Langhorne Creek Road: Fill & Download for Free

For fish, Paul's Cafe, Parade Norwood, always consistentBlue Beard Bakery in BrightonBakery, Duthy Street, UnleyJasmin Indian RestaurantLIMS Chinese, GlenelgFresh Fish, on right off the Old Port Road before the Port Canal Shopping CentreAdelaide Central MarketOrganic Market and Café in StirlingBEST fresh eggs, a farm near Macclesfield on your way to StrathalbynBEST potatoes, need to order at Langhorne Creek Hotel

The Great Ocean Road, which makes up most of the Victorian half of this journey, is widely regarded as one of the world’s great drives, so the first part of the route pretty much selects itself. Take the C115 from the M1 freeway through North Shore on the way to Geelong, then if you have enough time, include the Bellarine Peninsula section east of Geelong via Portarlington, the slight detour into Queenscliff, Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads.The Great Ocean Road, built as an unemployment support project during the 1930s depression starts at Torquay and follows the coast pretty closely most of the way to its end at Allansford. From there, just keep hugging the coast through Warrnambool, Port Fairy and Portland. From there, Cape Bridgewater, Mt Richmond National Park and Nelson, the mouth of the Glenelg River are all worth including. Mt Gambier is a short inland detour and is definitely worth a look. The justifiably famous Blue Lake is eyewateringly blue - it never ceases to amaze me with its colour in the warmer months. In the winter, it fades to a steely grey, and there are several I think unproven explanations for the colour change. From there, return to the coast at Port MacDonnell, and stick to the road closest to the coast. Beachport and Robe are both fishing and holiday destinations. Robe is historically interesting partly as the disembarkation point for many Chinese goldseekers in the second half of the 1800s who walked to Ballarat and Bendigo to avoid the Victorian tax which was not levied on immigrants arriving in South Australia.Continue on through Kingston SE (there is another Kingston in South Australia, referred to as Kingston OM - on Murray, the river) then into the gorgeous Coorong. Do take a detour track and get to the ocean beach at some point along the Coorong. You will have to go via Meningie and Wellington as private cars cannot cross the Barrages between the Coorong and Goolwa, although it looks as if you can on some maps. The Barrages separate salt from and fresh water in the Lower Lakes and lower Murray River. Cross the Murray on the vehicular ferry at Wellington, turn left and go right around the Fleurieu Peninsula - some of Australia’s best wine country at Langhorne Creek and McLaren Vale. Again, if you’ve got the time and the money, go to Kangaroo Island from Cape Jervis for a few days. The coastal scenery is spectacular, particularly at the western end, although the ferry isn’t cheap. From Cape Jervis, it’s north into Adelaide, again I suggest hug the coast as closely as you can.To do this justice, I suggest three weeks would be good. Ten days is probably a reasonable minimum. Virtually all of this can be done in a conventional vehicle and the 4WD parts can be detoured around. The Great Ocean Road is getting very, very, very busy, particularly with tour buses, in the warmer weather and Friday to Sundays. You might want to think about trying to do this part mid-week in winter.The more direct route, the Western and Dukes Highways through Ballarat, Ararat, Horsham, Nhill, Bordertown, Keith, Tailem Bend and Murray Bridge is not unattractive, and it’s a lot quicker. If you’re going that way, a detour from Ballarat via the Hamilton Highway to Dunkeld and then north through the Grampians National Park is well worth including. For a short scenic walk, try the Sundial walk off Silverband Falls road. Mt Arapiles (pronounced a-RAP-al-lees) is one of the world’s great rock climbing destinations and gives great views from the top, which you can drive to. I think the Dukes / Western Hwy route is more attractive from Adelaide to Melbourne than the other way, as you get much better views of the Grampians.