Why not fly Uluru to Canberra, not Melbourne. You could visit your relatives, then hire a car and drive to Melbourne, visiting some of the national parks (Bright is a good town to use as a base) and Philip Island on the way. That would leave you free to do the GOR and the Grampians. Here's a hint about seeing wildlife in the Grampians - leave it until late afternoon/early evening. Just a drive along the road through the area will see kangaroos, deer, possibly koalas.

Well, there's no direct flight to Canberra. All flights to Canberra go through Sydney or Melbourne. We fly out of Sydney on the 20th. So plan to be there by the 19th.

Klandres - it will help if you state your dates by month name or in the dd/mm/ format.

Are you able to extend your time in Australia a bit? I think you could make a good trip out of the Grampians - Canberra, but you'd need a few days to make it worthwhile. November would be a good time to do that trip, I think.

Swiss_Sights: You wouldn't have seen box jellyfish in Sydney. They don't come that far south.

For what it's worth, the drive from Sydney to Melbourne isn't awful. I do it with some regularity for work with a night's stop along the way. You can take an inland route by the Hume freeway or the longer coastal route (hit Wilson's Promontory if you do the coast). My favourite bit, worth the detour from either route, is the Southern Highlands of NSW, around Kangaroo Valley and Berry. Very pretty area with nice local villages and great food.

Right along the Great Ocean Road and (kind of) on the way to the Grampians is Otway National Park where we've spotted koalas, echidnas, and lyrebirds. A nice contrast to the Grampians, Otway is lush and green with tree ferns and has several waterfalls you can hike to. https://visitotways.com/explore/waterfalls/

Hi CC, Where have you stayed that you’ve enjoyed / would recommend in the last couple of years? Area as much as particular motel.

The other place not too miss on the Greta Ocean Road I sKennett River Is the Kennett River betwen Lorne and Appollo Bay -ther's a kolaa walk and lots of beautiful parrots to spot neat the general Store .there's a camping area there too.

Hi Bokhara. We stayed in Nowra this past year, more so as a base, Didn't spend much time in town but it's big enough to find meals later into the evening, compared to some of the scenic smaller towns around there. . The hotel wasn't really a stand out either (we travel cheap!). Nowra is within 30 mins drive of Kangaroo Valley (gorgeous), Berry, Kiama and Vincentia. An hour south is Bawley Beach, where the kangaroos wade out into the surf, though they were only munching grass when we were there.

I guess this may not quite fit into the tentative plans but it fits in with the wildlife part. Merimbula (far east coast of Victoria) in early November is in prime season for the humpback whale migration to Antarctica. We saw several whales breaking the surface just next to the boat the last time we were there. Other people have reported seeing southern right whales, orca and (rarely), blue whales.