Southern Coastal Explorer - Australia

Twelve nights through South Australia and Victoria, self-guided, from the Barossa to the Grampians, adults only.

Internal flights carry the awkward legs here, linking Adelaide, Kangaroo Island and Melbourne, so the driving is confined to the parts worth driving, which is the Barossa at one end and the Great Ocean Road at the other.

The Barossa opens it for two nights at The Louise, one of Australia’s oldest and most celebrated wine regions with more than fifty wineries in it. Kangaroo Island follows for three at Stranraer Homestead, a 3,500-acre property in the same family since 1911, with 4WD touring, Flinders Chase National Park and the Remarkable Rocks, and kangaroo, echidna, koala and Cape Barren goose all possible, though nothing is promised. Melbourne comes next for two with a guided walk through the laneways and arcades, then the Mornington Peninsula for two at the Jackalope, which has its own vineyard. Apollo Bay follows for a night by way of the cliff road from Lorne, then Port Fairy, and the Grampians for two, with the rock art and the wildflowers.

The hire car, the accommodation, daily breakfast, private transfers, all the listed sightseeing and guiding and the internal flights detailed are included; international flights, most meals and unlisted excursions are not. The price shown is per person sharing. Spring is the best of it for the wildflowers, and southern right whales pass this coast between June and October, though no sighting can be promised. Thirteen days with three nights on Kangaroo Island is generous: most itineraries give it one and miss the point of going.