Joanne958

We'll be arriving in Sydney end of Jan '11 - mid-Feb. We've never been to Aus. before. We have a daughter living in Adelaide. Hoping to fly to Adelaide, tour around for 10 days or so, loop back into Adelaide before heading back to Sydney to fly home. We live in NYC, so are not anxious to see more cities. Given the season, what do you recommend? Would it be an interesting drive, if we were to drive from Sydney to Adelaide, ?

RalphR

Were it not for the time of year, I'd recommend a trip north to the beautiful Flinders Ranges in the Outback. But in the summer, I'd stay closer to the coast. A really good drive would be the Great Ocean Road along the coast to Melbourne. Also consider Kangaroo Island and of course the wine valleys around the city (MacLaren, Barossa, etc.)

lavandula

I've done Sydney - Adelaide a couple of times. If you do it across NSW, you have the Hay Plain to contend with. It's basically a large, empty, expanse of land, very monotonous to drive. You might consider this a novelty in itself - I did the first time I did it, but subsequent times we have decided to travel via Victoria. If you drive via the Riverland and follow the Murray River as far as Albury or similar that's quite an interesting drive, with lots of fruit-growing. Another time we went Sydney - Bendigo - Daylesford - Ballarat - Stawell - Horsham - Bordertown - Adelaide. I really enjoyed the Bendigo - Ballarat section. We stayed overnight in Daylesford and visited the spa. On the way back from Adelaide that time we drove through Pinnaroo, Lamaroo and Ouyen and basically from there to the Murray it's just desert, which I don't enjoy - also a boring section of road. There are, however, pink salt lakes on the way which are a bit interesting. I've never driven via the coast to Melbourne but people speak very highly of it (Great Ocean Road). This is a long detour if you are driving Adelaide - Sydney.

Lavandula

JoanneH

The great Ocean Road from Adelaide to Melbourne is not what you think.
The actual part that is on the ocean really starts at Portland and then runs along the coast to Warrnambool (spelling) where you jog to Peterborough, Port Campbell, Apollo Bay and from that point it is really a lovely coast road drive. Before Portland you are inland and only catch sight of the ocean now and then.

RalphR

"The great Ocean Road from Adelaide to Melbourne is not what you think."

Still well worth doing! And you don't HAVE to stick to the main road the whole way. One possibility would be to drive to Portland via Horsham and Hamilton to see the beautiful Grampian Ranges and then from Portland to Melbourne via the GOR. To make the most of trip, I'd suggest staying at least a couple of nights en route.

Depending on your time available you could continue driving up to Sydney or fly.

lavandula

"Depending on your time available you could continue driving up to Sydney or fly."

Mm, yes, you could drive to the airport at Melbourne Avalon (between Geelong and Melbourne proper), which would save you driving into the city and all that traffic. Jetstar uses this airport and flights go directly from there to Kingsford-Smith (i.e. the normal airport) in Sydney.

Lavandula

speckles

Be aware that it could be 'stinking hot' at that time of the year. Adelaide often has heatwaves in Jan and Feb. A heatwave is 5 days or more of 35C+ degrees heat. Spending a lot of time in the car (even with the air con on full) is not a pleasant experience.

peterSale

You could hire a house boat on the Murray River. (3-5 days)

The Yorke and/or Eyre Peninsulas would be great for coastal walks, fishing, boating, swimming etc. You can go swimming with Dolphins from the Eyre Penisula. You could fill ten days between both)

Mt Gambier is lovely with extinct volcanoes.
Naracoorte caves have dinosaur fossils.
The Coorong is great for bird watching.
Part of the Great Ocean Rd as far as Cape Otway.
These plus wine areas would fill ten days as well.

PS Adelaide is not what you would call a city. More a large country town. Very pretty, lots of Churches, nice beaches etc.

Joanne958

Any feedback on Kangaroo Isl? Is it worthwhile? And if so, recommendations on where to say etc?

peterSale

Kangaroo Island is fantastic. We stayed in our campervan so can't help with accommodation.

The walk on the beach with the sea lions is great. You get within a few yards of them.

The Remarkables live up to their name.

The lighthouse are great as are the Kelly Hill caves. there is/was a sheep dairy. The honey is unique as well.

The ravine de casoars walk talks you to caves at the beach with fairy penguins. The guide says 6hrs but it is an hour walk each way.

Lots of wild life and walks.

Joanne958

peterSale, it sounds great. How many days would you budget for Kangaroo Island? Is 5 days too many? Not enough?

spassvogel

I can't comment on the road and/or driving experiences.
Generally speaking and under the consideration time isn't a big factor I love driving in foreign countries even if it lacks excitement partially enroute. I think it gives a pretty good idea of the country, people, way opf living etc. Flying is too rushy for me - my soul always needs time to keep up ;-)

Regarding accommodation and if you don't mind to splurge I would stay at one of the Baillie lodges which offers a extremely good experience - like being on safari ;-)

http://www.southernoceanlodge.com.au/

peterSale

Five days would be great. It will give you all the main sites and few of the lesser ones without rushing.
We spent ten day there and could almost double it with the number of walks available.

If you are driving, the roads are quite slippery as you are effectively driving on ball bearings (ferrous oxide pisolite to be precise)as the gravel is quite round. Just take it a bit slower than usual on dirt roads. It was nearly ten years ago that we went so most, if not all of the main roads will be sealed, by now. But forewarned is forearmed.

The honey is special. Visit the sheep dairy. Open 1-5
http://www.goodfoodkangarooisland.co...islandpure.asp

There is also a placethat gives shearing and sheep dog demonstations. They will give you a go at shearing too if you want.
http://www.atn.com.au/sa/south/atract-a.htm
Scroll down the list to JUMBUCK SHEARING DEMONSTRATIONS.


If you are driving from Adelaide it will give you plenty of time to discover the Fleurieu Peninsula within your ten days. You could stop at Maslin Beach - Australia's first nudist beach.

There are also some great glacier reminders in the area. Scratches on rocks and erratic boulders. The Backstairs Passage that separates KI from the mainland was created by a glacier. Some of the cliffs on KI likewise were created by glaciers.

http://www.southaustralia.com/FleurieuPeninsula.aspx

The boat trip over can be quite rough - worse than the English Channel according to some. I've crossed to KI and back twice and only one of the trips was rough. So it is not a sure thing. Take a tablet if you are so inclined.

Have a great time.