Melbourne Australia
Beyond Melbourne: By Road - Regional
Gently rolling hills covered in at times dense forest, interspersed by farms, orchards and picturesque villages is what the Dandenongs are all about. There are plenty of things to see and do along the way, just keep your eyes open and follow the signs to wherever takes your fancy. The Dandenong Ranges are on the outskirts of suburban Melbourne, so you'll be able to see plenty in a day - and it's not too far to come back to if you find one day isn't enough.
Follow the Bayside Beaches Drive to Portsea, then take the car ferry from Portsea to Queenscliff. Return to Melbourne via the Bellarine Peninsula on the western side of Port Phillip Bay. On the way you will pass through the beachside towns of Barwon Heads, Ocean Grove and Torquay, the peninsula towns of Portarlington and Queenscliff and the City of Geelong on Corio Bay. It's quite a lot to fit into one day (it is best spread over a couple of days) but can be done if you have a limited time for sightseeing.
The Bellarine Peninsula has been building a reputation as a food and wine destination. The Bellarine Taste Trail brings together many of the gourmet offerings of the region including wineries, restaurants and cafes and producers of beer, fresh produce, goats cheese, olive oil and seafood. The Bellarine Taste Trail is a collection of gourmet delights and foodie experiences all within 20 minutes of each other, taking visitors to vineyards that are receiving some of Australia's highest accolades for their wine and farms with fresh produce.
Known for its beautiful gardens, vineyards and plantations that thrive in its rich volcanic soil, the Macedon region is a one hour drive from Melbourne. The ranges were once a haunt for some of Australia's most infamous bushrangers in the goldrush days. Many historic towns within the region have retained their early European influence, offering visitors a unique visual and culinary experience.
Gippsland is one of the few unique and diverse (yet relatively compact) regions in Australia. It comprises of snow fields, wilderness, rainforests, beaches, mining and industrialised areas, farm land, and some of the country s most spectacular coastal scenery, including Wilsons Promontory and Phillip Island all of which is easily reach driving the average motor car. This drive can be shrunk to three days or extended to five days. Distance: 766 km.
The discovery of gold in the 1850s and 60s was the most significant event in the evolution of the state of Victoria. Fuelled by extravagant stories of wealth gained at the 1849 Californian gold rush, gold fever hit Victoria following the early gold discoveries in and around Clunes, Warrandyte and Ballarat. This drive takes you into the heart of where it all happened - the town and cities that the rush created. Provided you don't want to stop and look at too many things, this drive can be condensed into two days, with the overnight stop at Castlemaine.
This drive, to the south-east of Melbourne, takes in the rugged, rocky coastline and wild surf beaches found on the Ocean Side of Mornington Peninsula, the tranquil waters of Western Port and its islands, including Phillip Island on Bass Strait. Wildlife abounds on Phillip Island. The Penguin Parade the nightly trek made by Fairy Penguins from the waters edge to their burrows in the sand dunes is very popular. At the other end of the island you can walk down the road and be watched by dozens of koalas sitting in the trees above.
Across the strikingly beautiful countryside around Melbourne are some of the major wine-producing regions in Australia, many within an hour, to an hour and a half of the city. However, you barely need to leave Melbourne to experience the Sunbury wine region. Just 10 minutes north of Melbourne airport, Tullamarine, along the C743 lies Sunbury, one of the state's best kept viticulture secrets and well worth discovering.
Recognised as one of the world s most scenic drives, the Great Ocean Road follows the stunning coastline of Victoria s south-west. Stretching from Torquay, just south of Geelong, to Allansford, east of Warrnambool, the road winds along cliff tops beside breathtaking headlands, down onto the edge of beaches, across river estuaries and through rainforests, offering ever-changing panoramic views of Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean.
This route is designed to take interested parties to the approximate sites depicted in the paintings of those associated with the Heidelberg School (i.e., Arthur Streeton, Walter Withers, Louis Buvelot, Tom Roberts, Clara Southern, David Davies, Emanuel Phillips Fox, Charles Conder, Tudor St George Tucker). At each such site there is a reproduction of the relevant painting, providing insight into the artist s interpretation of the landscape.
Travel one of the world's most scenic roads through an extended area that includes the world-famous Twelve Apostles, the Otways rainforest, Bells Beach, on the Surf Coast, and visit the Grampians mountain range in the heart of western Victoria. Drive north from Dunkeld into the ranges; less that 2 km from town you are given the choice of the more travelled, shorter route or the longer, more scenic route through Victoria Valley that scales the heights of the mountains then plunges into the valley below.
In the 1860s the mountainous terrain of the Upper Goulburn Valley was invaded by thousands of miners after alluvial gold was first disovered at Raspberry Creek in 1859. Today the Goulburn and Jamieson Rivers are popular for trout fishing, canoeing, 4-wheel driving and gold fossicking in and around the ghost towns and gold mines on and beyond the Yarra Track.
