Road trip from Melbourne to Adelaide - where to hit the hinterland?
Replies: 9 - Last Post: Mar 10, 2013 5:34 AM Last Post By: brother_no_2
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Road trip from Melbourne to Adelaide - where to hit the hinterland?
Hello everyone!My dad and I have around 15 days to go from Melbourne to Adelaide end of March. We want to start of with visiting Philips Island (1 day) and Mornington Peninsula (1 day), then taking the Great Ocean Road up to Portland (probably stay 2 nights in apollo bay and 1 night in port fairy or port campbell?).
We then want to hit the hinterland, so though of going to the Grampians / Hall's Gap.
Big question is: where to go from there? Should we head back towards the coast of go further North via Ouyen or even Mildura? Is the trip worth it? Scenic landscape? Or rather boring?
Should we go to Murray Bridge? Or rather go back to the coast, maybe Coorong National Park?
We want to spend 2 or 3 days on Kangaroo Island, and maybe 1 day in Adelaide, so we have about 5 days for the trip between Portland and Adelaide.
It'd be great to get some suggestions on this! Thanks a ton already!
Frieda
1
Hello again!I should maybe mention that my dad, although 70 now, is super fit and a real traveler (we also traveled from Nairobi to Johannesburg a few years back, with tents...). So no worries about that...
Thanks ahead for all tips & suggestions and a great day to all of you!
Frieda
2
after the Grampians you could continue following the coast all the way to Kangaroo Islandgo to Mt Gambier, and eat a lobster in Robe, and find something to drink in the Coonawarra, birdwatching in the Coorong find the Murray mouth at Goolwa then look for a penguin or whale at Victor Harbour and across to Kangaroo Island
then go to Adelaide and if still time go to Riverland
I like the inland riverland landscape but at this time of year it will be very dry and hot
there are a number of conservation parks in that area for mallee and birds
not much reason to go to Murray Bridge as a destination just pass through and see the Murray if you don't see it anywhere else
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I wouldn't bother with Kangaroo Island, and would spend an extra day on Philip Island.4
Yes I agree two days Philip Island. Also at least two days in Grampians. Halls gap is worthwhile. It's been a very very hot dry summer. Please check weather updates for fire warnings before you go anywhere. Everything's very yellow so maybe not as pretty as usual. We enjoyed Mount Gambier area, some very pretty coastal towns. Cooler too.5
Phillip Island is a dirty grotty place, Kangaroo Island is fantastic, as Cow man said stick to the coast, Halls Gap is good, skip Ouyen and Mildura as its a lot of nothing to get to nowhere.6
I think more time on Kangaroo Island than Phillip Island, but check whether you can take a rental car on to the island. Some don't allow it.I do like Mildura, but I don't think it's a must see. But, on the other hand, if you crave a bit of outback scenery, Mungo National Park is nearby and could scratch that itch.
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If you stick to the coast you miss seeing/experiencing the inland. Ouyen and Mildura and the riverland (ie Renmark etc) are essentially in semi-desert. Alternatively you can go more or less directly to Adelaide via Horsham, Mt Arapilles, the Little Desert (stay at Little Desert Lodge), Bordertown or Padtheway. Lets see if I can do a Google map.Yes I can You can see that you can get back to the coast easily if you want.
The Coorong is interesting.
The mouth of the Murray at Goolwa is a bit of a place of pilgrimage for some Aussies (at least it should be)
Edited by me to fiddle around making paragraphs
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Thanks a lot, everyone, you've been very helpful!I guess we'll probably hit the coast again after visiting the Grampians - unless we suddenly feel the urge to see some outback scenery...
One more question: we didn't make any reservations yet because we wanted to be as flexibel as possible. Are there any major school holidays (except from Eastern) we should worry about? Would you advise booking ahead? (We'll be looking for accommodation that's not more than 140$ a night...).
Again, thanks a lot!
All the best from Berlin, Germany
Frieda
9
you should be paying way way way less than $140 a night, count on anything from $30 for a pub room up to 80-$90 for a good motel room..and murrey bridge is a dangerous place, home to the gang of 49, probably best avoided
and morgan, on the banks of the murray, is a nice place, kinda cross between an outback town and thr riverland
