Australia: Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road and the Grampians

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Melbourne

   Melbourne Airport (MEL) to your hotel in the city centre

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Melbourne
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Melbourne Airport (MEL), about 25 km north-west of the city, where a driver meets you in arrivals for the transfer to our central hotel, inside the Free Tram Zone. The afternoon is yours: rest after the flight, or ride a tram along Swanston Street to get your bearings. At 5 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group in the lobby for a short briefing on the days ahead: the one long coast day, the early start for the Twelve Apostles at sunrise, what to pack for weather that can turn in an hour, and how the walks come with an easier and a harder choice. Then we walk together through Federation Square, opposite Flinders Street Station, and along the Yarra River to a local restaurant for a welcome dinner. The dietary needs from your booking have already been passed on, so there is nothing to explain at the table. We are back at the hotel by about 9 pm, ready for an unhurried start.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Melbourne Airport (MEL)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Walk through Federation Square and along the Yarra River
   • Welcome dinner

   Temps libre : Free until the 5 pm briefing

   Activité : Plan to land by about 2 pm. If you land later, the driver still meets you and you join the group at dinner.

2. Jour 2 : Laneways, coffee and the Yarra Valley

   Melbourne's laneways on foot, then Healesville and a Yarra Valley winery, then back to Melbourne

   • Environ 2.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Melbourne
   Détail du jour 2

   Melbourne's coffee culture lives in its lanes, so we start there at 8:30 am, while the cafés are full of people on their way to work. Your guide walks you through Degraves Street and Centre Place, past the street art of Hosier Lane and under the glass roof of the Block Arcade, opened in 1892, with a flat white on the way. At about 10 am we drive east, roughly an hour and a quarter, to Healesville Sanctuary on the edge of the Yarra Valley, run by Zoos Victoria, where koalas, wombats, kangaroos and the platypus live in bushland enclosures. It is the reliable way to meet the animals the coast can only promise. Lunch is a sit-down meal at a Yarra Valley winery, with a tasting of the valley's cool-climate wines, pinot noir and chardonnay among them. We are back in the city by about 5 pm, and the evening is free: the laneway bars and restaurants are a short walk from the hotel.

   Compris

   • Guided laneways and arcades walk in Melbourne, with a coffee
   • Healesville Sanctuary entry
   • Sit-down lunch and wine tasting at a Yarra Valley winery

   Temps libre : Evening free in Melbourne

   Activité : The laneways walk is about 2 km at an easy pace. Non-drinkers get a non-alcoholic choice at the tasting.

3. Jour 3 : The Great Ocean Road to the Twelve Apostles

   Melbourne to Torquay, Lorne and Apollo Bay, then Port Campbell and the Twelve Apostles

   • Environ 5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Port Campbell
   Détail du jour 3

   We leave Melbourne at 8 am and reach the coast at Torquay, where the Great Ocean Road begins. Returned servicemen built the road between 1919 and 1932 as a memorial to those killed in the First World War, and the Memorial Arch at Eastern View marks it. From here the road clings to the cliffs: the Split Point Lighthouse at Aireys Inlet, coffee in Lorne, and Kennett River, where wild koalas often sleep in the gums along Grey River Road. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Apollo Bay, facing the harbour. In the afternoon we walk the Maits Rest boardwalk in Great Otway National Park, under myrtle beech and tree ferns, then cross farm country to the limestone coast. At about 310 km and close to five hours of driving, this is the one day over our cap, because the road itself is the sightseeing: no stretch runs much past an hour without a stop. We check in at Port Campbell, then go back to the Twelve Apostles for sunset, when the stacks turn gold and the day-trip coaches have gone.

   Compris

   • The Great Ocean Road from Torquay with your guide: the Memorial Arch, Split Point Lighthouse, Lorne and Kennett River
   • Sit-down lunch in Apollo Bay
   • Maits Rest rainforest walk in Great Otway National Park
   • The Twelve Apostles at sunset

   Activités en option

   • A short helicopter flight over the Twelve Apostles, booked locally, with the price shown at booking

   Option plus facile : Stay with the vehicle at Maits Rest and the lighthouse; every other stop is a few steps from the car park.

   Option plus active : At Aireys Inlet, walk the clifftop path from Split Point Lighthouse down towards the beach and back, about 30 minutes.

   Temps libre : Dinner in Port Campbell is your choice tonight

   Activité : Sunset at the Twelve Apostles is around 8:45 pm in midsummer and earlier in spring and autumn; exact times come with your final itinerary. The road is winding: bring travel-sickness tablets if you need them.

