Im planning to drive from Sydney through Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road, i've already done the East Coast so wanna go South. Only have 2 weeks though, Is there much to see from Melbourne to Adelaide or should i fly from Melbourne to Byron for a couple of days instead?
2006-09-28 03:03:49 · 6 answers · asked by E-J 1 in Travel ➔ Australia ➔ Other - Australia
I've done the drive from Melbourne to Adelaide and it was actually much better than I expected. It took us 8 days to do the round trip but we stopped at lots of places along the way. I think you can do the one way drive in 2 days if you don't stop to see things. There are some long stretches were there is not much going on but all in all there is lots of great things to see and do on the drive. Not much history to speak of but lots of wonderful scenery. I would say that you could easily occupy yourself for 2 weeks.
The Great Ocean Road is excellent (particularly the part from Geelong to the Twelve Apostles). Great beaches and coastal scenery and nice walking in the Otway National Park. Lorne is a wonderful little town to stop for lunch.
Another place that turned out to be quite good was Mt Gambier. It has an amazingly blue lake (not surprisingly called the Blue Lake) which actually sits in an old volcano crater. Also a few caves and the like which are nice to visit.
Other places we stopped that were quite good were Mt Eccles (near Hamilton, nice walking in an area with extinct volcanos), Halls Gap (in the centre of the Grampian National Park - a good place for horse riding or rock climbing), Ararat (nice parks and an old gaol/mental hospital that you can visit), Port Noarlunga (excellent snorkelling and scuba diving (bring your own gear) straight of the jetty), Naracoorte (fun caving), Robe (gorgeous seaside town), Murray Bridge (the town is nothing special but take a cruise on the Murray River) and Ballarat (which has a dinnertime light show).
If you've got the time, you could take a car ferry (from Cape Jervis on the Fleurieu Peninsula) out to Kangaroo Island which is supposed to be really nice.
I didn't think that the Fleurieu Peninsula was as good as people made out to be. But you should definitely stop in at Victor Harbor at night to see the little penguins. There is also good shipwreck scuba diving in the area if that's your thing.
The most boring stretch was The Coorong as it was just a lot of marshes (you might like it though if you like bird watching).
The drive will also take you past the Coonawarra and McLaren Vale wine regions but if you're interested in wine you're better off going to the Barossa Valley in the Adelaide Hills (and stop at Hahndorf for some great German food and Gumeracha for the worlds largest rocking horse).
If you haven't been to Adelaide before, you'll also find lots of stuff to do there.
Start here for some maps (which also links into the RAA website for more detailed maps) http://www.southaustralia.com/maps.asp
Personally never been to Byron so couldn't really compare.
2006-09-29 01:34:27 · answer #1 · answered by mel 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The drive from Melbourne to Adelaide along the great ocean road is full of fantastic scenery of the coast and well worth a look, it is always touted as one of the best things to do in Australia. Although Adelaide itself isn't up to Melbourne and Sydney standards.
Melbourne is a fun city especially St Kilda but i don't think the drive from Sydney to Melbourne is anything special and the capital Canberra is so dull you wouldn't believe. Melbourne is a completly different city to Sydney and so worth seeing. They are really into their sports and the city is alive when there is a footy game on. Melbourne is more like lots of little villages all connected by trams around the CBD.
However if you get the chance i would highly recommend heading into the centre to see Uluru and the Ulgars. We caught the famous Ghan train trip from Adelaide to Alice springs which is an amazing trip cutting through the outback. Then spent 3 days touring round Uluru etc sleeping under the stars. This was the absolute highlight of my trip and a really magical experience. Also if you join a good group you get to meet lots of fun people and have drinks by the campfire. There is no more beautiful sight than sunrise and sunset at Uluru. 2 weeks would give you plenty of time to do this.
2006-09-28 03:22:21 · answer #2 · answered by cappman500 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I just took the train from Melbourne to Sydney. If the drive would be anything like that, I'd save your time for something else! Perhaps you could take the overnight train from Sydney to Melbourne?
2006-09-28 20:37:05 · answer #3 · answered by Julia S 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
agree with cappman... i recommend adelaide. while i've never driven there from melbourne, i lived there and it's very pretty. it has peaceful beaches like glenelg and noarlunga, stylish cafes downtown and along The Parade, beautiful churches all over, and the people are always up to something exciting yet at the same time laid back and friendly. i love adelaide culture. also, there are visit-worthy places not too far from adelaide like hahndorf (Germantown) and barossa valley (world famous winery).
2006-09-28 09:22:52 · answer #4 · answered by Mizz G 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi EJ
I'm concentrating the theme of my 360 and blog on Melbourne , and it's peninsulas .
I have provided lots of handy links , and some interesting reading .
The first page is irrelevant to the topic , but read through , and you will find it useful.
Just click on my mug and it will take you to the 360 link
2006-09-29 03:05:41 · answer #5 · answered by kevin d 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
do you mean sydney-melbourne down the coast?.... theres not a lot really , kiama is a good place to stop and have a look round , plus several waterfalls slightly off route, it will dig into youre GOR time though.. , if you did mean melb-adelaide - theres heaps to see
Pete
2006-09-28 03:18:46 · answer #6 · answered by pj 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