I am going to visit a friend who lives in Adelaide and will be flying from the states to Melbourne and thought about driving from there. Any ideas about length of time it takes? Good safe places to stop and stay for a single woman along the way? Good siteseeing side excursions to recommend? Any and all ideas appreciated!!

Hilary

It would take about 8 or 9 hours. A good website for working out distances and travel time is www.travelmate.com.au look at the Map Maker section. The Grampians is a lovely area if you like nature, there are good hikes, wildlife, wineries not far away etc. Halls Gap is the small town in the valley with lots of accommodation.
If you have heaps of time you could go via the Great Ocean Road and then head inland after that. The scenery is gorgeous but it would take a lot longer.
If you decide to fly, you can often get cheap deals on the airlines websites - Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Blue or try www.farehunter.com.au to check them all at once.
Kay

Kay, Thank you. I was thinking (after looking around) to drive the Great Ocean Road and stop in Apollo Bay and Port Fairy or Pathaway and then into Adelaide. Any thoughts on that?

Hilary

I've done that drive a couple of times and it's great. Port Fairy is particularly charming. Do you like B & B type accommodation ?

The simpler and cheaper the better. When I was in Seville I spent 25.00 per night for a clean charming centrally located room. It was perfect. I am not in it but to sleep!! I would rather spend my money sigthseeing and shopping. Thank you for your help.

Hi, I just came across this site which might be useful for you.

www.visitvictoria.com

Not sure about $25/night accomm - you may luck onto some bargains at local hotels (pubs). Sometimes in the old country hotels they have rooms upstairs - usually with shared bathrooms - for very reasonable rates.

The last couple of hundred k's into Adelaide is pretty straight and flat and can be a bit of a trap for the unwary if you're not used to long distance driving in the country. Just make sure you do stop every now & again & have a walk around for a few minutes to refresh. It's just so easy to drift off on those long stretches! And keep a very good eye out for kangaroos, emus etc., especially around dusk.

Hilary,
Port Fairy is lovely and has lots of nice accommodation but not that cheap. You could try staying in one of the pubs. A good site for B&Bs is www.babs.com.au but again, not that cheap. Apollo Bay and Lorne are both nice places to either stay or have lunch and a walk. Not sure when you are coming, if it's school holidays then you'll probably need to book ahead but if it's winter it could be very cold by the sea. Port Campbell is where the famous Twelve Apostles are (there's not actually 12 any more but it's a beautiful scene). Warrnambool has a Maritime Museum with a sound and light show in the evenings. It's about a 20 min drive from Pt Fairy. That is good advice about driving at dusk and being wary of kangaroos etc on the road. In the event of an accident, sometimes hire car insurance doesn't cover you as it's classed as a single car accident. If you are out walking early morning or at dusk you are much more likely to see wildlife, especially at the Grampians.
Kay