Great Ocean Road & Kangaroo Island Escape

Want an adventure that starts with a bang? This is it. We advise arriving early for a Melbourne laneway tour, taking in the city’s eye-popping alleys filled with colourful art. Then you’re on your way from Melbourne on a Great Ocean Road tour, enjoying a snaking coastal route that is one of the world’s most epic journeys. Across a dramatic 240 kilometers you’ll take in limestone stacks like the Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge and London Bridge. Then traverse through World Heritage listed rainforest, skirting untouched coastal coves, and pausing in sleepy towns like Lorne and Apollo Bay, where bare feet and boardshorts are the dress code. We wouldn’t blame you for following suit…  

The south’s volcanic history bubbles to the surface at Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve, an immense natural wonder spanning a dormant volcanic crater. You’ll learn about the area’s flora and fauna – think emus, kangaroos, koalas and echidnas – with an Aboriginal guide. More volcanic history awaits across the South Australian border in Mt. Gambier, home to the crater-filling Blue Lake. Bring your sunglasses, because the lake’s name doesn’t do it justice – the intensity of the hue is blinding. By now you’ll be pretty thirsty, so it’s a good thing the Coonawarra wine region is around the corner. Fancy a world-class cab sav, shiraz or merlot? You’ve come to the right place. Sit down to a wine tasting to fully appreciate the region’s flavours. Your final adventure is deep, in every sense of the word. Naracoorte’s Alexandra Cave is a maze of delicate needle-like stalactites and massive twisting columns.

Nature rules large again today as you weave along South Australia’s wild and wonderful Fleurieu Peninsula to Victor Harbor. After rolling hills, sandy beaches and rugged cliffs, you’re greeted with the charms of this seaside town – the gateway to Kangaroo Island. Fun fact: it still has a steam train. But you’re boarding the ferry for your journey toward Australia’s ‘mini Galapagos’ to tour Kangaroo Island. Kangaroo Island deserves its moniker, as you’ll discover tomorrow. But today, a well-deserved tasting of craft beer awaits at a boutique brewery, the only one on the island. How does Indian Pale Ale sound or a Mexican inspired brew made using a combination of malted barley and flaked rice?

First stop on your tour of Kangaroo Island truly deserves its name: the orange-lichen-clad Remarkable Rocks command your attention over the blazing blue of the Southern Ocean. Then there’s Admirals Arch, home to an immense colony of raucous fur seals and a very photogenic lighthouse. Like much of the island, AAT Kings-sponsored Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary was badly damaged by the 2019 bushfires. On your visit, you’ll discover the role that fire plays within this delicate ecosystem, and how koalas, kangaroos, echidnas and other wildlife have adapted to their environment. More wildlife greets you at Seal Bay Conservation Park. Move aside: enormous sea lions regularly barrel down the sand toward the water, and you’ll learn about their habitat on a Kangaroo Island tour of the beach.

On your cruise back to the mainland, picture some of the culinary opportunities that await in the South Australian capital. Adelaide is known as the ‘city of churches’, but we think a more apt title is the ‘city of cuisine’. The afternoon is yours to see just how many restaurants and bars you can sample. Want recommendations? You could sign up for an Adelaide city tour, or we can point you in the direction of the epic Central Market, the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere with more than 70 stalls selling artisan edibles (and drinkables). Have you ever sipped green ant gin?

Now that you have a taste for South Australian produce, take a deep dive on today’s adventure through the Adelaide Hills and the Barossa, dotted with atmospheric towns like Hahndorf, Australia’s oldest surviving German settlement. Wining and dining dominate the landscape on a Barossa and Hahndorf tour, with some of the country’s oldest grape vines planted across this pocket of the state. Discover local flavours over lunch at the South Australian Company Store, then prepare for wine royalty at historic Seppeltsfield, replete with century-old stone buildings housing restaurants and cellar doors.

A week in this part of the world really isn’t enough. We hope we’ve inspired you to come back for another taste.