   

4. Jour 4 : Apostles at sunrise, Loch Ard Gorge and the Grampians

   Port Campbell to the Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, Peterborough and Tower Hill, then Dunkeld and Halls Gap

   • Environ 4 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Halls Gap
   Détail du jour 4

   Wake-up is around 5:15 am for the one sunrise of the trip: we are at the Twelve Apostles before first light, about 6 am in midsummer, with hardly anyone else there. Back in Port Campbell for breakfast, then the rest of the limestone coast while it is still quiet: down the Gibson Steps to the beach below the cliffs, and Loch Ard Gorge, named after the clipper wrecked here in 1878 with only two survivors. West of town is London Bridge, whose span fell into the sea in 1990. If the sea or the clock is against us, the Bay of Islands near Peterborough is the stop we drop, so Halls Gap still comes before dark. Late morning we turn inland to Tower Hill, a wildlife reserve inside the crater of a dormant volcano, where emus and koalas are often close to the path, with lunch in Warrnambool. From Dunkeld the sandstone ranges of the Grampians (Gariwerd) rise ahead. We reach Halls Gap at about 3:30 pm for a rest, then drive up to Reeds Lookout and walk to the Balconies above the Victoria Valley in evening light, with kangaroos grazing at dusk.

   Compris

   • The Twelve Apostles at sunrise
   • The Gibson Steps, Loch Ard Gorge and London Bridge in Port Campbell National Park
   • Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve
   • Sit-down lunch in Warrnambool
   • Reeds Lookout and the Balconies walk in Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park

   Activités en option

   • The Bay of Islands in Bay of Islands Coastal Park near Peterborough, a short stop when time and the sea allow

   Option plus facile : Skip the sunrise and meet the group at breakfast; the coast walks come after it.

   Option plus active : Use the afternoon rest in Halls Gap for the Venus Baths loop, about 2.3 km, before the Balconies walk.

   Temps libre : Rest in Halls Gap from about 3:30 pm until the evening walk; dinner is your choice

   Activité : Wake-up is around 5:15 am in midsummer, a little later in spring and autumn; the only pre-dawn start of the trip. The Gibson Steps are 86 steps down to the beach and back; the Balconies walk is about 2 km return on a level track.

   

5. Jour 5 : The Pinnacle, MacKenzie Falls and back to Melbourne

   Halls Gap to the Pinnacle and MacKenzie Falls, then Ballarat and Melbourne Airport (MEL)

   • Environ 4 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   Détail du jour 5

   An early start for the walk most people come to the Grampians for: the Pinnacle, a sandstone outcrop above Halls Gap with views over the town, Lake Bellfield and the ranges. We are walking by 7:30 am, while it is cool and quiet; from the Sundial car park it is about 4 km return and two hours on a rocky but steady track. After a late breakfast in Halls Gap we drive the short way to MacKenzie Falls, where the river drops over a sandstone ledge into a pool; walk down the steep stepped track to the base, or take the easy path to the lookout above. At about 11:30 am we head east on the Western Highway, past Stawell and Ararat, to Ballarat, the gold-rush city, for a sit-down farewell lunch. From there it is about an hour and a quarter to Melbourne Airport (MEL), arriving around 3:45 pm. Your guide checks your flight before saying goodbye. Book a flight leaving after about 6:30 pm, or we can drop you at a city hotel instead.

   Compris

   • The Pinnacle walk with your guide
   • MacKenzie Falls in Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park
   • Sit-down farewell lunch in Ballarat
   • Drop-off at Melbourne Airport (MEL) or a city hotel

   Option plus facile : Walk the easy Venus Baths loop from Halls Gap, about 2.3 km, instead of the Pinnacle, and see MacKenzie Falls from the lookout above.

   Option plus active : Climb to the Pinnacle (same 7:30 am start) the steep way from the Wonderland car park, through the Grand Canyon and Silent Street.

   Activité : Book a flight leaving after about 6:30 pm. Breakfast is after the walk; tea, coffee and a snack are ready before it.

   

Faune et météo : We run from October to April. Spring brings wildflowers in the Grampians and mild days of about 17 to 22 C; summer is warmest, often 25 to 30 C inland with hot spells, and the evenings are long, so sunset at the Twelve Apostles is around 8:45 pm; autumn is settled and quieter, with Yarra Valley vintage in March and April. The coast stays cool and windy on many days. Kangaroos graze at dusk in Halls Gap, emus and koalas are often close at Tower Hill, and wild koalas are likely but never certain at Kennett River, which is why Healesville Sanctuary is in the plan.

• Melbourne2 nuits
• Port Campbell1 nuit
• Halls Gap1 nuit