Just booked my ticket to OZ!!!!! Suggestions welcome re: hotels, etc.
 

Just booked a roundtrip tkt on Qantas and a rental car. We are in our late 20s. We need suggestions for hotels and stop overs on the Great Ocean Road. We want to surf!!! Please help!!!!

Nov 14: Leave Boston
Nov. 16: Arrive Melbourne. Night in Melbourne
Nov 17: Melbourne
Nov 18: pick up car, drive Great Ocean Road, stop overnight
Nov 19: Great Ocean Road, stop overnight
Nov 20: Arrive in Adelaide or Barossa Valley; night in Adelaide or Barossa Valley
Nov 21: Adelaide (Kangaroo Island?)
Night in Adelaide
Nove 22: Flight to Sydney, night in Sydney
Nov 23: Sydney
Nov 24: Sydney
Nov 25: Sydney
Nov 26: Sydney
Nov 27: Depart Sydney at 11:30 Am

I think to arrive in Adelaide?Baroosa Valley and stay 1 night and then think of Kangaroo island for 1 day seems very rushed and lots of driving.
If you want to surf you aren't going to get much in-again the distances and the driving time!!!

I'd forgot Adelaide as a place to spend time and KI in a day really isn't worth the bother. Why not concentrate on what you really want to do? Surf? ... Bell's Beach is supposed to be the place isn't it? And plenty of beaches round Sydney. So take your time driving the GOR. If you are going to KI for the "animals" then there are opportunities to see koalas, penguins, seals, et al on the way between MLB and ADL. Spend a night in ADL and fly out next morning.

For a stop over I liked Port Fairy, but best not recommend places to stay as it was a while ago.

Cheers.

If you do want to go to Kangaroo Island and Adelaide, go to Kangaroo Island before you reach Adelaide as the ferry crossing is about 1.5 hours south of Adelaide. You would have to check the ferry schedules in conjunction with your driving itinerary and may need to spend the night at somewhere nearby - Victor Harbor is an option. This would be more convenient than coming into to Adelaide, unless you really want to fly there and back.

If you decide to drive to KI, check with the car rental company as I have heard that only certain companies (Hertz??) allow people to take hire cars to KI.

An alternative to the Barossa Valley (which is north of Adelaide) is the McLaren Vale wine region which is about 1 hour south of Adelaide.

Another option if you are interested in wine is the Coonawarra region, inland from Mt Gambier/Penola in the south east of the state on your way from the GOR to Adelaide.

I do agree with the other poster that visiting Adelaide, KI and the Barossa sounds too much in the time you have. I would suggest concentrating on either KI or a wine region.

Below is a website about some of the surfing beaches south of Adelaide:

http://www.fleurieupeninsula.com.au/...southcoast.asp

This is the official tourism website for SA. Click on "Regions" to look at tourism info in various areas of the state - Adelaide (metro area), Adelaide Hills (small wine region), Barossa & Clare Valley (wine regions about 1 hour north of Adelaide), McLaren Vale (wine region about 1 hr south of Adelaide - see Fleurieu Peninsula), Limestone Coast (area onlong the coast between the south east of the state and Adelaide), check the Fleurieu Peninsula for possible surfing info.

http://www.southaustralia.com/

If you're in to wine this website has a lot of info arranged by wine region:

http://www.winediva.com.au

Thank you so much. Maybe we should just do one day in Melbourne and head out the next day? Although I'm sure Melbourne is lovely, it's just a city after all; maybe we can head out in the early afternoon on Nov 17 and start on the GOR that afternoon?

We don't want to do everything - just some things. It sounds like stopping off on Kangaroo on the way up to Adelaide might be a good idea and to check out a wine region on the way to Adelaide rather than after we get there.