puttakka

As some of you may know, my husband and I are travelling to Australia in Nov and are working on our itinerary. We would love any comments or input or suggestions.

We are both 30 and fairly active. We would like to spend our time by the ocean, in the parks, maybe wine country. We like budget accomodations that are unique - we've stayed in lighthouses, and ryokans. We are more interested in seeing the oceans and the countrysides than museums and buildings.

Nov 16: Arrive Melbourne at 9 AM. Spend Day exploring Melbourne. Sleep at the Pensione Boutique Hotel.

Nov. 17: Pick up rental car, drive to the Monrington Peninsula. Maybe see a winery? Head over to the Peninsula Hot Springs in afternoon and then to Portsea. We have booked a night at the Portsea Hotel.

Nov 18: Leave in mid-morning, take the car ferry to Queenscliff and hit the Great Ocean Road. Drive to either Port Campbell or Port fairy, overnight there. Need suggestions on where to stop, stay, etc.

Nov 19: Continue driving towards Adelaide. Grampians? Mt Gambier? Wine country. Suggestions welcome.
Maybe overnight in Robe.

Nov. 20: Continue driving towards Adelaide. Maybe Flerieu Pensinsula wine country or McLaren Vale? Need suggestions here.

Nov 21: End up in Adelaide or nearby (Barossa?) Need suggestions whether to stay near Adelaide or in Adelaide.

Nov 22: Depart from Adelaide Airport around noon; arrive in Sydney around 3 PM. We have booked five nights at the Storrier Hotel in Sydney for around $140 a night.

Nov 23: Sydney. Here we want to surf, stroll around and watch people, take a short trip to the Blue Mountains, and basically just chill out.

Nov 24: Sydney

Nov 25: Sydney

Nov 26: Sydney

Nov 27: Leave Sydney at noon, fly home

Nov 22:

DownUnder

A few suggestions on the Victorian part of the trip. Mornigton Peninsula has many wineries specialising in cooler climate wines e.g. Pinot Noir & Chardonnay. 3 must visits are T'Gallant, Monalto and 10 minutes by Tractor. All have websites to checkout.
On Nov.18th I would leave fairly early for the GOR as there is quite a bit to see on that leg and I would suggest Pt. Fairy as an overnight. The Grampians is worth a detour for wildlife (Kangaroos) and scenery, the only problem is that the stretch from Horsham to Adelaide is very dull so you may want to retrace your steps to Robe.
It seems your trip is very wine orientated and if that is the case you should definitely head for Mclaren Vale, but I would not stop there I would suggest you spend 20th. in Adelaide (make an exception and visit the excellent wine museum) and 21st. in the Barossa. Alternatively you could spend 2 nights in Adelaide and try and include the Barossa. It is only an hour from Adelaide, but you really need to spend a few hours visiting the wineries etc.
www.visitvictoria.com

marg

You may not have time to get to the Grampians. An alternative would be to visit Mount Eccles National Park which is about 50 km north of Port Fairy. You can usually see koalas there. Another alternative would to be detour from the highway west of Warrnambool and go to Tower Hill - usually kangeroos and emus there.
Definitely visit Port Fairy if only for a coffee break.

puttakka

Thank you so much. That is exactly the type of help we were looking for!!!

Carrabella

From Sydney, one could catch a train towards Newcastle, but get off at Woy Woy or Hawkesbury River. (not the express train) You travel through Hawkesbury sandstone country for much of the way, and so see the real "bush " and part of the Hawkesbury River. From HRiver , the Postman ferry travels up and back the river delivering mail.Lunch on board.
Or at Woy Woy, my favorite thing to do is to choose your fish from the Co-op near the Station, and have them cook it for you, then eat it watching the pelicans nearby. They are fed at 3pm, I think.

peterl43

whether it will work or not for you...we stayed at the Cape Otway lighthouse for 2 nights (they rent out the keeper's cottages which were built in the 1800's....you'll have the place to yourselves after they close the gates to tourists (5PM?)...saw a bunch of koalas there and the Ocean was spectacular.

http://www.lightstation.com/index.ph...=accommodation

puttakka

Thank you so much!!! Great suggestions (and we were thinking of the Cape Otway lighthouse for our first stop on the GOR

Vaycee

When in Sydney what kind of surfing were you after? The ferry trip to Manly is a must and you can probably hire boards there. You may get what you want surf-wise at South Steyne or Queenscliff (depending on conditions). Manly is also fantastic for strolling - north to Queenscliff and around to Shelley Beach to the south (good walk, great views). Good food and people watching surfside at Manly as well as along the Corso (from where the ferry comes in to the surfside).

However, my son surfs the Northern Beaches (Manly to Palm Beach) and he reckons Little Avalon is the best spot (you'd have to take a bus from Manly north towards Palm Beach). Again depending on the conditions on the day he can get some good surfing at Newport. There would be fewer people (as in swimmers) up that way.

puttakka

To PeterK - I have twice tried to contact the lightstation by email and have gotten no response. Is ti best to call? It's hard to call from the US because of the time difference.

JohnFitz

I think the Melbourne / Victorian leg is nice .

I like your choice of the places at which you are thinking of spending a night .

Not sure how nice / good the Portsea pub is now but it is in a great position with a wonderful lawn to sit and have a drink .If you have time , like antique shops and if it is low tide a beach strewn with thousands of lovely shells and rockpools with spopnges etc then visit Flinders as I suggested .

At the risk of a throwing a spanner in the plans I wonder if you might care to look at overnight in Dunkeld at The Royal Mail Hotel . www.royalmail.com.au.

You can drive to it from Warrnambool or Port Fairy .It sits on the edge of the Grampians National Park . This hotel offers superb food , wine etc .The web site will show you .Highly regarded .Rejuvenated by a really rich barrister who came from there and it is worth the trip .

Otherwise and in terms of distance think about Mt Gambier as a good place to overnight .It is 5 hours drive from Melbourne not allowing the stops to look and rest etc . It is in November that the water in the crater lake turns an amazing blue - and it is truly extraordinairy . So , even if whizzing through , drive up to the crater lake and look .

Robe is also charming old whaling town with a lovely half moon beach with a certain happy mix of some good food and some nice shops but not ruined .It is about a 6.5 hour drive from Melbourne .

www.robelifestyle.com.au gives a nice picture.

The Criterion Hotel in Robe I am told is good and there are some charming cottages as well .

I do not think that there is anywhere at Port Campbell to stay . Port Fairy is charming and again it is very much what takes your fancy .

Everything is easy to get to in Adelaide . I suggest staying in the city at The Medina Treasury Apartments . Superb with washing machine , dryer , kitchen , beautifully decked out , lap pool and gym. All the wine areas 40 mins to 1 hour drive

DownUnder

There are quite a few places to stay in Port Campbell http://www.warrnamboolcam.com/portcam.htm . As I mentioned in another post I had reason to contact CO Lightstation and they have been having trouble with their Internet connection and they suggest you call direct. It is a lovely area and excellent for Koala spotting etc.

kristieb

Sounds like a great itinerary so far. I am from Sydney but recently visited Melbourne, the Great Ocean road and the Mornington Peninsula. It was amazing! My favourite thing I did was easily a Mornington Peninsula tour I found online before I left (http://www.godo.com.au/activity/NTTS103). It was a small group and included a drive around the bay, visit to a winery, scenic ferry ride and lunch with a view. Loved it. As a wine fiend, I can also definitely recommend the Barossa.