|
For most travellers, the southeast - the area between Melbourne and Adelaide - is an area to be passed through as quickly as possible. From Tailem Bend, just beyond Murray Bridge some 85km out of Adelaide, three highways branch out. The Ouyen Highway is the quintessential road to nowhere, leading through the sleepy settlements of Lameroo and Pinnaroo to the insignificant town of Ouyen in Victoria's Mallee country. The Dukes Highway is the fast, boring route to Melbourne via the South Australian mallee scrub and farming towns of Keith and Bordertown , birthplace of former Prime Minister Bob Hawke, before continuing in Victoria as the Western Highway across the monotonous Wimmera. It is, however, well worth breaking your journey to visit the Coonawarra and Naracoorte , in between the Dukes Highway and the coastal route: the former is a tiny wine-producing area that makes some of the country's finest red wine; the latter is a fair-size town with a freshwater lagoon system that attracts prolific birdlife, and a conservation park with impressive World Heritage-listed caves. The Princes Highway (Highway 1) is much less direct but far more interesting; it follows the extensive coastal lagoon system of the Coorong to Kingston SE , and then runs a short way inland to the lake craters of Mount Gambier , before crossing into Victoria. On this last stretch, another possible route - Southern Ports Highway - sticks closer to the coast, and there's a detour along the Riddoch Highway into the scenic Coonawarra wine region. Premier Stateliner (tel 08/8415 5555) has two routes between Adelaide and Mount Gambier, one inland via Keith, Bordertown, Naracoorte, Coonawarra and Penola; the other along the coast via Meningie, Kingston SE, Robe and Millicent. If you're coming from Melbourne, V-Line (tel 08/8231 7620 or 13 6196, www.vline.vic.gov.au ) has a daily service that terminates at Mount Gambier. The NPWS free newspaper, The Tatler , gives practical details relating to the southeastern coastal parks - pick up the latest copy from the Adelaide office, or regional offices en route. More information can be found at the regional visitor information website at www.thelimestonecoast.com .
Your Tip for Southeast
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Southeast - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Southeast - visit the main Southeast forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Southeast webguide section below! Thanks.
|
