Limestone Coast

The amazing Coorong National Park is a fecund lagoon landscape curving along the coast for 145km from Lake Alexandrina towards Kingston SE. A complex series of soaks and salt pans, it's separated from the sea by the chunky dunes of the Younghusband Peninsula. More than 200 species of waterbirds live here. Storm Boy, an endearing 1976 film about a young boy's friendship with a pelican (based on the 1964 novel by Colin Thiele), was filmed here, and re-made for a 2019 release.

Robe is a cherubic little fishing port that's become a holiday hotspot for Adelaidians and Melburnians alike. The sign saying 'Drain L Outlet' as you roll into town doesn't promise much, but along the main street you'll find quality eateries and boundless accommodation, and there are some magic beaches and lakes around town. Over Christmas and Easter, Robe is packed to the heavens − book eons in advance.

When it comes to spicy cabernet sauvignon, it's just plain foolish to dispute the virtues of the Coonawarra Wine Region (www.coonawarra.org). The terra rossa (red earth) soils here also produce irresistible shiraz and chardonnay. Most of the wineries are just off the main highway north of Penola.

Mount Gambier's big-ticket item is the luminous, 75m-deep lake, which turns an insane hue of blue during summer. Perplexed scientists think it has to do with calcite crystals suspended in the water, which form at a faster rate during the warmer months. Consequently, if you visit between April and November, the lake will look much like any other − a steely grey. But in January, wow! The surface of the water is 20m below central Mt Gambier's street level.

'See and be seen: headlights 24 hours!' say signs around this stretch of the Limestone Coast. Is Beachport desperate to be noticed? A plaintive cry for attention? We like it the way it is: low-key and beachy, with aquamarine surf, the famous 772m-long jetty, staunch stone buildings and rows of Norfolk Island pines. Forget about being seen − your time here will be perfectly anonymous.

About 10km southeast of Naracoorte is World Heritage–listed Naracoorte Caves National Park. The discovery of an ancient fossilised marsupial in these limestone caves raised palaeontological eyebrows around the world, and featured in David Attenborough's 1979 BBC series Life on Earth. The 28 limestone caves here, including Alexandra Cave, curiously named Stick-Tomato Cave and Victoria Fossil Cave, have bizarre stalactite and stalagmite formations. The Wonambi Fossil Centre at the main entrance zooms-in on fossil finds.

Around 28km south of Mt Gambier, snoozy, crayfishing Port MacDonnell is SA’s southernmost town. It was once the second-busiest port in the state, which explains the surprisingly hefty and handsome Customs House (1863) near the foreshore. It's a dead-flat town without a whole lot going on, but if you're looking for a low-key place to chill out by the sea, look no further. Online, see www.portmacdonnell.sa.au, and arm yourself with the Port MacDonnell brochure from the Mount Gambier Visitor Information Centre.