Need some advice on the best strategy for the following.

- We will be spending the day in Adelaide.
- The following morning, we want to head to Kangaroo Island, spend the day and night there
- The next afternoon, we will head back to the "mainland", and begin the drive on the Great Ocean Road to Melbourne

First, some questions questions:
Question 1. the ferry from Kangaroo Island returns to Cape Jervis. Is this on the way to the Great Ocean Road, or would we need to return to the Adelaide area to start the drive?
Question 2: Is the Great Ocean Road drive not as good from Adelaide to Melbourne (as opposed to the Melbourne to Adelaide), as you're driving on the side of the road away from the water?
Question 3: I've read conflicting reports about how many miles/km the Great Ocean Road drive is. Our plan was to do it in 3 days/2 nights, from the Adelaide area to Melbourne. Is this enough time? Do we need to stay along the water the entire time, or would it be better to stay on the Great Ocean Road for part of the time, and take a more direct route for part??

Anyway, here are our options, which I'd like some advice on:
1. Fly r/t from Adelaide airport to Kangaroo Island, and rent a car on the island. From our return, we'd rent a car at Adelaide airport and begin the drive
2. Take the bus/ferry to Kangaroo Island, and rent a car there. Return via ferry/bus to Adelaide, rent a car in Adelaide, and start the drive
3. Rent a car in Adelaide, drive to Cape Jervis, take the ferry to K.I. and back, and start the Great Ocean Road drive from Cape Jervis.

Thanks!

Re your questions - from Cape Jervis you can drive through Willunga and Strathalbyn to the main Adelaide/Melbourne highway. This will take you through wine growing areas - pretty country. From there, follow the highway to Keith, take the road to Mount Gambier which goes through more wine growing areas. The lake at Mount Gambier is an unbelievable blue at certain times of the year, so once in town it's well worth the short detour to have a look.
From Mount Gambier, you then follow the road through Portland to Warrnambool and then take the Great Ocean Road. Make sure you have a look at Port Fairy - one of the prettiest little towns in Victoria. If it's lunch time, head down to the river for good fish and chips.
Your two nights/three days should give you plenty of time to stay on the Great Ocean Road and then take the freeway from Geelong to Melbourne. You'll find lots of places to pull off the road and enjoy the view. One good viewing point is Mariners Lookout just a tad east of Apollo Bay. It should be signposted, turn left off the highway and drive to the parking area, then a very short walk to the lookout.
Hope you enjoy this part of your trip - we're leaving in the morning for a few days at Port Fairy.
Re hiring a car, if it were me, I'd take option 3, but check on the road conditions on Kangeroo Island. If you want to get off the bitumen, you may need to check with your hire company that your vehicle is insured 'off-bitumen' - we've been caught with this one before.

We're leaving for Kangaroo Island next week so we've done a bit of research. If you take the ferry, you really lose a lot of time so if that's a concern, you may want to fly over (about a 30 minute flight for around $100USD on REX or Emu) You can rent a car while on the island, but you may want to put that money toward joining a tour group instead and let them deal with the driving while you enjoy the sights that they point out.

Take Marg's advice but if you want a prettier and quieter trip which also hugs a very unusual part of the coast, go from Strathalbyn to Wellington, then take the punt (free car ferry - it's fun) across the Murray and go to Mt Gambier via Meningie and the Coorong. This is a much nicer trip than the semi-trailer-ridden highway through Tailem Bend and Keith. If you ultimately decide to fly back to Adelaide airport, you'll still go this way but you'll first drive through the Adelaide Hills (Hahndorf is worth a look) then through Murray Bridge and Tailem Bend before the turn-off to Meningie and the Coorong (the highway keeps going directly to Keith and Melbourne). The Coorong is a 200km long wetland/lagoon area - the road hugs it, and you will see lots of pelicans and other birds from the many quiet detour areas. You'll also stop in Robe before you get to Mt Gambier - Robe is a charming crayfish port with an interesting history (goldrush/Chinese immigration). Between Robe and Mt Gambier you can either enjoy the Limestone Coast wineries or veer inland to Penola and Coonawarra for among Australia's best reds. There's not a huge amount of extra distance going this way instead of Marg's suggestion but it's prettier than driving through the Mallee. You have ample time to do this trip, staying at either Robe or Mt Gambier or Port Fairy ahead of the best part- the Gt Ocean Road. Going either way (west or east) doesn't really matter as there are so many stopping points to admire the Twelve Apostles (only 8 now and there were only ever 9!!!) and the other sights along the GOR. Just look for the tourist buses and cameras!

Thanks for the advice. I hadn't considered that I wouldn't be able to take my car from the mainland to K.I.

I think the easiest thing for us is to fly Adelaide-K.I. in the morning, and rent a car on the island. Then we'd fly back to Adelaide the next evening, stay the night, and start the Great Ocean Road drive in the morning.

Does anyone know:
1. If Adelaide Airport has a secure bag storage area, as we'll have too much luggage to take on Rex Airways to K.I.
2. Are there any decent places to stay the night once we get back to Adelaide airport, or should we just rent a car, spend the night back in the city, and leave for the Great Ocean Road in the morning?

Adelaide Airport does have a place to store your excess luggage. For international travelers, it's quite impossible to fly over to KI with all of our luggage and still meet the small baggage allowance on REX!

You CAN take your car to KI, but the car ferry leaves from Cape Jervis. It's expensive but has advantages if you don't want to go back to Adelaide. It's not all that far though, to back track through the city.

Adelaide airport is very close to the city, and the drive is very straightforward - you might as well stay in the city.