, although I think that's a two hour drive each way - by doing so you can see some pretty incredible trees and forest. There isn't much to Pemberton town, but it's surrounded by gorgeous scenery, sand dunes, forests, lakes, etc.

I adore Denmark and Walpole and the pretty bits in between, I truly do, but I think you just don't have enough time to see them and make the drive back. Flights to/from Albany are fairly limited (at least they used to be) and then there's the whole car issue. Albany is a busy little town - it's not my favorite part of the SW, although there are some lovely National Parks in the area - but to see them you need time - most of them involve some driving and in the opposite direction of Denmark/Walpole.

Most visitors underestimate the size of WA - think of Texas and Alaska combined. It's enormous.

tt7

At the risk of throwing a spanner in the works....

Would you consider flying from Adelaide to Melbourne? I'm not sure exactly what you have in mind for the GOR but driving it east to west (Melbourne to Warrnambool) would probably be preferable as you're by the ocean/parking places, rather than on the 'wrong' side. The best parts of the drive are from Lorne to Apollo Bay, a detour down to Cape Otway to the Lighthouse and then, once you're back by the ocean, the drive along to the Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge etc.

We live in Melbourne and did a loop last year - down the GOR, across to Mt. Gambier, up to Coonawarra, back through the Grampians to Halls Gap and home. Although the Grampians have good scenery (and probably good hiking if that is what you want), we found Halls Gap rather underwhelming - perhaps we got it wrong but we drove downtown about 3pm on a Saturday afternoon and our immediate reaction was "Is this it?".

If you were to fly to Melbourne, that may give you an extra day or two in Adelaide (if the Festival is on). I would then pick up a car at Melbourne airport and take a couple of days to drive the GOR as far as Warrnambool (or thereabouts) and then head north-east (somewhat cross-country) to Ballarat, a nice "country Victoria" town. Walk the Steve Moneghetti track (about 6km) around Lake Wendouree, visit the Art Gallery etc. and stay the night. On your way round the Lake, detour into the Botanical Gardens and, inter alia, visit the Prime Ministers Avenue. After Ballarat, continue north-east to Daylesford/Hepburn Springs, the spa capital of Victoria for a night or two (and be sure to visit the Convent). If you want some up-market accomodation, the Lake House is the place to blow the budget. From there, head back to Melbourne. If more wineries are needed, then try the Yarra Valley (east of Melbourne), which could be combined with a visit to the Healesville Sanctuary already suggested in an earlier post. If you're out that way and stay the night, the Dandenong Ranges/Olinda/National Rhododendron Garden/Sherbrooke Forest provide some nice walking. Back to Melbourne for a few days, where there's lots to see and do ...

FromDC

Mel, very very helpful. I have to keep eliminating things in part 1 of the trip but it's starting to look like concentrating on MR area makes the most sense. And thanks so much, tt. That's exactly the kind of help I'm looking for. Back to the drawing board for the second half of the trip.

FromDC

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice on this thread and my post on the GOR. I've modified the itinerary and I'm hoping this will be the final version so that I can begin to reserve accommodations:
Day1: Arrive Perth
Day 2: Sightseeing Perth
Days 3-6: Pick up car, drive to Margaret River area. Stay in Yallingup? for 4 nights
Day7: Drive to Perth Airport, flight to ADL @ 2:30pm
Day 8; Sightseeing Adelaide
Days 9, 10, 11: Fly to Kangaroo Island
Day 12: Fly to MEL via ADL, arrive MEL @2:45pm, pick up car, drive to Apollo Bay
Days 13-14: Stay in Apollo Bay, driving GOR (staying 3 nights in one place)
Days 15-16: Drive to Grampians (stay 2 nights)
Days 17-18: Drive to Yarra Valley (stay 2 nights)
Day 19-21: Drive to MEL in afternoon, drop off car, stay 3 nights
Day 22: depart in morning

Summary: 2 nights Perth, 4 nights Margaret River area, 2 nights Adelaide, 3 nights Kangaroo Island, 3 nights Apollo Bay, 2 nights Grampians, 2 nights Yarra Valley, 3 nights Melbourne. Any comments on logistical problems that I might not be seeing?

We do prefer to stay 3 nights in one place if possible, that's why I was thinking about driving directly to Apollo Bay from the MEL airport, but does it makes sense to stay in someplace like Torquay the first night, then Apollo Bay for 2 nights. I don't yet have a sense of what the pace of the GOR drive will be like - - is it more linear and just drive in one direction or better to be in one spot and then do excursions from a base?

Thanks again.

Melnq8

I like your Perth itinerary. Yallingup is a good base with a lovely beach. Don't miss Yallingup wood fired bread and Bunker's Beach House.

https://www.margaretriver.com/member...odfired-bread/

https://bunkersbeachhouse.com.au/

We too based in Apollo Bay for three nights (actually Marengo, two km outside of Apollo Bay). It worked well for us, although there was a wee bit of backtracking involved and we drove the squiggliest bit of the GOR three times.

To give you an idea -

We arrived in Melbourne - headed towards Geelong - stopped in Airey’s Inlet - had lunch in Lorne - then continued on to Apollo Bay.

The next day - we explored Apollo Bay - then backtracked to Airey’s Inlet - went to the Split Point Lighthouse and took the Cliff Top Walk (a wonderfully scenic 7 km return trail overlooking the ocean).

After lunch in Lorne, we drove up to Teddy’s Lookout - and then on to Erskine Falls before heading back to Apollo Bay.

On our second day we drove towards Port Campbell - detoured towards the Cape Otway Lightstation (look up - koalas)! then continued on to the Otway Fly Tree Top Walk, an elevated walkway, 25 meters above the forest floor. Back on the GOR, we stopped at the 12 Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge, then continued to Port Campbell, turned around and went back to Apollo Bay.

So some backtracking involved, depending on what you want to see and do.

northie

I would spend more time on GOR than in Grampians . We stay at Skenes Creek and then you can see Apollo Bay, Otway Tree Walk and even further west .